Shore Sports Networks 2016 MLB Draft Shore FAB Five

June 7, 2016 Volume-VIII Issue-11

The first thing fans, players, coaches and parents want to know after the big game is always, � � Is this going to be on

Shore Sports Network has established itself as a leader in scholastic sports coverage in Monmouth and Ocean counties, providing more video highlight clips, in-depth reporting, feature stories and regular updates than ANY OTHER OUTLET in the area.

KevinWILLIAMS

Shore Sports Network Website Features n GET VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

of all the important games that Shore Conference fans will be talking about. n Catch up on the action you might have missed n Watch video clips of everything from the action early in the event to the big finish as well as video interviews with various athletes. n www.shoresportsnetwork.com is the most visited sports site in the Shore Conference during the scholastic year n Follow us on Twitter (over 18,000 followers) & Facebook, we keep fans posted on the latest scores and news n Established leading portal for local high school coverage.

Shore Sports Network Director k ev i n . wi l l i am s @ t o wn s qu ar em e di a . co m

SteveMEYER Shore Sports Network Director High School Division s t e v e. m ey e r@ t o wn s q u ar em e di a . co m 7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0

Senior Content Providers BobBadders // badders@allshoremedia.com MattManley // Mmanley21@gmail.com

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2016 SHORE LACROSSE COACHES ASSOCIATION SENIOR ALL-STAR GAME SET FOR JUNE 15TH

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By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

ome of the top senior boys lacrosse players in the Shore Conference will get to showcase their skills in one final high school game when the Shore Conference Lacrosse Coaches Association hosts its senior all-star game, 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday June 15 at Rumson-Fair Haven High School brought to by Shore Sports Network.

Attackman Billy Porter will represent Brick Memorial after helping the Mustangs to an 11-6 record and becoming the program’s alltime leading scorer with 140 points.

Joining Simonelli for Southern will be midfielder James Manzo and defensemen Gordie VonSchmidt, Evan Henken and Anthony Triola. They helped the Rams go 14-2 and win the Class A South title for the fourth straight season. They were also part of a Southern team that captured the 2015 Shore Conference Tournament title.

The North all-stars will be comprised entirely of players from Monmouth County schools and coached by Rumson’s Andy Eastwood, Shore Regional’s Gregg Malfa and Holmdel’s Dale Oehler. The South squad will consist of the Ocean County senior allstars plus seniors from Wall and Manasquan. The South team will be coached by Manasquan’s Sean Cunningham and Jackson Liberty’s Anthony Dzienkiewicz.

The North all-stars feature five Division I recruits, including Shore Regional midfielder Doug Goldsmith (Albany), who tied for the Shore Conference high in points with 99 (56 goals and 43 assists) while also picking up 124 ground balls. Ocean attackman Joey Appio also recorded 99 points (30 goals and 69 assists) this season and became the Shore Conference’s career leader in assists with 221. That mark is also second all-time in New Jersey.

Appio continue his career at Division II Florida Southern College.

Also headlining the team is the Rumson group of attackmen Robbie Garavente, Henry Sillen and Griffin Schultz, defenseman Ian Clarke, faceoff specialist Butch Clark and goalie Kyle Knapp. Those six helped the Bulldogs capture the Shore Conference Tournament title for the third time in four seasons and sixth time overall. They were also key members of Rumson’s 2015 NJSIAA Group I championship team, the first state champion from the Shore.

Christian Brothers Academy’s John Salcedo (Bucknell), Red Bank Catholic’s Brett Habich (Siena), Red Bank’s Ryan

Gilmartin (Mount St. Mary’s) and Garavente (Lafayette) are also headed to Division I schools in the fall.

In addition to Goldsmith and Appio, the North team has several of the Shore’s top offensive players. Ocean midfielder Erik Rant finished with 62 goals and 88 points and Garavente had 54 goals and 85 points. Red Bank attackman Cole Smolokoff tallied 56 goals and 81 points, and teammate Brian Fagan notched 68 points on 49 goals and 19 assists while working the midfield for the Bucs.

A senior-heavy Jackson Liberty team will be well-represented with seven players. Along with Kalmowitz are midfielder Walter Matthies, defensemen Austin Doel and Gio Colandrea, long-stick midfielder Chris Stefanowicz, face-off specialist Christian Pongracz and goalie Chris Mulholland.

