June 23, 2015 Volume-VII Issue-12
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VOLUME-VII / ISSUE-12 / 6/23/15
Howell’s Zack Ornstein Wins MVP as North All-Stars Top South 12-8 in SCLCA Senior All-Star Game
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By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer
oing out on top was great for Zack Ornstein, but getting one last game with players he’s grown up with was the real treat for him on June 10. “I couldn’t really be happier finishing my career with my four brothers – Ryder Verdoni, Anthony Pozsonyi, Jake Sherman and Mark Buannic – I’ve been playing with them since elementary school,” said Ornstein, who was selected as the Most Valuable Player for his faceoff domination in the North All-Star team’s 12-8 victory over the South All-Stars in the Shore Conference Coaches Association Senior All-Star Game at Ocean.
“It’s great to be the MVP, and for my last high school game it’s a great way to go out.”
Ornstein scored a goal while winning nearly every face-off as the North unit jumped out to a 62 halftime lead and held off a late surge from the South quad. Buannic scored three goals with two assists and Sherman also had a hat trick with one assist.
Catholic defenseman) Matt Pieringer were ground ball vacuums. If I could divide the trophy I would.”
Southern attackman Dylan Jinks led the South All-Stars with four goals while Jackson Memorial’s Troy Wolf had a goal and an assist. St. Rose midfielder Matt Frost, St. Rose defenseman Louis Melone and Southern midfielder Chris Smith also tallied. Southern’s Brendan Lefanto was the only goalie on the South roster and made nine saves playing the entire way.
Jinks went out in his final game like he came in – scoring. His four goals were a game-high, not surprising considering his unreal career totals. The Shore Conference’s all-time leading scorer ended his career with 420 points on 274 goals. He and the rest of Southern’s senior class that played on Wednesday – Smith, Lefanto, midfielder Shawn McManus and defenseman Mike Adragna – were the driving forces in turning Southern’s program in a powerhouse.
CBA midfielder Nick Gazzillo scored twice Howell’s Zack Ornstein while Red Bank Catholic attackman Tim Barile, All-Star MVP Freehold Township attackman Brandon Nunez and Rumson-Fair Haven midfielder Lucas Seckler “This class means a lot to me,” said Southern head each scored once. Nunez also had an assist, as did coach John Pampalone. “It’s very rare when a group of kids comes right in Verdoni. Holmdel goalie Justin Ruiz played the first half and made six saves and contributes, and it seems like they’ve been around forever. They’ve and Freehold Township goalie Matt Schroepfer made four saves playing in the accomplished so many things and helped put Southern on the map for lacrosse. second half. Ornstein made sure his squad had a huge possession advantage by winning every face-off in the first half and not losing one until the fourth quarter. It was an extension of his play during the season when he won 83 percent of draws to help Howell to a 13-4 record and a share of the Class A North division title for the best season in program history. He also scored a goal in the first quarter directly off a face-off win. “I couldn’t have done it without my wings,” Ornstein said. “Having Verdoni out there was great chemistry and (Ocean midfielder) Steven Graziano and (Red Bank
Southern head coach John Pampalone and attackman Dylan Jinks were selected as Coach & Player of the Year
When I’m with the youth program you hear the kids saying ‘I’ll play Dylan’s spot, I’ll be Shawn and I’ll be Mike Adragna.’ These guys made a legacy and with their achievements at Southern they’re all Hall of Famers in my book.”
The one sentiment that seemed to be agreed upon between all the players was how fast the last four years went by. “When I was down in middle school a bunch of the older guys were preaching how quick it goes, and at that time you’re an immature kid and you have no idea what that means,” Jinks said. “I didn’t think it would fly by as quick as it did. I had a great time playing with my boys and I enjoyed every second of it.” “It doesn’t really feel real ending it tonight with a bunch of my friends,” said Rumson defenseman Cooper Cuje. “I’ve played with all these guys growing up, so it’s weird saying goodbye one last time.” Rumson made history by winning the NJSIAA Group I title, a first for a Shore Conference team. For Cuje, Seckler and midfielder Seamus Walsh, it was one last chance to soak in an incredible career.
“It was great coming back after we won group and having everyone congratulate us and to get one last game on the field with these guys,” Seckler said. “It was awesome and for me it’s set in now. It’s great to come out here and represent RFH.” “It’ hasn’t set in for me yet,” Cuje said. “It will sometime, but it hasn’t yet. I still feel like I’m a freshman.”
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Missry’s Big-League Blast Boosts Jersey Shore to Carpenter Cup Final
By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer
third baseman James Kelly and Colts Neck center fielder Mike Antico. Rumson second baseman Max Goione worked a walk after both runners moved up on a wild pitch, and with one out, Freehold Township’s Joe Silvestrone walked to force home the tying run.
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yle Missry is not used to starting the game on the bench nor having a chance to think about an at-bat for an entire half-inning.
However, as the second designated hitter to enter June 22 Carpenter Cup Classic semifinal game for the Jersey Shore team, the St. Rose star had a chance to ponder a potential at-bat in the top of the 10th inning while sitting in the dugout of Citizens Bank Ballpark during the entire bottom of the ninth.
Bartolomei then followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly to deep left field to score Antico.
After all that thinking in the dugout, Missry can barely remember what was going through his head once he finally swung the bat and put the Shore into Tuesday’s final.
Missry unloaded on a 1-0 offering in the top of the 10th inning and blasted a shot over the left-field wall at the home of the Philadelphia Phillies for a tie-breaking solo home run that gave Jersey Shore a 6-5 win over Delaware County. The Shore will defend its Carpenter Cup championship Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. against S.O.L. National/Bicentennial at Citizens Bank Park in a bid to become just the second team in the 29year history of the tournament and the first since 1991-92 to win back-to-back titles. “It something I’ve always dreamed of, hitting a home run in a major league park,” Missry said. “It’s so special. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Delaware tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning against Colts Neck left-hander Chris Murphy. After Jersey Shore could not take advantage of a one-out double by Middletown South catcher Zach Schild in the top of the ninth, Missry watched from the dugout hoping Murphy could escape the bottom of the inning and get him an at-bat to start the 10th. “It definitely helped to get a chance to think about the at-bat for a whole half-inning,” Missry said. “I was able to go up with a better approach, and I was able to get the pitch I wanted, and I got a good piece of it and it somehow got out of the park.”
