Adrenaline Shore Conference Baseball Saturday NJSIAA Scoreboard, June 4

NJSIAA Tournament

Sectional Quarterfinals

Central Jersey Group IV

(9) East Brunswick 1, (1) Middletown South 0

Dustin McGuinness drove in the game's lone run in the top of the first inning and Joe Ditzel silenced the defending Group IV champions at the plate and pitched the Bears into Tuesday's sectional semifinal against No. 5 North Brunswick.

Middletown South first baseman Joe Stanzione reached base in two of his three trips to the plate, but Ditzel kept Stanzione -- who broke the single-season Shore Conference record with his 15th home run in Saturday's win over Princeton -- in the ballpark, limiting him to a walk and a single.

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(3) Jackson Memorial 7, (6) Old Bridge 1

Junior Charlie Meglio crushed a two-run home run to open the scoring in the bottom of the first and made the defensive play of the game to get Jackson Memorial out of trouble in the top of the sixth as the Jaguars rode another dominant effort from senior Zach Crotchfelt to a postseason win -- this time over the Knights in the sectional quarterfinals.

Crotchfelt allowed two baserunners on a pair of singles through the first five innings, but a leadoff walk and some defensive miscues got him in hot water in the sixth. An error by Meglio set runners up at first and second and a wild pitch moved each up a base. Crotchfelt then notched a strikeout, but a passed ball allowed the first Old Bridge run to score and the batter to reach first base with none out. Following a stolen base Justin Herbstman, Old Bridge had the tying runs on second and third with no one out.

Crotchfelt locked in and struck out the next two batters for his 12th and 13th punchouts of the game and Mike Villani followed with a high chopper over the mound. Meglio charged it and in one motion, fielded the ball and fired it to sophomore first baseman Joe Zito to end the inning and send Crotchfelt back to the dugout fired up.

Jackson Memorial tacked on four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on two bases-loaded hit-by-pitches for both seniors Chris Cartnick and J.R. Osmond. Crotchfelt then capped the rally with a two-run single to left.

Junior Andy Osmond recorded the final three outs in the top of the seventh to close out the win and send Jackson Memorial to the sectional semifinals Tuesday at No. 2 Howell.

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Central Jersey Group III

(5) Colts Neck 12, (13) Matawan 2 (5 Innings)

The Cougars answered two Matawan runs in the top of the first with an eight-run outburst in the bottom of the inning and closed out the win over the Huskies in five innings.

Senior Brad Salamone singled, doubled, scored two runs and drove in two runs in the first inning alone, while sophomore Chris Scully, senior Christian Rice and junior Ryan Tan each had an RBI single in the first.

Scully also added a two-run single in the third inning and Colts Neck put the game away with two runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double to deep center by senior Dave Cohen and a game-ending, two-out RBI single by sophomore Tom Diffley.

Matawan jumped on top thanks to a single, stolen base and run scored by leadoff hitter Jack Sassa on a groundout by senior Jake Brigandi. Sophomore Sal Cassano followed with a first-pitch double to the gap in left-center to make it 2-0, Huskies.

Colts Neck advances to the sectional semifinal round for the second straight season and will travel to play top-seeded Steinert Tuesday.

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(10) Middletown North 12, (15) JFK-Iselin 0 (5 Innings)

Senior Mike Weinbel pitched four scoreless, five-hit innings on 54 pitches and went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI to lead the Lions (17-10) to a rout of the Mustangs (9-19) and into the sectional semifinals Tuesday at No. 6 Somerville.

Junior Ryan Frontera (2-for-4) and freshman Zach Hampton (2-for-3) each had two hits and drove in three, with Hampton opening the scoring with a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning. Frontera singled home a run in Middletown North's six-run second inning, with Weibel contributing an RBI double to the rally and senior Andrew Lombardi a two-run triple.

Frontera tacked on a two-run double in the third and Colin Dowlen capped his 3-for-3 game at the plate with an RBI single in the third as well. Dowlen also doubled and scored two runs in the win -- the eighth straight for Middletown North.

(1) Steinert 12, (8) Neptune 2 (5 Innings)

Senior Ryan Cole drove in Quincy Esannason with an RBI single to give Neptune a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning and senior Tyler Persico belted a solo home run that kept Neptune in the game, 5-2, in the top of the fourth, but the Spartans blew the game open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth and ended the game in five innings.

Steinert will host No. 5 Colts Neck in Tuesday's sectional semifinal round.

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Central Jersey Group II

(2) Wall 2, (7) Metuchen 0

Senior Andrew Fischer hit an RBI ground-rule double and scored on an error in the bottom of the first inning and senior right-hander Matt Johnson took over from there, spinning a one-hit shutout with eight strikeouts to send the Crimson Knights past the Bulldogs and into the sectional semifinals Tuesday at home against No. 3 Governor Livingston.

Junior shortstop Gabe Cavazzoni ignited the first-inning rally by walking with one out and stealing second base, which allowed him to score when Fischer's long double hopped over the fence in right.

With Johnson's seven shutout innings, Wall's two starting pitchers have produced 14 combined shutout innings in two NJSIAA Tournament wins. Junior Zach Szatkowski pitched a three-hit shutout Wednesday in a 3-0 Wall win over East Brunswick Tech.