Group II finalist Manasquan was a team loaded with juniors and not many seniors, but one of the Warriors’ most important players will get one last game as versatile midfielder Paul Krueger will play on the South team.

The complete rosters for both teams can be found on ShoreSportsNetwork.com.

The North all-stars won last year’s game, 12-8, with Howell’s Zach Ornstein selected as Most Valuable Player. Ornstein started as the face-off specialist for Albany this past season as a true freshman.

Clarke and CBA’s Gordon Paul lead the group of defensemen while Knapp and Colts Neck’s Andrew Halmi are the goalies for the North team.

The South squad isn’t as deep as its counterpart, but has several standout players of its own. Southern attackman Nick Simonelli was second in the Shore in assists (48) and also scored 49 goals for 97 total points. Wall attackman Mike Steppe finished with 92 points on 59 goals and 23 assists. Along with Jackson Liberty’s Tyler Kalmowitz and his 58 goals, the South squad boasts an impressive trio of attackmen.

Barnegat midfielder J.J. McKenna will play Division I lacrosse next year as the Bengals standout heads to Rutgers. Teammate Joe Jinks played midfield for the first time in his career after being a defenseman and turned in a solid season.

There will also be a youth all-star game at 5:30 where fans can watch the stars of tomorrow. Last year’s youth all-star game featured several players who made an impact as freshman this season, including Manasquan’s Mike Lapoint, James Pendergist and Jack Fabean, CBA’s Connor Macrae, Shore’s Gil Goldsmith and Jack McCrae, Wall’s Shane Meyler, Rumson’s Thomas Bavuso, Jackson Memorial’s Santo Porazzo and Lacey’s Dylan Vitale.

Tickets are $5 at the gate.

Shore Sports Network will be on hand with stories, photos and video highlights from the game. There will be a special edition of our magazine, the Shore Sports Network Journal, available free of charge at the gate. It will feature the rosters for both teams in the high school and youth games along with biographies of each high school player, plus the SCLCA All-Shore and All-Division teams and more.

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Lacrosse Season In Review

By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

When Manasquan fell to

Chatham in a thrilling NJSIAA Group II championship game on June 1 it officially marked the end of a 2016 Shore Conference boy lacrosse season which produced several marquee games and milestones.

The Shore Conference continues to grow and raise its statewide profile, and this year it was Manasquan that made a name for itself by becoming just the third area program to play in a state title game, joining Rumson-Fair Haven and Southern.

The Warriors exacted revenge on Rumson in the South Group II sectional final with an 8-4 victory to capture the program’s first state sectional crown. From there Manasquan tangled with Chatham in the Group II final and went toe-totoe with the heavily-favored Cougars before falling, 4-2.

Manasquan also reached the Shore Conference Tournament championship game and won the Class B South division title for the second year in a row.

With a large standout junior class that features the top goal scorer in the Shore this season, attackman Jarrett Birch, and arguably the top defenseman in Kyle LeBlanc, plus a group of outstanding freshman, Manasquan should be a force to be reckoned with in 2017.

To get to where they finished the Warriors had to get through the standard-bearer in the Shore M a n a s q u a n ’s J a r r e t t B i r c h

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following the 2015 season, including 421-point scorer Dylan Jinks, who starred as a freshman at Hartford this season. The Rams became the first Ocean County team to win the SCT last season, but with so much talent graduating many felt the Rams would fall back to earth. Instead, Southern showed how deep its program goes. The Rams were 12-0 before falling to Manasquan in the SCT semifinals. Senior attackman Nick Simonelli had a banner season with 97 points.

Conference, and it took two tries.

Rumson, coming off the NJSIAA Group I title in 2015, started the season ranked No. 1 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10 and held that spot all the way until the sectional final. A phenomenal senior class led by senior attackman Robbie Garavente steered the Bulldogs to the Class B North division title and the program’s sixth SCT title with an 8-5 win over Manasquan in a stellar championship game.

Rumson and Manasquan were the top two teams in the Shore Conference all season, and the fact they played twice with championships on the line was a treat for Shore Conference fans.

Rumson was tested by CBA in a phenomenal semifinal game where the Bulldogs prevailed, 6-4.

Southern held a 65 lead on Manasquan in the SCT semifinals before the Warriors - a secondhalf team all season - pulled away in the final two quarters.

