Shore Sports Networks 2016 MCT CBA vs RBC Championship

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K e v i n W I L L I A M SShore Sports Network Directorkev in .wi l l i ams@townsquaremedia .com

S t e v e M E Y E RShore Sports NetworkDirector High School Divisionsteve.meye r@townsquaremedia .com7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0

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”Is this going to be on ”






Shore Sports Network has established itself as a leader in scholasticsports coverage in Monmouth and Ocean counties, providing morevideo highlight clips, in-depth reporting, feature stories and regularupdates than ANY OTHER OUTLET in the area.




nof all the important games that Shore Conference fans will be talking about.

n Catch up on the action you might have missedn Watch video clips of everything from the

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nof all the important games that Shore Conference fans will be talking about.

n Catch up on the action you might have missedn Watch video clips of everything from the

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n Follow us on Twitter (over 18,000 followers) & Facebook, we keep fans posted on the latest scores and news

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With the Shore Conference Tournament in full swing there has been morethan enough time for teams to establish themselves and prove exactly wherethey belong in the conference's hierarchy.There are still some big games to play that will decide the SCT championship, plus the

state tournament is right around the corner, but there has been enough results to make thepicture more clear than ever.Rumson-Fair Haven remains at the top and the favorite to take home the SCT

championship, while Manasquan remains No. 2. Rumson, Manasquan and undefeatedSouthern, which comes in at No. 3, have not lost within the conference this season. Lookout for CBA, which seems to be peaking at just the right time. Ocean has one loss and

remains dangerous with Joey Appio and Erik Rant leading a high-octane offense.Wall, Freehold Township and Shore each advanced to the SCT quarterfinals, so the top

eight looks good. The question is what to do with No. 9 and No. 10. Howell has lost two ofits last three while Toms River North is on a three-game losing streak. Jackson Liberty,meanwhile, fell in overtime to Shore for its first loss in eight games.See how it all shakes out in the latest Shore Sports Network Top 10.

1.RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN(12-3, 7-0 B North)

The Bulldogs pushed their winning streak to six gameswith a 15-4 win over Holmdel, a 7-4 victory over St.Peter's Prep and a 16-2 win over Point Boro in the firstround of the Shore Conference Tournament. Rumson isthe top seed in the SCT and looking to reach thechampionship game for the eighth consecutive year.

2. Manasquan(12-3, 5-0 B South)

The Warriors fell to Ridge, 14-8, in a toughnonconference game on the road, but bounced back totrounce Lacey, 23-8, in the first round of the ShoreConference Tournament. Junior attackman Jarrett Birchwent bonkers with 10 goals in that win as Manasquanblew open a game that was surprisingly just a 9-6 lead forthe Warriors' at halftime. Manasquan received the No. 2seed for the Shore Conference Tournament where it willattempt to reach the final for the second time and firstsince the SCT's inaugural year in 2005.

3. Southern(11-0, 6-0 A South)

Still undefeated are the Rams, who defeated Red BankCatholic, 16-5, in the first round of the Shore ConferenceTournament in their only game of the week. They are theNo. 3 seed and the defending SCT champions. Southernhas reached the SCT final in each of the last threeseasons. It seems like everyone is waiting for the Rams toslip up, but all they do is keep winning.

4. CBA (10-5, 7-0 A North) The Colts may have three losses, but it's hard topenalize them too much when the combined records ofthe teams that beat them is 20-3. CBA has a loss to St.Joseph (Metuchen) as well defeats against Rumson andManasquan, the top two teams in the SSN Top 10. Theyare on a three-game winning streak since losing 10-3 toRumson, however, with wins over Peddie, Howell andMiddletown North. A large slate of games awaits thisweek with contests versus Colts Neck, Don Bosco Prep,Marlboro and Neptune.

5. Ocean(12-1, 7-1 B North)

The Spartans were seeded fifth in the Shore ConferenceTournament and took care of Brick Memorial, 18-10, inthe first round to reach the quarterfinals for the secondstraight season. Senior attackman Joey Appio had sevenmore assists and is closing in on the state record forcareer assists. He entered Tuesday with 211 assists andthe record is 217 by Glen Ridge's Alex Lopes.