After taking ball one from Conestoga High School left-hander Mark Anderson, Missry zeroed in on a fastball and launched one into the bedding of flowers that rests between the top of the leftfield fence and the first row of seats.
“I knew I hit it well, but I didn’t think I actually hit it well enough to get it out of the park,” Missry said. “I thought maybe it was a double over (left fielder Jona Siegel’s) head or something like that, but to see it end up out of the park was amazing.” Murphy, who walked four batters over his first 1 2/3 innings, pitched a one-two-three 10th to nail down the win, striking out two in the final frame and three during his outing.
“I just didn’t have my stuff for the first inning and two-thirds, but fortunately I was able to get out of them without doing too much damage,” said Murphy, who pitched on the championshipwinning Carpenter Cup team as a junior a year ago. “Then in the last inning, I was able to find my location with the fastball and start getting my curveball over for strikes. I think seeing the ball go over the fence in the top of the inning got everybody amped up.” Missry went 2-for-2 in his two plate appearances and earlier hit a two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh to give Jersey Shore
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a 5-4 lead.
Chris Murphy picked up the win in relief for Jersey Shore on Tuesday. (Photo by Matt Manley)
In two games so far in the tournament, Missry is 3-for-3 with a walk, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored. The four productive at-bats are a continuation of a huge senior season for the St. Rose first baseman, who led the Shore Conference with 15 doubles to go with a .478 average, three triples, two home runs, 38 RBI and an .869 slugging percentage. Missry began the season battling an unknown illness that he said sapped him of 20 pounds. Once he was over the illness and began to put the weight back on, he immediately began hitting and never stopped for the 17-8 Purple Roses.
“I have no idea what it was, probably some kind of virus, but I lost 20 pounds, which was ridiculous,” Missry said. “The first couple games back, I struggled to get my timing back, but about five or six games in, I started getting locked in, and I felt good the rest of the year.”
Schild went 2-for-2 with a run scored on Missry’s single and picked off a runner at first base from behind the plate in the bottom of the seventh. The pickoff helped Wall right-hander Ryan Orender escape a first-and-second, none-out jam, which was part of 2 1/3 strong innings for the Crimson Knights ace. After falling behind, 2-0, in the bottom of the first inning, Shore chipped away at the deficit behind second-inning doubles by Ocean outfielder Anthony Bartolomei and Manalapan first baseman Jake Sadowitz. After Bartolomei blasted a double that one-hopped the warning track in left with one out, Sadowtiz came through with a two-out double to the right-center gap to chase home Bartolomei and cut the Delaware lead to 2-1. Jersey Shore took the lead with two runs in the top of the third, which began with back-to-back infield singles by Shore Regional
After Delaware tied the game in the bottom of the third, Antico again ignited a go-ahead rally with an infield single, this time beating out a seemingly routine ground ball to shortstop. Antico – who also made a running and later a sliding catch in center field in key situations – then stole second base on a pickoff throw to first and moved to third on a ground ball to the right side by Goione. He then scored his second run on a sacrifice fly to the right-field warning track by Wall catcher Dan Wondrack.
Jersey Shore was not that far from hitting back-to-back home runs in the 10th, as Manalapan junior Chris Rodriguez launched a 400-foot shot to dead center field that Tom Leonard tracked down and snared with a leaping catch just in front of the wall. Four of the five Shore pitchers who appeared on the mound threw more than one inning, and each of those four gave up at least one run. Manasquan right-hander Jack Sheehan pitched a scoreless fifth inning in his only frame of the game. In all, Jersey Shore pitchers combined to walk 10 batters and hit two more, but allowed only five hits and stranded 11 Delaware County runners on base. After rolling up 31 runs on 42 hits over their first two tournament wins, the Shore squad pounded out 13 more hits in 10 innings on Monday. It is one more dominant offensive performance away from winning a second straight Carpenter Cup and becoming just the second team to ever win consecutive titles in the 30th edition of the tournament.
“It’s a prestigious team that’s had a lot of success in the past,” said Missry, who will play at Montclair State University next year. “So there’s a lot of pressure to try to live up to that success again this year, and we were able to come through today. Hopefully, we’ll come through tomorrow and win us another championship.”
by:
Matt Manley
www.shoresportsnetwork.com
VOLUME-VII / ISSUE-12 / 6/23/15
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By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer
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n his 42 years at the helm, Marty Kenney has accomplished about as much as one high school coach can. His 729 career wins coming into the season were the second-most in the history of the Shore Conference behind legendary Toms River South coach Ken Frank and included two overall NJSIAA Group titles, seven sectional titles, six county championships and five Shore Conference titles.
One feat, however, Kenney had never accomplished was one that only Wall coach Todd Schmitt could lay claim to at the beginning of the season: winning the Shore Quintuple Crown.
Winning all five potential championships – regularseason division, county tournament, conference tournament and both NJSIAA sectional and overall group titles – is a daunting task for any Shore Conference team, but doing so by having to run the gauntlet in Non-Public A made CBA an unlikely candidate to join the 2004 Wall team as the only team in the history of Shore baseball to win all five.
Then again, it takes a talented team to run that table and Kenney knew he had a talented bunch coming into the year, even if he did not ever in his wildest dreams expect to win every title in front of him.
“This is not a David and Goliath (situation),” Kenney said after his team knocked off previously unbeaten Don Bosco in the NJSIAA Non-Public A championship game.
“We’re pretty damn good, too.”
Along the way to a 17th Class A North title, seventh MCT title, sixth SCT title and third state championship, Kenney moved into second place on the all-time wins list in state history, now trailing only Frank. Kenney ended the season with 756 career wins, 69 behind Frank (825) for the all-time N.J. record.