M a n a s q u a n ’s C a n y o n B i r c h

After sharing the title in 2015, CBA won the Class A North division crown outright and only lost to Rumson and Manasquan in the Shore Conference. The Colts caught fire at the right time, finding their offensive groove over the final three weeks of the season to surge into the SCT semifinals.

Rumson’s Robbie Garavente Southern turned in a very important season for the program by going 14-2 and winning the Class A South division title for the fourth consecutive year.

Southern graduated a program-defining senior class See LAX

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With large group of seniors, Jackson Liberty set a program record for wins in a season by going 13-6 and reaching the semifinals of the South Group III playoffs.

Ocean tied the program record for wins in a season by going 14-3 for the second straight year.

Shore rebounded from a sub-.500 season to have one of the program's best campaigns in going 12-6 and winning their first SCT game, a 12-11 overtime thriller against Jackson Liberty.

Middletown South, under first-year head coach Rob Grella, won a programrecord nine games. The Eagles are a team to watch over the next few years under Grella, who coached Adelphi University’s women’s lacrosse team to the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship before resigning to pursue opportunities closer to his home.

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wins in a season by going 14-3 for the second straight year.

S h o r e rebounded from a sub-.500 season to have one of the program's best campaigns in going 12-6 and winning their first SCT game, a 12-11 overtime thriller against Jackson Liberty.

saves with 1,003. He broke the state record when he made 18 saves in a win over Middletown South on May 11 to pass Glen Ridge’s Jack Davis with 958 saves. He became the first New Jersey goalie to reach 1,000 career saves when he stopped 14 shots in his final high school game, a loss by the Bucs to Hopewell Valley in the first round of the state playoffs.

In its second year as a varsity program, Point Boro went 7-11 and qualified for the Shore Conference Tournament and the South Group I state playoffs.

Individually, Red Bank senior goalie Jon Pierce led the state in saves with 306 and also set the state’s career record f o r

Middletown South, under first-year head coach Rob Grella, won a program-record nine games. The Eagles are a team to watch over the next few years under Grella, who coached Adelphi University’s women’s lacrosse team to the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championship before resigning to pursue opportunities closer to his home.

Ocean senior attackman Joey Appio finished his career with 221 assists to end up as the Shore Conference’s all-time leader and second all-time in New Jersey. Appio finished tied for the scoring title in the Shore Conference with 99 points on 30 goals and a conference-best 69 assists.

Healthy for the first time in his lacrosse career, Shore senior midfielder Doug Goldsmith shined with 53 goals and 46 assists to tie for the conference lead with 99 points, showing why he’ll be playing his college lacrosse at the University of Albany.

Southern’s Nick Simonelli

Manasquan’s Jarrett Birch led the Shore in goals with 70.

Neptune experienced a huge turnaround under third-year head coach Rob Schulte, going from 1-14 last year to finishing a program-best 10-10 this season. The Scarlet Fliers had an eight-game winning streak late in the season and will look to build on that success heading into 2017.

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Shore’s Doug Goldsmith

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By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer scouting resources in the hopes of finding their Mike Trout.

N JUNE OF 2009, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STAGED ITS FIRST-YEAR PLAYER DRAFT FROM THE STUDIO OF THE NEWLY-LAUNCHED MLB NETWORK FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN HOPES THAT ITS EVENT WOULD BUILD TOWARD BECOMING WHAT THE NFL AND NBA HAD DEVELOPED IN THEIR RESPECTIVE VERSIONS OF THE DRAFT.

In order to create a similar spectacle, MLB invited a host of potential draft picks to attend. Only one showed up.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had two consecutive selections in the 2009 draft, the first of which was the 24th pick overall. As that one, single, solitary potential draft pick waited with his family and friends for his name to be called, thencommissioner Bud Selig called out the name of the Angels’ pick at 24: Randal Grichuk.

The Angels are widely hailed as the team with enough sense to draft the best player in the game today that night, but even the Angels passed on the kid sitting in the studio.

One pick later, however, Selig finally ended the wait and called the young man’s name.

“With the 25th selection of the first round in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft,” the Commissioner decreed that night, “The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim select Michael Trout.”

Before Selig could recite Trout’s position and origin, a large cheer erupted in the studio. His family, friends, coaches and teammates had made the two-hour trip from Millville, NJ in the southern-most part of the state to Secaucus for that moment and they all made the most of it by letting Trout – and everyone else in the studio – know they were there.