6. Wall(12-2, 5-1 B South)

This was a tough call between the Crimson Knights andFreehold Township. The Shore Conference Tournamentseeding committee had Freehold Township sixth and Wallseventh, but since I had the Knights sixth last week and theywon their only game I'm not dropping them. Wall downedHowell 13-6 in the first round of the SCT with seniorattackman Mike Steppe leading the way with six goals.

2016 Boys Lacrosse 5/10/16 Top 10By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

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See TOP TEN page 4

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Rumson Jr., DefensemanEmmett Jennings

Manasquan Jr. Attack Joe Tonkovich

Southern Sr. Attack Nick Simonelli

CBA Jr., AttackNick Casner

Ocean Sr, MidfielderEric Rant

Wall Sr. AttackMike Steppe

7. Freehold Twp(10-4, 5-2 A North)

The aforementioned Patriots didn't play well in a 14-4 loss to CBA, but that was moreabout CBA putting forth its most complete game of the season. Freehold Township haswon seven of eight since a 3-2 start to the season, so the team has been playing very wellas of late. Seeded sixth in the Shore Conference Tournament, the Pats got an overtime goalby Mike Colicchia to escape with a 9-8 win over 11th-seeded Toms River North in thefirst round of the Shore Conference Tournament. They will look to make it consecutiveyears with appearances in the SCT semifinals.

8. Shore(11-4, 6-2 B North)

The Goldsmith connection finished off afantastic, back-and-forth game against JacksonLiberty in the first round of the Shore ConferenceTournament as senior midfielder Doug Goldsmithfound freshman brother Gil Goldsmith for theovertime game-winning goal in a thrilling 12-11win. It is the first SCT win for Shore in programhistory.

9. Jackson Lib.(10-5, 4-2 B South)

A four-game losing streak bounced the Lionsfrom the rankings back in mid April, but afterwinning seven of their last eight games they havereturned. Liberty had a win over St. Rose, 13-3, toclose out its division schedule before falling toShore, 12-11 in overtime, in the 8-9 matchups inthe first round of the Shore ConferenceTournament. Senior Tyler Kalmowitz had threegoals, including the game-tying goal with 6.9seconds left to force overtime. The Lions will nowturn their attention to the South Jersey Group IIIplayoffs.

10. Howell (8-6, 4-2 A North) Seeded 10th in the Shore Conference Tournament, the Rebels fell to Wall, 13-6, in theopening round. They will try to rebound when they close out their division schedule againstrival Colts Neck before the start of the South Jersey Group IV playoffs..

Top TenContinued from page 3


Shore Sr. MidfielderDoug Goldsmith

Jackson Liberty Sr. Matt Ferullo

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With Rumson-Fair Havendefeating Shore, Manasquandowning Wall, Southernedging Freehold Township andChristian Brothers Academyrallying past Ocean, the 2016SCT will feature the top fourseeds in the semifinals. Allare familiar faces.Southern is the defending champion and won its first SCT title and

became the first Ocean County team to win the SCT when it defeatedRumson, 16-6, in last season’s championship. Rumson has won arecord five SCT titles and is looking to reach the final for the eighthconsecutive year. CBA has four titles to its credit with the last comingin 2009. Manasquan is making it second straight appearance in theSCT semifinals, and although the Warriors have yet to win a title, theShore’s oldest program did reach the inaugural final in 2005.The semifinal games take place on Thursday May 12 on the turf

field at Long Branch High School. Rumson, which is the No. 1 seed,takes on fourth-seeded CBA at 4 p.m. Second-seeded Manasquan willplay third-seeded Southern following the conclusion of the firstsemifinal. The Shore Conference Tournament championship gamewill be played at 6 p.m. on Monday May 16 at Long Branch HighSchool.