While CBA was led by its two North Carolina commits, the Colts evolved into a resilient team with key contributors throughout the lineup and a strong defensive unit throughout the field. In addition, CBA found the pitching depth that it was missing last year, when Dalatri was the only reliable, healthy pitcher for the duration of the season. Kenney turned over the reins to the pitching staff to his son, Marty Jr., and the pitching staff flourished under the younger Kenney. While Dalatri again headlined the staff with his second consecutive historic season, senior Mike Garvey blossomed into an All-Shore pitcher while junior Kenny Campbell emerged as a five-game winner with a 2.03 ERA. Kenney and his staff, which also includes assistant Joe LaRocca, found the right mix with this year’s Colts squad and the result was a season that ended with 14 straight wins and five championships. Kenney had already cemented his status as an all-time great in the Shore Conference prior to this season, but by leading his 2015 Colts to what will go down, arguably, as the greatest season in Shore Conference baseball history, he furthered his case as one of the best coaches in state history.
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victory over powerful Mountain Lakes in the Group I final. “My belief in them never wavered. We knew we could get through those tough patches in the beginning of the season. This is a bunch of talented guys with a tremendous amount of heart, and they’ve been working for this day for a long time.” Rumson entered the season on the heels of winning its fourth consecutive SCT title and reaching the South Jersey Group I final for the second straight season, but also had to deal with losing a marquee senior class. Just six total seniors and a handful of starters were back for Rumson, but the expectations from outside and within didn’t change.
By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer
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t may seem easy coaching a powerhouse program, but that is not always the case.
T his isn’t professional sports or even the college ranks where teams remain together for extended periods or can be assembled via recruiting on a national scale. There are going to be times when even the most well-oiled machines will have to replace some parts, and that was the situation Rumson-Fair Haven and head coach Andy Eastwood faced in 2015.
The Bulldogs, the gold standard of the Shore Conference, graduated a hefty senior class the year prior, one that had a hand in capturing a record four straight Shore Conference Tournament titles and was nearly impossible to defeat within the Shore Conference. Expectations are always high for the purple and black, but the sentiment around the Shore was that Rumson was far from its old self. While that was true early in the season, the Bulldogs instead put together a historic postseason run to do what no Rumson team - no Shore Conference team - had ever accomplished by winning the NJSIAA Group I state championship. “I couldn’t be any more proud of these guys,” said Eastwood, the 2015 Shore Sports Network Coach of the Year, after the Bulldogs’ historic 9-8 overtime
“Coach believed in us right from the beginning of the season and said we could get here,” said junior attackman Griffin Schultz. It was a rocky start for Rumson as the Bulldogs began the season 0-4. The losses were all to top teams - Caldwell, Group II champion Summit, Tournament of Champions winner Bridgewater-Raritan, which finished as the No. 4 team in the nation, and Southern - but it still put Rumson in a spot it had never been in before. The Bulldogs responded by winning four straight to even their record, including an 11-10 win over CBA where senior Lucas Seckler scored the game-winning goal with under minute left in regulation. Rumson started to build momentum from there, shaking off a loss to St. Augustine Prep, another top-10 team in the state, to win its next eight games and reach the Shore Conference Tournament championship game for the record sixth straight season. It was in the SCT final, however, where the season hit another bump. The Bulldogs were defeated 16-6 by Southern, ending their reign atop the conference. But once again Eastwood and his players showed their resolve by going on a run for the ages in the state tournament.
It all began with a 14-1 win over Delran followed by a 10-1 win over Delaware Valley. Then the road became a lot tougher, but the as the games got bigger Rumson began to realize its potential. Bryan Hess scored the game-winning goal with just over 30 seconds left in a 6-5 win over Madison to put Rumson into the sectional final where they beat New Providence 12-8. That victory alone was good enough to give Rumson some vindication after hearing the rumblings the Bulldogs would go without a title in a “rebuilding year.” Rumson then accomplished what no one thought possible at the beginning of the season, stunning two-time defending Group I champion Mountain Lakes 9-8 in overtime to make history as the first Shore Conference team to finally break through and win a group championship. It was sophomore Charlie Curran who scored the game-tying goal with 15 seconds left in regulation and won it with the goal in overtime. In the truest sense of the phrase it was a team victory - a testament to the job Eastwood and Rumson’s coaches did in preparing them for that moment. Everyone made at least one major contribution, from Schultz’s hat trick to Seamus Walsh’s ground ball that drew the penalty that led to Curran’s tying goal. From Bryan Hess’s ground ball out of a scrum that preceded Curran’s championship-clinching goal, to Rumson’s defense getting big stop after big stop in the second half.
“You look at the graduation list from last year and I think a lot of people counted us out, but they didn’t know what was in the stable,” Eastwood said. “We got tremendous effort and desire from the senior group, and we were talented with the underclassmen. As the season went on they realized they could play with good players and good teams.”
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“They just never quit,” Eastwood continued. “There was no quit in these guys, and that perseverance carried us a long way.”
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By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer
thletes come and go, spending four years with a program before moving on to college and the rest of their lives.
Most are simply participants, while a few more are above average and some even reach the status of greatness. Then there are the legends, the players that will always be remembered. The ones who are the face of their sports during their playing careers. Everyone knows their name, and for good reason.
DYLAN JINKS is that type of player, a Shore Conference lacrosse legend.
For the second straight year Jinks, a senior attackman for Southern Regional, is the Shore Sports Network Player of the Year. He once again led the Shore Conference in scoring with 76 goals and 40 assists for 116 points. He had the most second-most goals and most points in the conference, and had the sixth-highest point total in all of New Jersey.
His career point total is among the highest in state history, but his signature moment of his senior season was leading the Rams to the Shore Conference Tournament title. The Rams, who finished 18-1 and as a top 20 team in New Jersey, defeated Rumson-Fair Haven 16-6 in the SCT title game to become the first Ocean County team to win the SCT. He had two goals and two assists in the historic win, erasing two years of frustration from coming up short against Rumson in the final.
When it comes to numbers there has never been anyone better in the Shore Conference, and it will likely be a long time before anyone can even begin to threaten his conference records. After his 82 points as a freshman, Jinks scored 53 goals and added 33 assists for 86 points as a sophomore. He exploded as a junior with a state-best 93 goals and 43 assists for 136 points. It all adds up to a mind-
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bending 420 career points on 274 goals and 146 assists. His goals and points totals are both Shore Conference records.
“He’s just an incredible player,” said Southern head coach John Pampalone. "It’s hard to
slow him down and when he starts feeling it he’s one of those players that’s going to keep finding the back of the net.”