While not even the Angels could have predicted that night that they had just selected a player who would win an American League Most Valuable Player Award in his third Big League season and finish second in the other three of his first four full years – and done so with their second pick, no less – it doesn’t prevent all 30 Major League clubs spending vast

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Trout was not only proof that elite talent is available after the first 10 teams have made their selection, but it can also be available in “cold weather” states like New Jersey.

This season’s crop of New Jersey talent available in the draft is among the best in the state has ever produced in a single draft, according to several area scouts, and the Jersey Shore is a significant source of that. At least four current high school seniors from schools in the Shore Conference are expected to be taken in the first 15 rounds of the draft and another college player from the Shore is widely projected to hear his name called in the first round.

look at five prospects from the Jersey Shore that are expected to go off the board either in the first 77 picks Thursday night on MLB Network or either of the next two days of selections.

Conservatively speaking, all five Jersey Shore natives are likely to be selected in those first 15 rounds, but there are factors that could land each in the top five rounds as well as other factors that could land them later in what is a volatile process. Below is a

JASON GROOME, LHP, BARNEGAT (Committed to Vanderbilt)

2016 Stats: 39 2/3 innings, 15 hits, 14 walks, 90 strikeouts, 0.88 ERA, 2-3 record (Includes starts made while ineligible) Career Stats: 170 1/3 innings, 88 hits, 50 walks, 307 strikeouts, 0.99 ERA, 16-6 record

By the end of his junior season at IMG Academy in Florida, Groome ascended to the top of this year’s draft class according to multiple prospect-ranking publications and, for the most part, has done little on the field to diminish that standing. Although few scouts, sportswriters and draft experts are expecting the Philadelphia Phillies to make Groome the No. 1 pick on Thursday night, that is mainly due to conditions outside of Groome’s control.

The list of high school pitchers selected with the No. 1 pick is short (there have been three) and the list of high school pitchers selected No. 1 who have had established, successful Big League careers is non-existent.

For that reason, both the Phillies and the Cincinnati Reds – who have the second pick – are rumored to be interested in either a college player or a high school

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position player. There are also financial factors that play into the top of the draft and those could be holding back a player like Groome, who is regarded as one of the three-to-five best players available by most publications and whose representation is reportedly seeking to get him paid to reflect that. In recent years, since the draft has implemented overall spending limits for the entire draft rather than slot recommendations, many clubs have sought to draft players at the top of the draft who will sign a contract at a lower value than the slot expectation in order to spend more money late in the draft on players who are expected to be more expensive.

While some have mentioned Groome’s ineligibility ruling in April as a possible red flag for teams, that hardly seems to be the case given that the decision stemmed from a failure to interpret the rules by the Barnegat athletic department. On the field, his stuff played up to expectation. His fastball did not reach the 97-mile-per-hour high point that he reached in the summer of 2015, but he hit 96 a handful of times and was consistently 92-to-94 throughout the year while continuing to flash a curveball that most scouts consider his best pitch. He also showcased a changeup that scouts find promising.

By the numbers, if there was one facet of Groome’s game that might have left evaluators wanting more, it was the walk totals. They were not especially disconcerting, but for a prospect considered to have advanced feel and command, 14 walks in 39 2/3 innings was more solid than spectacular. While the 90 strikeouts mitigates that to some degree, it also helped to drive up Groome’s pitch counts during his starts.

With the intense spotlight on him during his senior year, Groome has acquitted himself admirably, both in his demeanor and performance. Anyone carrying the expectations that Groome did into this season is bound to face scrutiny and after being picked apart for the last two months, he is still expected to be a high pick on Thursday, even if it is not No. 1. He could go as early as No. 3 to Atlanta, Oakland has reportedly been interested at No. 6, and he is unlikely to get past Boston at No. 12. With all that being said, don’t count the Phillies out if the price is right.

MATT THAISS, CATCHER University of Virginia (Jackson Memorial)

2016 Stats: .375 avg., 13 doubles, 2 triples, 10 home runs, 55 runs, 59 RBI, .473 on-base pct., .578 slugging pct.

College Career: .344 avg., 26 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs, 115 runs, 130 RBI, .432 on-base pct., .509 slugging pct.