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(1) Rumson-Fair Haven 4, (9) Bordentown 2

Seniors Johnny Bruno and Liam Murphy hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the third and senior right-hander Charlie Jones pitched five one-hit innings to quiet the Scotties as the Bulldogs advanced to the sectional semifinals to face defending sectional champion Voorhees at home on Tuesday.

After Bordentown scored an unearned run off of Jones to tie the game, 1-1, in the top of the third, Rumson struck back in the bottom of the inning, starting with a leadoff triple by senior Matt Rigby. Bruno's double plated Rigby and Murphy traded places with Bruno to up the Bulldogs lead to 3-1.

Junior catcher Owen Kenney added to the lead with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth and Jones went on to allowed just one more unearned run before turning the ball over to junior right-hander John Goodes for the final three outs.

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Central Jersey Group I

(5) Shore 6, (4) South Amboy 0

Sophomore Cole Stefanelli followed up a no-hitter by sophomore teammate Rob Stock in the opening round with six one-hit innings and the Blue Devils tossed their second straight shutout to open the tournament, this time downing the Governors to earn a trip to play top-seed and four-time defending champion Middlesex in Tuesday's sectional semifinals.

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(2) Point Beach 4, (7) Bound Brook 0

Senior right-hander Andrew Banick drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth and that was all the help he would need in pitching a one-hit shutout to send the Garnet Gulls past the Crusaders and into the sectional semifinals Tuesday against No. 3 New Egypt.

Banick took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Damian Ogonowski broke up the big with a two-out single. Bound Brook also put the tying runs on base in the top of the sixth with Point Beach still clinging to a 2-0 lead, but after a sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third, Banick induced an inning-ending flyout.

Point Beach added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, including an RBI single by freshman Bryan Matuschat that capped his perfect 3-for-3 game at the plate. Banick then took the ball in the seventh and closed out his one-hit shutout by striking out the side in order.

The Garnet Gulls extended their lead to 2-0 in the third inning when senior Colin Matuschat doubled and scored on an RBI single by sophomore Nate Clayton.

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South Jersey Group IV

(4) Central 9, (5) Egg Harbor 3

Central scored five runs with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning and senior right-hander Cam Leiter record the final five outs on strikeouts to close the door on a Golden Eagles win over the Eagles.

Senior Alex Heinrich delivered a clutch, two-out, two-run double to give Leiter some breathing room in the form of a 6-3 Central lead in the top of the sixth. The Golden Eagles pushed the lead to 7-3 thanks to an Egg Harbor error and junior Dom Masino capped the rally with a two-run home run.

Before putting the game away with its five-run sixth, Central grabbed control early with a four-run first. Masino singled and Leiter doubled off the fence in left-center to get it started and Masino scored on a passed ball while Leiter came home on an RBI single by junior Chase Pierce. A wild pitch scored the third Central run and junior Elijah Kiernan capped the first-inning scoring with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

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South Jersey Group II

(3) Haddon Heights 6, (6) Barnegat 5 (8 Innings)

Drew Harris beat out an infield single as John DiCostanzo scored the winning run from third and the Garnets handed the Bengals a heartbreaking loss in the sectional quarterfinals after Barnegat rallied from a five-run deficit to send the game into extra innings.

After falling behind, 5-0, Barnegat's bats woke up in the top of the fifth inning, highlighted by a game-tying three-run home run by senior P.J. Craig.

Senior Ryan Kulpa helped set up the inning with a double to put runners at second and third. Senior Rafael Dominguez then got Barnegat on the scoreboard with an RBI groundout, followed by an RBI single by senior Jared Schworn that cut the deficit to 5-2.

Sophomore Patrick Quinn kept the inning alive with a single and Craig made it count by blasting the game-tying homer to left on a 3-2 pitch after he fell behind, 0-2.

Craig also pitched three scoreless innings of relief of Kulpa and recorded the first two batters of the eighth before running into trouble. He hit DiCostanzo to extend the inning and Caden Bodine hit a bloop single, with DiCostanzo alertly racing to third base to put him in position to score when Harris put the ball in play in the infield with two out.

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(10) Manchester 6, (2) Delran 1

Senior right-hander Mike Damato helped his cause with the third of Manchester's three home runs, which came in the top of the sixth and put an exclamation point on a Hawks win over the Bears -- the second straight season in which Manchester has won at Delran as a double-digit seed while the host was the No. 2 seed.

Manchester won the South Jersey Group II championship last season by defeating Delran, 7-5, in the sectional final, with Sean McAllister hitting the game-winning, three-run home run on a two-strike count with two out in the top of the seventh inning.

On Saturday, McAllister joined the Manchester home run party again with a solo shot to lead off the top of the sixth and extend the Hawks lead to 4-1. Senior Nick Johnson got Manchester started in the top of the third with a three-run blast that opened up a 3-0 lead for the visitor.

Dan Murphy collected three of the four Delran hits off Damato and singled home the Bears' lone run in the bottom of the third.

Manchester moves on to face No. 3 Haddon Heights Tuesday in the sectional semifinal, another opponent the Hawks beat on the road en route to a South Group II championship in 2021.

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