This season Jinks had five or more points in all but four of Southern’s 19 games while also notching a pair of 10-point games. He scored six goals six times, including a 16-14 win over Rumson in the regular season that proved to the Rams and everyone else they were the team to beat in the Shore Conference. During Jinks’s time at Southern the Rams went 73-10 with three Class A South division titles, two NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV sectional titles and, finally, a Shore Conference Tournament crown. Jinks was also selected as the Class A South Player of the Year and was a first-team AllShore pick by the Shore Conference Lacrosse Coaches Association. He will continue his career at Division I University of Hartford. “When I was down in middle school a bunch of the older guys were preaching how quick it goes, and at that time you’re an immature kid and you have no idea what that means,” Jinks said. “I didn’t think it would fly by as quick as it did. I had a great time playing with my boys and I enjoyed every second of it.”
VOLUME-VII / ISSUE-12 / 6/23/15
the University of North Carolina recruit has improved exponentially with each subsequent season.
After matching the school record – held by his current head coach, Kenney – with his seventh career triple early in the season, Martorano must have decided he had had enough running and started hitting the ball over the fence. He did not hit his first home run until April 17, but once the first ball cleared the fence, the homers kept coming.
By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer
Martorano, who committed to the University of North Carolina before his sophomore season and entered this season with two career home runs, had three home runs heading into a May 7 showdown with Manalapan. CBA had just lost to Middletown South and with four division losses, was in danger of letting the Class A North title slip away. For the second time in two weeks, Martorano took a Braves pitcher deep, this time for a three-run blast in a 51 win. That win was significant because it was the first of 14 in a row to end the season and five of those wins clinched a championship of some kind for the Colts. While CBA’s pitching rounded into form during the final month of the season, Martorano’s bat was the constant throughout the streak. Over those 14 games, which spanned exactly one calendar month, Martorano hit eight of his 11 home runs to go with 19 of his 31 RBI while raising his batting average from .355 to .444.
Of those eight home runs, seven of them came in tournament games, including two in a come-from-behind win over Middletown South in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The Eagles took a 5-1 lead into the seventh against CBA and threatened to end the Colts’ historic run right then and there, but Martorano ignited a four-run seventh inning with his second home run of the game and won the game in the bottom of the eighth with a walk-off RBI single that kept the Colts alive.
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lt h ou g h the catcher position was unsettled in the spring of 2013, CBA head coach Marty Kenney did not want to put too much on the plate of a skinny freshman with all the tools and know-how to do the job. Eventually, Kenney gave the nod to Brandon Martorano, and after holding his own during that rookie season,
That game-winning hit against Middletown South was the third walk-off hit in four games for Martorano, who sent the Colts to the Monmouth County Tournament final with a tie-breaking walk-off single against Manalapan in the bottom of the seventh and then won the MCT title with a walk-off double to beat Wall in the MCT final, 5-4, at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood.
The walk-off barrage was far from the end for Martorano. He hit his eighth home run in a 4-3 win over St. Augustine in the NJSIAA South Jersey NonPublic A quarterfinals and came back the next day with a solo blast off of Manasquan left-hander Tom Sheehan in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals, which tied him for the Shore Conference lead. Martorano took the lead in the home run race for good by belting a solo shot off Bishop Eustace right-hander and Penn State recruit Justin Hagenman in the second inning at Monmouth University, giving CBA one of its two runs in a 2-0 win over a team ranked No. 2 in the state at the time. After beating the Crusaders in the South Jersey final, CBA jumped on top of previously undefeated Don Bosco Prep in the state final on Martorano’s 11th home run of the season – a two-run shot to right field off Seton Hall recruit and Ironmen left-hander Cullen Dana. The 11 home runs and 22 extra-base hits (9 doubles and two triples) this season both tied single-season school records, and another 11-home run season next year by Martorano would break the school’s career home run record of 23, held by Anthony Buffone.
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By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer
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peaking of CBA records, Dalatri is well on his way to owning nearly all of CBA’s pitching records and has a l re a d y n a i l e d d o w n a f e w i n his first three years as a Colt – the last two of which ended with him being named Shore Sports Network Pitcher of the Year.
This past season, Dalatri set the single-season CBA record for both strikeouts (122) and strikeouts per seven innings (12.03), became the school’s all-time leader in wins (25) and strikeouts (252), and is only two-thirds of an inning away from breaking the school record for innings pitched (183, held by Blaine Cordes). On top of the cumulative numbers, if Dalatri were to never play again for CBA (note: hypothetical scenario; do not read between lines) he would own the career records for ERA (0.77), strikeouts per seven innings (9.66) and hits per seven innings (4.1). In fact, the CBA Baseball Media Guide lists six categories in its career records list – innings, strikeouts, strikeouts per game , hits per game, wins, wonloss record (winning percentage) and ERA – and it is a very realistic possibility and, perhaps, likelihood, that Dalatri will own all but one of those records by this time next year. The only record out of reach is winning percentage, which is held by Pat Light, who went 20-0 over two seasons and is now knocking on the door to the Major Leagues with the Red Sox.
For all his greatness over the span of the last two seasons, this past year stands on its own as one of the best in the history of the Shore Conference – impressive considering Dalatri’s sophomore season could be described the same way.
In addition to breaking the single-season school record with his 122 strikeouts, Dalatri went 9-0 with a 0.88 ERA and walked an astounding seven batters in 71 innings on his way to winning Gatorade N.J. Player of the Year. Dalatri went 3-0 in the Monmouth County Tournament and 2-0 in the Non-Public A Tournament, including wins in the championship game of each tournament. Dalatri’s final week of the season will go down in Shore Conference and N.J. lore. With his team needing to go through the top two ranked teams in the state – No. 2 Bishop Eustace and No. 1 Don Bosco – in order to win a
championship, Dalatri pitched two scoreless innings to nail down the save against Bishop Eustace and then pitched a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts against previously unbeaten Don Bosco. In two appearances against the two top-ranked teams in the state, Dalatri pitched a total of nine shutout innings with six hits, one walk, one hit batter and 17 strikeouts.
Dalatri recorded double-digit strikeouts in eight of his 10 starts and struck out a career-high 15 in an 8-0 Monmouth County Tournament win over Monmouth Regional. He also took a no-hitter in the seventh inning in his first start of the season in New Jersey before losing it in the bottom of the seventh a g a i n s t Marlboro. That one-hit performance over seven innings was the lone start in which Dalatri did not earn a win, as CBA needed one more inning to beat the Mustangs, 1-0.