HS Career: .343 avg., 22 doubles, 17 home runs, 50 runs, 70 RBI, .483 on-base pct., .673 slugging pct.

Thaiss has already experienced the thrill of being drafted when he was selected by the Red Sox in the 32nd round of the 2013 draft out of the Jackson Memorial High School. The experience is sure to be completely different this time around because of the work Thaiss put in during his time in college – a career that includes a College World Series title in 2015 and 20 homers over the past two seasons.

Heading into the season, the buzz surrounding Thaiss as a potential draft pick was relatively mum, but his red-hot start sent him flying up draft boards. Heading into the week, Thaiss is considered a strong bet to be selected in the first round and at the very least, he should hear his name called on Thursday night in prime time.

At this stage, Thaiss’s best quality is his bat, which is no surprise to those who watched him play at Jackson Memorial. This past season, not only did Thaiss lead the Cavaliers in average, home runs and RBI, but he also struck out 16 times while drawing 39 walks. He was also a constant in the lineup, starting all 60 of the team’s games and

doing so as a catcher, no less. He emerged as a leader at one of the nation’s top programs and although Virginia was eliminated from this year’s NCAA Tournament this past weekend, he still ends his college career with a ring.

The major question surrounding Thaiss, and perhaps the only question, is what defensive position he will play at the next level. With the exception of his freshman year at Virginia, during which he played sparingly as a designated hitter and first baseman, Thaiss has been a catcher since his junior year at Jackson Memorial.

Over the summer, one scout said he thought Thaiss was good enough to catch as a pro, but that opinion put him in the minority based on the opinion of scouts this spring.

Thaiss has experience in the outfield in high school and at first base at Virginia, so he has a foundation for any position change if his new employer wants to move him from behind the plate right away. Mock drafts have him being selected as high as No. 18 overall and teams looking for an impact bat for their system will strongly consider the former Jaguar.

LUCA DALATRI, RHP, CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY (Committed to North Carolina)

2016 Stats (Through Tuesday): 60 innings, 28 hits, 4 walks, 108 strikeouts, 0.46 ERA, 9-0 record

Career Stats: 242 2/3 innings, 135 hits, 36 walks, 360 strikeouts, 0.69 ERA, 34-2 record

Those who follow baseball at the Shore know all about Dalatri, who is on the cusp of breaking the Shore Conference career wins record if he can win Wednesday’s Shore Conference Tournament final.

MLB scouting departments have become familiar with him as well and he presents an interesting case to the people making decisions.

On performance and results, it’s hard to

player.

imagine a more effective

Dalatri is a two-time Gatorade N.J. Player of the Year and is in the midst of one of the most dominant seasons in Shore Conference history, even coming off of his least effective start of the season last Wednesday. He has struck out 108 batters in 60 innings while issuing only four walks. Before allowing three earned runs in his last outing, Dalatri had allowed only one in his previous 53 innings. He pitched 38 consecutive scoreless innings at one point and that sort of performance has become expected of him during his high school career.

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Matt Thaiss (L) of the Virginia Cavaliers celebratewinning the National Championship (Peter Aiken/Getty Images

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So if Dalatri has been a dominant performer for three years and is committed to a program like North Carolina, why aren’t teams targeting him in the first round? As one scout said, “(Scouts) have been showing up every game thinking this will be the day he throws 94 (miles per hour) and it hasn’t happened.”

Dalatri has consistently pitched with a fastball in the 88-to-91 miles-per-hour range this season and in one start, he was up to 93. While that has not catapulted him into the first round, it has been enough to pique the interest of a number of teams as a potential top-five round selection. Scouts are impressed by his Dalatri’s size, control and command of four pitches, as well as the results he has produced.

While all of the physical attributes are the basis for any evaluation, his likelihood to sign a team-friendly signing bonus will be what determines his draft position. A source said he will be drafted within the top five rounds, but in year’s past, similar guarantees involving players like Dalatri have not always played out. If teams determine it will be difficult to convince a player to break his college commitment, they typically pass. With that in mind and considering he is ranked No. 174 on Baseball America’s Top 500 list, Dalatri could go anywhere between round three and the early teens.

consider him to be a tough sign.

While some scouts have indicated that Martorano could move off of catcher as a professional, plenty of evaluators see him as a catcher. One scout said his arm does not stand out, but his receiving skills and understanding of the position more than make up for the arm.