Semifinal No.1:1-Rumson-Fair Haven (13-3) vs. 4-CBA (11-5)One of the Shore Conference’s oldest and best lacrosse rivalries

once again takes center stage as the tournament favorite Bulldogs meetthe surging Colts. Rumson is the standard-bearer in the Shore Conference and has

reached the Shore Conference Tournament final in nine of the 11seasons the tournament has existed. The Bulldogs’ bid for a fifthconsecutive SCT title was dashed by Southern last year, but Rumsonresponded by winning the NJSIAA Group I title to become the firstShore Conference team to win a state championship. The Bulldogsreturned a major chunk of that team, so it’s no surprise they are onceagain within two wins of a conference crown.The Bulldogs are solid from top to bottom with senior attackman

Robbie Garavente leading the way on offense. He and linemates,fellow seniors Henry Sillen and Griffin Schultz, have great chemistryfrom years playing together and drive Rumson in the offensive zone.Juniors Charlie Curran and Colin Pavluk, plus sophomore WyattFeinberg, give Rumson good depth up top.Junior Bryan Hess is Rumson’s top offensive midfielder, headlining

a group that includes senior Matt Waters and juniors Ryan Tuorto andAlex Werner. Senior middie Lachlan Hull is a defensive specialist whogets overlooked, but is a major part of Rumson’s success. The samegoes for sophomore Peter Lucas, who sees important minutes in thedefensive end every game. Senior face-off specialist Butch Clark haswon 65 percent of draws this season, and when he is consistentlygiving Rumson possession the Bulldogs are that much more difficultto deal with.Defensively, Rumson is a standout unit with junior Emmett

Jennings and senior Ian Clarke leading the way in front of seniorgoalie Kyle Knapp. When they are on they can shut down the bestoffenses around. Junior Dan Maloney, sophomore Stephen Edler andfreshman Thomas Bavuso comprise the rest of the Bulldogs defense.Rumson also plays a challenging nonconference schedule, owns

conference wins over CBA, Ocean and Shore and has the pedigree inchampionship situations. The Bulldogs are the heavy favorite for areason.

With all that said, there may be no hotter team right now than CBA.The Colts were up and down most of the season, but their onlyconference losses are to Rumson and Manasquan. They’ve really putit together over the past four games, including a big win over FreeholdTownship to clinch the Class A North division title. They beat St. JohnVianney 14-2 in the first round of the SCT before pulling away fromOcean in the quarterfinals with eight unanswered goals in the secondhalf to win 13-5. CBA has a lot of versatile players on offense, and that unit is playing

the best it has all season with crisp ball movement and quick thinking.Junior Nick Casner leads the attackmen while senior captain JohnSalcedo runs things from the midfield. What’s been very impressiveis CBA’s ability to not miss a beat after an injury to standoutsophomore attackman Michael Carroll. The Colts have used seniorCologialo Muscara and freshman Connor Macrae in his place and bothhave played very well. Senior attackman Shay Walczak is also havinga great season, while midfielders Justin Shea-Katz, Shane McGuinessand Ryan Madalone have stepped up their games.The Colts’ face-off team has made a big impact as of late with senior

Chris Hayes as the face-off middie and seniors Andrew Rooney andGordon Paul coming off the wings. In the semifinal win against Oceanthe Colts had the ball for neary the entire second half. Defensively, seniors Trevor Einwechter and Gordon Paul, along

with juniors Jack Coury, Jack Kroken and Richie Bartlewitz anchorthe back end in front of junior goalie Ryan McGuiness.The CBA team Rumson sees Thursday will be much different than

the one it defeated 10-3 back on April 12. Rumson has also hit itsstride with seven straight wins heading into the semifinals, so it couldbe a classic matchup between two Shore Conference powers with atrip to the final on the line.

Semifinal No. 2:2-Manasquan (13-3) vs. 3-Southern (12-0)Last season Manasquan

was a young team going upagainst a juggernaut inSouthern, but the Warriorsmore than held their ownbefore falling 8-4 in thesemifinals to the eventualchampion Rams. Thisseason Manasquan hasmade the jump to becomeone of the elite teams in theShore. Southern graduateda program-defining seniorclass, but the Rams haven’tmissed a beat and remainthe Shore Conference’sonly undefeated team. Thismakes for a very intriguingmatchup.The offensive numbers