On top of his second straight dominant season on the mound, Dalatri enjoyed a breakout year at the plate, which was part of the equation in his Gatorade P.O.Y. selection. The 6-foot-6 slugger-slash-ace batted .402 with 11 doubles and nine home runs and led the Shore Conference with 44 RBI while finishing third in slugging percentage (.839).
CBA got enormous contributions up and down the lineup and throughout the pitching staff on its way to winning Class A North, the Monmouth County Tournament, Shore Conference Tournament and Non-Public A titles, but its North-Carolina-bound junior battery of Martorano and Dalatri were at the heart of CBA’s historic season.
Rich Photography www.rayrichphotography.smugmug.com
P h o t o s b y : Ray
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2015 Shore Sports Network All-Shore Team By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer
All-Shore teams are selected by Staff Writer Matt Manley based on statistics, input from various coaches and first-hand observation of the teams and players
SHORE SPORTS NETWORK FIRST TEAM CATCHERS
Brandon Martorano, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy
On May 7, Martorano was having a solid follow-up to a second-team All-Shore season as a sophomore, but what he did from that day forward stamped him as one of the state’s best players and was the driving factor in CBA’s sprint toward Shore Conference and N.J. baseball history. On that day, CBA beat Manalapan, 5-1, for the first of its 14 straight wins to end the season en route to becoming just the second Shore team ever to win all five possible championships as well as the No. 1 team in the state. During those 14 games, Martorano increased his batting average by 89 points, hit eight of his Shore-Conference-leading 11 home runs and drove in 19 of his 31 RBI. He also had three walk-off hits during that stretch, which included a game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh to beat Manalapan in the Monmouth County Tournament, a walk-off double in the MCT final against Wall at FirstEnergy Park and a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth to cap a come-from-behind win over Middletown South in the Shore Conference Tournament. Martorano hit two home runs and drove in four in that 6-5 win over Middletown South, the closest any team came to beating CBA during the 14-game run. The Eagles led the Colts 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh, but a two-run blast by Martorano helped key the comeback. The junior catcher also belted a homer each in SCT wins over Brick and Manasquan and NJSIAA Tournament wins over St. Augustine, Bishop Eustace and in the Non-Public A final against Don Bosco. In addition to home runs, Martorano led the Shore Conference in hits and slugging percentage and is committed to the University of North Carolina.
Dan Wondrack, Sr., Wall
Wall got off to a 3-4 start to begin the year and the slow start might have had something to do with a slow start by its slugging catcher. After beginning the season 5-for-23 with one home run in a 17-0 rout of Long Branch, Wondrack’s bat came to life and helped Wall surge back into the Class B North race and make a run to the Monmouth County Tournament final. He cracked two home runs in a win over Neptune on April 21 and followed that up with another homer in a win over Rumson-Fair Haven in the MCT opening round two days later. He also homered in each of Wall’s two wins over Ocean, belted a long ball in an 8-5 win over No. 2 Red Bank Catholic, and homered and drove in four in Wall’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III opening-round loss to Allentown. In Wall’s biggest win of the a year – an 11-1 win over Middletown South to snap the Eagles’ 14-game winning streak and advance to the MCT final, Wondrack went 2-for-2 with an RBI double.
Kyle Johnson, Jr., Jackson Memorial
From the very start of the season, Johnson made it apparent that he was about to unleash a breakout season at the plate as a junior, which included a Shore-Conference-best 41 runs scored. A starter since his freshman year, Johnson increased his batting average from .278 to .426, his on-base percentage from .365 to .545 and his slugging percentage from .430 to .702 over the past year and has gone from two extra-base hits as a freshman to nine as a sophomore and up to 17 this past season. Although Johnson did not suffer the same slow start that his teammate Janofsky did, he still torched opposing pitchers during Jackson’s 20-1 stretch during the middle of the season. In the first two rounds of the OCT on consecutive days, Johnson went a combined 5-for-8 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBI as the Jaguars outscored Manchester and Brick by a combined score of 24-0 in the two five-inning wins. Johnson’s biggest day at the plate came in a Shore Conference Tournament win over Wall to push the Jaguars into the semifinals. After falling behind 5-0 in the first inning, the Jaguars rallied to win, 7-5, with Johnson going 3-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI to lead the charge. Johnson will return as one of the top offensive players in the Shore Conference next year and could see a move from third base to shortstop after playing in the middle of the diamond to spell Janofsky at the end of the year.
OUTFIELD
Will Morgan, Sr., Christian Brothers Academy
Although CBA battery-mates and North Carolina commits Luca Dalatri and Brandon Martorano swallowed up most of the headlines during CBA’s run to five championships, Morgan quietly had another huge season hitting in the middle of the vaunted Colts order. He matched last year’s total with 16 extra-base hits, but doubled his home run total by launching four this season. Although he followed up a .360 season at the plate with a nearly-identical .366 mark this year, Morgan nearly doubled his walks from 12 to 22 and saw his on-base percentage increase by 50 points from .437 to .487. On base in nearly half of his plate appearance and with Martorano and Dalatri behind him, Morgan crossed home plate 33 times this season, tied for second in the Shore Conference with Wall’s Brendan Barcas and behind only Johnson of Jackson Memorial (41).
Morgan came up big for CBA two key spots during the championship run, first in the 5-4, walk-off win over Wall in the MCT final, in which Morgan went 2-for-3 with a double and also scored the winning run from first base on Martorano’s double in the bottom of the seventh. CBA’s closest call in the NJSIAA Non-Public A Tournament was in the sectional quarterfinals against St. Augustine, which erased a 3-0 CBA lead with Dalatri on the mound. The game pushed into the seventh inning tied and Morgan made sure there would not be extra innings by delivering game-winning single to center to give CBA the 4-3 win. He also had a walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth to give CBA a 1-0 win over Marlboro in April and fell a single shy of the cycle in a win over Middletown North. Morgan was a model of consistency during his three-year varsity career, hitting between .354 and .366 in each year. He finishes his career with 95 hits, 26 doubles, nine home runs and a .360/.449/.598 line. He will continue his playing career at Old Dominion University, along with Rumson-Fair Haven right-hander and fellow All-Shore first-teamer Morgan Maguire.