Martorano’s bat turned heads at the end of his junior high school season and his hot streak continued into the summer, when he cracked Baseball America’s top 100 prep players list. He began his high school career as a lanky athlete with surprising power and as a junior, that power went to a different level as Martorano cracked 11 home runs in 108 at-bats. He came back as a senior with 20 added pounds of muscle and hitting the ball with even greater authority, although it did not show in the home run totals.

The window in which Martorano will be drafted seems to be more stable than that of Dalatri and that means he will likely be a day-two pick with a chance to hear his name called in top five rounds.

JOEY ROSE, 3RD BASE, TOMS RIVER NORTH

2016 Stats: .437 avg., 6 doubles, 1 triple, 11 home runs, 33 runs, 38 RBI, 2 SB, .615 on-base pct., 1.015 slugging pct.

Career Stats: .417 avg., 23 doubles, 3 triples, 18 home runs, 78 runs, 73 RBI, 12 stolen bases, .561 on-base pct., .798 slugging pct.

Rose was not as firmly on the draft radar entering the season as Martorano was and did not have the out-of-this-world performance that Dalatri had, but he had some mix of the two. His high school performance during his three varsity seasons is borderline eye-popping and his bat speed and arm are both tools that have caught the eye of scouts.

BRANDON MARTORANO, CATCHER CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY (Committed to North Carolina)

2016 Stats: .402 avg., 8 doubles, 5 home runs, 24 runs, 25 RBI, 8 stolen bases, .467 onbase pct., .667 slugging pct.

Of all the Shore Conference players likely to be drafted, Rose has the widest range of possibilities. He could be selected on the second day of the draft as a talented player who is motivated to sign with a team, but could also end up a middle-round pick if teams feel they can afford to wait on him.

Career Stats: .391 avg., 23 2B, 7 3B, 18 HR, 79 runs, 79 RBI, 16 SB, .449 on-base pct., .696 slugging pct.

The same rules that apply to Dalatri’s signability also apply to his CBA teammate and fellow UNC commit. Martorano is rated No. 208 on that same Baseball America Top 500 list and has held steady around No. 200 since the list was released.

Without regard to Martorano signing, he has been considered by some as a potential second-orthird-round talent which could land h i m comfortably on day two of the draft, even if teams

JUNIOR COLLEGE PROSPECTS ANDREW DIPIAZZA, RHP, Mercer County College (Central Regional)

DiPiazza and Molina both had standout seasons back in N.J. this season after beginning their college careers for bigger, out-of-state programs. DiPiazza was considered a potential top-10 round pick at one point heading into his senior season at Central, but a lateseason elbow ailment took him off the board. He spent a season at the University of Alabama before transferring to Mercer for the 2016 season.

AL MOLINA, SHORTSTOP, Brookdale College (RBC)

Molina was a 29th round pick of the Phillies in 2014 and opted to attend Coastal Carolina University. After a solid debut as a freshman, Molina opted to return to Monmouth County and suit up for the Jersey Blues. This past season, he was named Region XIX Player of the Year.

Both players could hear their names called at some point on either Friday or Saturday with the possibility of returning to the college ranks still on the table for each.

Photos By:

Mark Brown

Ray Richardson

www.b51photography.com

rayrichphotography.smugmug.com

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Manasquan Takes Rematch with Rumson to win South Group II Sectional Title

By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

M

anasquan waited two weeks to get another chance at Rumson-Fair Haven, and with that opportunity the Warriors made history.

A complete team effort did it for Manasquan in an 8-4 victory over Rumson in the NJSIAA South Group II state sectional final on Saturday morning at the Sea Girt Army Camp. Freshman attackman Canyon Birch scored three times, junior attackman Jarrett Birch had one goal and two assists and junior midfielder Pat Felstedt sank a pair of goals against a Rumson defense that had allowed just three goals in three postseason games entering the final.

Manasquan’s defense, led by junior Kyle LeBlanc, stifled a dynamic Rumson offense, while the face-off unit of junior FOGO Matt Thermann and wings Paul Krueger and Pete Degnan kept possession even throughout the game. It all added up to the Warriors exacting revenge for a loss to Rumson in the Shore Conference Tournament final and winning the program’s first state title.