and experience Southernlost to graduation areastounding, includingcurrent University ofHartford star freshmanDylan Jinks and his 421career points. Contrary topopular belief, thecupboard wasn’t bare forthe Rams coming into thisseason. The sendingdistrict has done a great job building a feeder program and putting asolid foundation in place, and the dividends have paid off this season. One thing head coach John Pampalone has always done a great job

of is getting younger players into games to gain experience. Two ofSouthern’s top three scorers are juniors, along with its starting goalie.The Rams’ face-off middie, Anthony Firmani, is a sophomore. There

are several players logging important minutes this season who weren’tstarters last season, but have been able to jump right in and keep theprogram humming along. Senior attackman Nick Simonelli leads the way on offense with 70

points, and just recorded his 100th career assist in a 9-6 win overFreehold Township in the SCT quarterfinals. Junior Kyle Mulranejoins him on the top attack line with freshman Nick Fontana,sophomore Ryan McWhorter and junior Dylan Smith all seeing plentyof action. Will Johnson leads the midfielders in scoring, while senior brothers

James and Jon Manzo are indispensable players all over the field.Junior defensive middie Giancarlo Disporto is a valuable asset, aswell. The Rams have an experienced defense that has been the backbone

of the team all season. Senior defensemen Evan Henken, AnthonyTriola, J.T. Villani and John Vannodsall, senior LSM GordieVonschmidt and sophomore defenseman Luke Gerhardt comprise aunit that has allowed just 4.8 goals per game and hasn’t surrenderedmore than eight goals in any game this season. Another player with pressure to produce was junior goalie Tristen

Farina. He had big shoes to fill in taking over for four-year starterBrendan Lefanto, but has done a marvelous job with 139 saves and asave percentage over 70 percent. He set a school record with 25 savesin the quarterfinal win over Freehold Township.Everyone figured Manasquan was going to be a team to be reckoned

with this season, and the Warriors haven’t disappointed.Head coach Sean Cunningham has a young and talented set of

players at every position, and the Warriors have been an offensiveforce in scoring 13.9 goals per game. Junior attackman Jarrett Birchand his brother, freshman attackman Canyon Birch, are the top twopoint getters, but the list of offensive weapons doesn’t end there.Junior attackman Joe Tonkovich, junior midfielder’s Pat Felstedt, JohnMoran and Devan Carroll, and freshman midfielder James Pendergist

are all dangerous players that have to beaccounted for. Senior middies PaulKrueger and Peter Degnan are versatileand valuable players in the midfield, aswell. Junior face-off specialist Matt

Thermann has burst onto the scene as oneof the Shore Conference’s top FOGOs.When he is on and giving Manasquan’soffense a ton of possessions its usually along day for the opposing team.Defensively, Manasquan has a fantastic

group led by one of the conference’s topdefenseman in junior Kyle LeBlanc.Juniors Edmund Mallett, Chip Sarnasi andTom Meyer, along with senior MikeLaPoint and highly-touted freshman JackFabean give the Warriors a deep defensecorps.In goal the Warriors have junior Tom

Pollock as well as freshman MikeLaPoint, who gets rave reviews from justabout everyone. Simply put, Manasquanis loaded.Manasquan will be looking for a bit of

revenge after losing in the semifinals lastseason, while Southern will be hellbent ongiving itself a chance to defend its SCTtitle in what should be a fantastic secondgame of Thursday’s double-header.

The Shore Conference TournamentFinal Four is setBy Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

Manasquan’s Jr. Jarrett Birch

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ITH THE PROBABLE

STARTERS IN THE MONMOUTH

COUNTY TOURNAMENT

FINAL BETWEEN TOP�

SEEDED CHRISTIAN

BROTHERS ACADEMY

AND NO. 2 RED BANK

CATHOLIC HAVE BOTH

PITCHED IN A

SIMILAR SPOT

BEFORE WITH

DIFFERENT

RESULTS.

First, there is LucaDalatri, who has wontwo MonmouthC o u n t ychamp ion sh i pgames, a ShoreC o n f e r e n c eTournamentfinal and anN J S I A AN o n -Public A

final during his record-setting CBA career. He won the first ofthose four championship games in the Monmouth CountyTournament final as a sophomore on three days rest and would bedoing the same if he does indeed take the ball on Wednesday night June11th.