Wondrack finishes his stellar three-year career with 103 hits, 23 doubles, 13 home runs (all in the last two years), 62 RBI and a triple-slash line of .397/.489/.648, god for All-Shore selections in each of the past two seasons. He will continue his playing career at the College of Charleston.
INFIELD
Brandon Janofsky, Sr., Jackson Memorial
While this might be remembered as a season of “what could have been” for Janofsky and the Jaguars, the season that was lived up to the standard the Stony Brook recruit set as a junior last year. Although a right elbow ailment delayed his availability as a pitcher and ultimately shut him down on the mound and at shortstop late in the year, Janofsky still produced like one of the Shore’s best hitters and was brilliant when he did take the mound. Like Wondrack and Wall, Janofsky’s slows start at the plate coincided with a 1-4 start for the Jaguars, but he hit safely in 17 of Jackson Memorial’s next 18 games to help the Jaguars go 171 over that span. Jackson Memorial upped the run to 20-1 and after the first five games of the year, Janofsky hit .480 with 28 RBI and a .805 slugging percentage. He had his first career two-homer game in a 15-0 win over Lacey on April 29 and despite playing with a sore elbow, Janofsky went 7-for-13 in Jackson’s three NJSIAA Tournament games.
Although he made only four appearances on the mound as a senior, Janofsky turned in as dominant of a 20-inning stretch as there was in the Shore Conference this season. He did not allow a run in those 20 innings, allowed only eight hits, walked only three and struck out 29. He threw a two-hitter in his first start of the season against Toms River North, threw shutouts against Brick and Toms River South in the Ocean County Tournament and pitched a scoreless seventh inning in the OCT final to close out the tournament championships for the Jaguars, which turned out to be his last pitching appearance of the season. Janofsky heads off to Stony Brook next year after leading Jackson Memorial to its first NJSIAA Group title since 1972 as a junior and its second Ocean County Tournament title in four years this past year.
Evan Madigan, Jr., Red Bank Catholic
If not for Brandon Martorano’s tear through the state over CBA’s last 14 games, this season would have marked the second in a row that a member of the Madigan family led the Shore Conference in hits. After older brother Brendan racked up a ShoreConference-leading 47 knocks a year ago, younger brother Evan moved into his brothers spot at the top of the order and all but matched him with 46 hits. In addition to filling his brother’s shoes by moving from No. 2 in the order to leadoff, Madigan also took over at shortstop fulltime after RBC graduated Coastal Carolina freshman and Phillies draft pick Al Molina. Madigan played shortstop when Molina pitched last year, so the transition was not too much of a leap, particularly considering Madigan’s standout glove.
With RBC looking to replace a lot of offense from a year ago, Madigan gave them a boost by hitting .451 and adding some extra-base pop to his game. He stroked eight doubles, legged out three triples and belted his first career home run in a loss to Wall late in the regular season. Madigan leads a strong crop of returning seniors in 2016 that should keep RBC in the Shore Conference hunt after the Caseys came up one win shy of a Shore Conference Tournament title in 2015.
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OUTFIELD (continued)
Jake Ryan, Sr., Toms River South
The Indians challenged for the division title once again this season behind an ensemble pitching staff and a couple of power bats in the middle of the lineup to go with some adept table-setters. Ryan was one of those power bats, at least for stretches during a senior season in which he posted an average above .400, and on-base percentage above .500 and a slugging percentage well over .600. While there were a number of Shore Conference sluggers to approach and, in some cases, eclipse those marks, Ryan separated himself by continuing to play standout defense in right field, which includes a strong arm that opponents paid mind after he threw out 11 runners from the outfield as a junior.
high school season as a pitcher and as a two-time All-Shore first-team member.
Chris Murphy, Sr., Colts Neck
Ryan began his senior season on a tear, homering in three straight games in early April against Toms River East, Toms River North and Southern. He would not homer again for another month, but his fourth homer of the season came in a 6-1 win over Raritan in the Shore Conference Tournament opening round. Ryan also went a combined 5-for-5 in Toms River South’s two NJSIAA South Jersey Group III Tournament wins and had one of the four hits against Mainland ace Kyle Gerace in the Indians’ 1-0, sectional semifinal loss to the 2014 Group III champs.
After answering his coach’s call and pitching exclusively in relief last year, Murphy got his much-awaited chance to start this year, but not without making the occasional appearance as a shutdown closer. As a starter, Murphy was his usual dominant self and was actually even better as a starter than he was as a reliever. In his seven starts, Murphy was 6-0 with a 0.82 ERA with 63 strikeouts and 23 walks in 42 2/3 innings, including four complete games. Two of those complete games were seven-inning complete games and one was an eight-inning effort in a 2-1 win over Red Bank Catholic to clinch an unbeaten season within the Class B North division. In each of the complete games of seven innings or more, Murphy struck out at least 10 batters, including back-to-back complete game victories against Ocean in which he struck out 12 Spartans before coming back a week later and striking out 13. He struck out 10 in a six-hitter against the Caseys in extra innings. Murphy and teammates Tyler Kay and Jordan Gonzalez will play together again next year for Mercer County College.
Mike Antico, Jr., Colts Neck
Mike Garvey, Sr., Christian Brothers Academy
With his first-class speed and contact-oriented approach, Antico was made to hit at the top of the order and his .444 on-base percentage, 29 stolen bases and 29 runs scored fit the mold of the classic leadoff hitter on any level. Combine that with outstanding defense in center field and Antico gave Colts Neck exactly what the Cougars expected from the junior St. John’s recruit – a burner at the top of the order to score runs and run down balls in center field. Antico did not stop there and that’s why this season was a true breakout and a first-team caliber one at that. After slugging under .300 with just two doubles and a triple to account for his three extra-base hits as a sophomore, Antico found his power stroke this year, with 12 of his 27 hits going for extra bases. His five triples led the Shore Conference and his .568 slugging percentage was nearly .300 points better than his mark from a year ago. He also drove in runs in bunches, tallying three separate three-RBI games during a 15-RBI campaign and all three of those games came against teams that finished in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 (No. 5 Middletown South, No. 8 Manasquan and No. 2 Red Bank Catholic).