“It’s a huge step for this program,” Felstedt said. “Beating a team like that and almost shutting them out in the first half; the defense did an amazing job, Tommy (junior goalie

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Tom Pollock) was phenomenal and we just capitalized on offense.”

“It’s amazing,” LeBlanc said. “Especially beating Rumson after we lost to them in the Shore Conference Tournament.

It means a lot.”

Manasquan will play North Group II champion Chatham for the NJSIAA Group II championship at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Livingston High School. Chatham defeated Ramapo, 6-5 in double overtime, to win its sectional title on Saturday. The winner of that game advances to the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions.

Manasquan led from start to finish, taking a 1-0 lead 2:19 into the game and leading 5-1 at halftime. The Warriors enjoyed a four-goal lead for much of the final three quarters, but it wasn’t until half a minute remained that head coach Sean Cunningham allowed himself to relax.

“I think at the 30-second mark I finally let myself breath a sigh of relief and say ‘wow, we just did it’,” Cunningham said. “The fourth quarter was the longest 12 minutes of my life.”

“This is one of the greatest feelings,” Krueger said.

“You’re on the field and seeing the clock counting down and there’s no way they’re coming back. You’re state champions.”

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The first meeting was an 8-5 win for Rumson on May 16 to win the SCT title. Manasquan was crushed after the loss, but vowed to rebound and put itself in position to potentially see the Bulldogs again with another title on the line. They felt some minor adjustments would pay big dividends.

“We felt pretty good about the first game even though they scored a good amount of goals because they had a lot of possessions where we forced a turnover but they picked it right back up,” LeBlanc said. “Today we focused on picking up those ground balls when they were on the floor.”

“We put together a good team effort on ground balls and it worked out.”

Another stark change for Manasquan was on draws.

Rumson senior Butch Clark won 11 of 17 face-offs in the SCT final, but on Saturday Thermann and Clark were essentially even with Clark unofficially going 8-for-14.

“The biggest turnaround from last game to this game was the Worm at face-off X,” Cunningham said. “Matt – not to undermine what Butch did last game – was nursing a little bit of a wrist injury and Butch absolutely took it to him. This game we saw that 50/50 even split I more anticipated with those two because they’re both such good face-off guys.

Matt was rested and he came after it, and the wing play with Petey Degnan and Paulie Krueger and the two poles between Tommy Meyer and Chip Sarnasi was fantastic.”

The bottom line for Manasquan was that in the areas it knew it could improve, the Warriors executed to near perfection.

“They dominated face-offs last time we played them and we scrapped for ground balls this time, and that made a big difference,” Felstedt said. “Clearing the ball, we made some adjustments this time and got it done. On the offensive side we needed longer possessions. Last time our defense was gassed because we were playing too much. Our offense really settled it down.”

Jarrett Birch’s unassisted goal 2:19 into the game gave Manasquan (19-4) the early lead, and that quick advantage could not be underestimated. The Warriors’ defense put the clamps on and kept the one-goal edge heading to the second quarter. Felstedt pushed the lead to 2-0 early in the second quarter and Canyon Birch and James Pendergist tallied 34 seconds apart to open up a 4-0 lead with eight minutes left in the first half.

“The first goal is always huge,” Cunningham said. “They struck first last game and it was almost immediate, and then we had to play catch-up. We went up 2-1 and they immediately tied it, so we never had that sense of being able to relax and take a deep breath. Scoring the first goal and the way the defense was playing allowed us to be in control and have a little bit of wiggle room. We got that second goal, third goal, fourth goal and we were able to keep that cushion.”

“We knew we could score and (the first goal) really sparked our momentum,” Canyon Birch said. “Once we get going we’re hard to stop.”

Henry Sillen got Rumson on the board with an unassisted goal at 5:18, but Felstedt got it right back with 2:33 left in the half.

Manasquan extended its lead to 6-1 when Canyon Birch scored unassisted 1:24 into the third quarter, and the teams traded goals for the rest of the quarter, culminating with a steal by Jarrett Birch to set up Canyon Birch for an 8-3 lead going to the fourth quarter.

Griffin Schultz scored 54 seconds into the fourth quarter, but that was all the offense Rumson could muster against a locked-in Manasquan defense.

SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM

by:

Bob Badders www.shoresportsnetwork.com

Photo By:

Rob Samuals www.boofacephotography.com

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