DESIGNATED HITTER
Joe Silvestrone, Sr., Freehold Township
Non-pitchers who play on teams with losing records often go overlooked come time for postseason accolades, but it was impossible to miss what Silvestrone did for a Patriots team that had its moments this season despite the middling record. Silvestrone was the only returning starter from last year’s Patriots squad and he helped carry the team through the early part of the season while also helping along a young Patriots pitching staff that turned in a strong overall season. His strides at the plate were matched by his improvement behind it, where he helped anchor the pitching staff and the defense for Freehold Township. Of course, he’s not on this team for his glove. Silvestrone was one of four Shore Conference players to hit nine or more home runs and one of five to slug .800 or better. During a two game stretch for Freehold Township that included a loss to Manalapan and a win over Jackson Memorial – both teams that finished in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 – Silvestrone blasted five home runs, including three in the loss to Manalapan. His home run barrage and improvement behind the plate were enough to convince Wagner College to scoop him up in May.
UTILITY
Johnny Zega, Jr., Middletown South
Following an up-and-down season with a young roster in 2014, Middletown South looked headed for nothing but down with a team light on seniors in 2015. The Eagles, however, shook off a 2-5 start to rattle off 14 straight wins en route to a Class A North co-title that they shared with CBA. The turnaround over the last year can be traced back to a physical and mental maturation of its core of juniors, led by Zega – who was one of a slew of Middletown South players who came back stronger and better able to drive the ball.
After hitting just .210 with a slugging percentage below .300 as a sophomore, Zega became a bona fide extra-base threat this year. Among everyday shortstops, only Brandon Janofsky and Manasquan’s Matt Edwards had more extra-base hits than Zega’s 12 and among that same shortstop group, only Janofsky had a higher isolated slugging percentage (slugging percentage minus batting average) than Zega’s .225. On top of his offensive breakout in the middle of the Eagles’ order, Zega was also arguably the team’s best pitcher on a per-inning basis. He posted a team-best 0.97 ERA to go with a 0.86 WHIP and also earned the win in Middletown South’s regular-season win over CBA. Zega is drawing plenty of Division I interest, according to coach Ryan Spillane.
PITCHERS
Luca Dalatri, Jr., Christian Brothers Academy
On an individual level, everything you could say about Luca Dalatri’s most recent season was already said last year because he went out and had an almost identical year to the masterful 11-0 season he authored as a sophomore. There are, however, a few bullet points that make this season an even better one, despite the fact that Dalatri’s ERA increased by half a run and he gave up 13 more hits in what amounts to, essentially, the same work load. First, there is the obvious: that last game. Dalatri once again ended the season by pitching CBA to a championship with a shutout performance, only this time, instead of beating Barnegat in the Shore Conference Tournament final, he blanked previously undefeated Don Bosco Prep. In addition to throwing a four-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and one walk against a team ranked No. 9 in the nation by MaxPreps at the time, he also blasted a solo homer and drove in two runs in the win.
Even at the statistical level, Dalatri showed improvement upon a season that seemed perfect a year ago. While he did not earn a win in every game in which he appeared, he reduced his walk rate from 1.16 per seven innings to 0.69 and increased his strikeout rate from 8.71 per seven to 12.03. Those subtle improvements, coupled with a notable improvement at the plate made Dalatri the perfect high school baseball machine this season. His 44 RBI led the Shore Conference and he finished third in slugging percentage (.839), tied for second in home runs (nine) and tied for fifth in doubles (11). There is only so much left for Dalatri to do after leading his team to all five championships this season, but then again, he found a way to top his 11-0 sophomore season. One target that is within reach for Dalatri is the Shore Conference record for career wins, which is currently held by former Toms River East righthander and current Rutgers pitching coach Casey Gaynor, who had 34.
Morgan Maguire, Sr., Rumson-Fair Haven
Maguire joins Dalatri and Janofsky as the only three players to earn first-team honors in back-to-back years and like those other two, Maguire was once again a two-way threat this season. With a young team surrounding him, Maguire had to do it all for Rumson Fair Haven and that’s after he posted an OPS greater a shade under 1.600 while posting a 1.45 ERA in 53 innings last year. Maguire did not have anywhere near the offensive season he had last year, when he hit .600, but he did have his best pitching season to date while pulling the Bulldogs back into the division race after a poor start. He walked six fewer batters in three more innings while also markedly increasing his strikeout total. Maguire will head to Old Dominion University on the heels of his best
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During the middle of April, Garvey was dealing with discomfort in his elbow and it appeared that injury would derail another promising season after losing time to an elbow issue as a junior as well. Garvey, however, sat out for a two-week stretch and returned to pitch better than he ever had before. The lone senior on the CBA pitching staff, Garvey gave the Colts a reliable No. 2 starter behind Dalatri and then some. In fact, Garvey’s final ERA was a shade lower than that of Dalatri. Although Dalatri’s state tournament finish will be the lasting image of CBA’s drive for five championships, Garvey’s five shutout innings against Bishop Eustace – the No. 2 team in the state at the time – served as arguably the most important performance of the season by any CBA player. Garvey shut out one of the top offenses of the state for five innings, handed the ball off to Dalatri and the rest is history. Garvey also pitched a five-hit shutout against Camden Catholic in the first round of the tournament and earned the win over Immaculata in the sectional semifinals. He also allowed one unearned run over five innings in a Shore Conference Tournament win over Brick.
Andrew Nardi, Sr., Marlboro
After roaring out to a 4-0 start to the season over his first four appearances, Nardi fought through some midseason struggles to round back into top form for the stretch run – which can be said for Marlboro as a whole. Nardi picked up wins over St. Rose, No. 7 Freehold and No. 8 Manalapan to start the season and snagged a win in relief against Freehold Township in extra innings. In those first three starts, Nardi allowed a run in each and went the distance in wins over division foes Freehold and Manalapan. He later closed the season by beating Middletown North to snap his team’s four-game losing streak, throwing a near-no-hitter with 15 strikeouts against Pinelands in the Shore Conference Tournament, and pitching his team past East Brunswick in the opening round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV Tournament. The lone hit he surrendered in the Pinelands game was an infield single and he walked two in the game while facing the minimum 21 batters. Nardi also allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 15-2 loss to CBA before the floodgates opened the inning after his departure. His lone blowup came against Middletown South during the Eagles’ 14-game winning streak, when Middletown South tagged him for eight runs in a 9-5 Marlboro loss. Nardi was pitching on three days rest following the CBA game and did not pitch again for 10 days, at which point he allowed three runs in a win over Middletown North. Once back on regular rest, Nardi got back to dealing, highlighted by his 15-strikeout, near-no-hitter. The left-hander will continue his career at Radford University next season.
SHORE SPORTS NETWORK ALL-SHORE SECOND TEAM CATCHER
Tyler Bradley, Sr., Manasquan
Although Bradley was Manasquan’s primary catcher last year, he was not in the Warriors’ NJSIAA Tournament batting order at the end of the year. He went from a bottom-of-the-order bat to a lineup anchor for the Warriors, more than doubling his batting average and slugging percentage while maintaining his performance behind the plate.
FIRST BASE
Jake Sadowitz, Jr., Manalapan
Although he hit pretty much everyone he faced, Sadowitz liked seeing CBA on the other side of the field. He had two hits in all three meetings between the A North rivals and drove in a run each time he faced off against Luca Dalatri.
INFIELD
Carmen Sclafani, Sr., Brick
Sclafani is heading to Rutgers to play baseball next year and makes his first All-Shore baseball appearance after a standout football career as well. Before coming to Brick as a junior, he was the first of three straight sophomores to start at shortstop for Toms River North.
Joey Rose, Jr., Toms River North
Rose saw a dip in his batting average, but still increased both his on-base and slugging percentages, as well as his home run total, during a junior season in which opposing pitchers did not have much interest in challenging the Oklahoma State recruit.
Aaron Ahn, So., Red Bank Catholic
Ahn’s 27 runs scored and 27 RBI make him one of six players to eclipse 25 runs scored and 25 RBI this season. Four of them are first-team players (Kyle Johnson, Brandon Martorano, Brandon Janofsky and Joe Silvestrone) and the other two (Kyle Missry and Brendan Hueth) played on a St. Rose team that overwhelmed a pitching-thin Class B Central.
Max Goione, Sr., Rumson-Fair Haven
The Siena recruit led the entire Shore Conference in on-base percentage and led all regular shortstops with a .707 slugging percentage.
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OUTFIELD
Matt Vincenti, Sr., Monmouth
Vincenti accomplished a high school rarity when he hit for the cycle in a 12-11 loss to Raritan on April 25, a game in which he also went 6-for-6 at the plate. He finishes his high school career with a school-record 23 doubles.
Rich Rountree, Sr., Jackson Memorial
In a season filled with memorable late comebacks, Roundtree might have had the most memorable when he hit a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to cap a seven-run inning as Jackson Memorial beat Jackson Liberty 8-4.
Anthony Bartolomei, Sr., Ocean
Bartolomei hit his only two career home runs this season and both came in the same game. It just so happens that one was a walk-off homer in extra innings to beat No. 7 Freehold, which came after he pitched the first seven innings of the game.
Travis Cloney, Sr., St. Rose
His numbers get a boost by playing in B Central, but Cloney hits good pitching and does everything on the baseball diamond. The left-handed stick showed he can hit tough pitching by picking up a double and a single against a tough left-hander in Colts Neck’s Mario Ferraioli.
DESIGNATED HITTER
Chris Hawryluk, Jr., Jackson Memorial
The 40-40 club is revered in Major League Baseball, but a trio of Jackson Memorial hitters combined for a 4040-40 season. Hawryluk, Brandon Janofsky and Kyle Johnson all finished with exactly 40 hits – the only trio of teammates to all reach 40 hits this year.
UTILITY
Seamus Brazil, Sr., Barnegat
Brazil found himself at the top of the Bengals rotation this season with the departure of Jason Groome and delivered the performance of an ace. He finished sixth among Shore pitchers with at least 30 innings in ERA and seventh among all pitchers in strikeouts per seven innings.
Mario Ferraioli, Jr., Colts Neck
Prior to a rough outing against No. 2 Red Bank Catholic to end the year, Ferraioli won all seven of his starts and entered that game sporting a 1.58 ERA. He also earned a win earlier in the year against RBC, one of Colts Neck’s 14 division wins during a perfect season within the B North division.
Dan Schirmacher, Sr., St. John Vianney
Schimacher is one of only two Shore pitchers to pitch at least 30 innings and walk fewer than two batters per seven innings while also striking out more than one batter per inning. The other is Luca Dalatri.
John Poccia, Jr., Red Bank Catholic
Pocchia won three Shore Conference Tournament games to pitch Red Bank Catholic into the SCT finals and even though CBA beat him in the championship game, he managed to hold Brandon Martorano hitless while striking him out twice.
SSN THIRD TEAM Ryan Shiffer, Sr., TR South
Anthony DeRosa, So., Red Bank Catholic
FIRST BASE
Ryan Orender, Sr., Wall Adam Elliott, Jr., Matawan
Kyle Missry, Sr., St. Rose
INFIELD
Ray Liguori, Sr., Toms River South
Chris Rodriguez, Jr., Manalapan Mitch Merrill, Sr., Pinelands Matt Cuppari, Jr., Brick Memorial Matt Drake, Sr., Donovan Catholic
PITCHERS
Cid Porter, Jr., CBA Tanner Cowley, Sr., Manasquan Nolan Pereless, Sr., Middletown South Matt Pinto, Sr., Jackson Liberty
The ironman of the Shore Conference, Liguori pitched in 17 of Toms River South’s 28 games this year, including six starts on the mound. He belted a grand slam and closed out win over Triton in the South Jersey Group III quarterfinals with 2 2/3 innings.
Blake DeMeter, Sr., Ocean
DeMeter set a single-season school record with 97 strikeouts, eclipsing a mark of 95 set by George Sofield that stood for 30 years. He struck out a school-record 17 in a NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III opening-round win over Jackson Liberty.
SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM
DESIGNATED HITTER
CATCHER
OUTFIELD
UTILITY
PITCHERS
James Kelly, Sr., Shore Ryan Larsen, Sr., Toms River North Dante Cuzzolino, Sr., Freehold Boro Steve Rullo, Jr., Freehold Boro Kyle Fenton, Sr., Freehold Township
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