On the other side, there is RBC senior right-hander John Poccia. Last year, Pocciacaught fire at the end of the year and helped carry the Caseys to the ShoreConference Tournament championship game, where he again took the ballagainst CBA. Poccia allowed three earned runs in a complete-game effort,

but CBA shut down RBC’s bats in a4-0 Colts win.

While Wednesdaymight provide a chanceat redemption forPoccia, it’s even moreof an opportunity forthe returning group ofCaseys hitters to deliver

in a championship setting.Last year, Kenny Campbell and

Joe Gargana silenced the potentRBC lineup in a combined shutout in

that SCT final.

Although CBA enters Wednesday as the top seed andthe two-time defending MCT champion, RBC is the Shore’s

hottest team and also the one with its best record. The Caseys wontheir 13th straight game on Monday night and are a Shore-best 18-1 overall and 13-0 in the Class B North division, which they havealready clinched.

Red Bank Catholic’s success stems from its balance, both in its

8

By Ma t t Man l e y – S en i o r S t a f f Wr i t e r


9

lineup and in its equalreliance on pitching,defense and hitting.Eight of its ninestarting positionplayers are hittingabove .300 andleadoff hitterE v a nMadigan ish i t t i n g.492 evenafter going

0-for-3 onTuesday.

Catcher DougFacendo, second baseman

Aaron Ahn and third basemanAnthony DeRosa have anchored themiddle of the order behind Madigan.Ahn is hitting a shade under .400 with ateam-best four home runs while Facendois hitting .465 with nine doubles and ahome run. DeRosa leads the team with 17RBI and has also slugged two home runs.

Poccia, meanwhile, has led a pitching staffthat has attacked the strike zone. The senior right-

hander has walked only seven in 41 2/3 innings whilestriking out 31 and pitching to a 1.01 ERA. As a staff,the Caseys have walked 25 in 122 innings with 95strikeouts.

Senior Jack Ipsen hassettled into the team’scloser role and will beready to back upPoccia on Wednesday.The right-handedside-armer hasstruck out 19and walkedfour in 19innings whileposting a 1.10ERA.

RBC will have to be on itsgame should it faceDalatri, who pitched an i n e - i n n i n gcomplete gameagainst the Caseysin the 2014 ShoreC o n f e r e n c eT o u r n a m e n tsemifinals in a 2-1 CBAwin. That was just one of Dalatri’s25 consecutive wins without a loss sincethe beginning of his sophomore season.

This year, Dalatri has been at his mostdominant. In 34 innings, the senior right-hander hasallowed one run (0.21 ERA) and struck out 63 whilewalking only two to go along with 15 hits.

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Photos: M a r k B r o w nb 5 1 p h o t o g r a p h y . c o m


The Toms River Northbaseball team hadprobably done enough onoffense through fourinnings to beat Barnegatand its left-handed aceJason Groome duringSaturday’s Ocean CountyTournament semifinal.Instead of sitting on two early unearned runs and protecting the

lead against one of the top prospects in the upcoming MLB Draft,the fourth-seeded Mariners kicked down the door with five runs inthe bottom of the fifth inning to chase Groome and stun No. 8Barnegat, 7-1. Toms River North moves on to play the winner ofthe other semifinal between Brick and Toms River South at a date,time and site to be determined.

“I thought we’d score six today, so I guess they exceeded myexpectations,” Toms River North coach Andy Pagano said. “Wehave a really good hitting team and they had all week to preparefor this game. I really like where they’re at mentally and I thoughtthey’d be up for the challenge.

“Until you step in there against a guy like Groome, though, youjust don’t know. But I’ll tell you what: he’s as advertised. His stuffis filthy. But we made him work and made him pay for a couple ofmistakes.”

Seniors Joey Rose and Jeff Ciervo – the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters in apotent Toms River North lineup that entered Saturday hitting .370as a team – dealt the two knockout blows against Groome in thefifth. With two out in the inning, Rose waited back on a first-pitchcurveball from Groome and launched it to the fence in right-centerfield for a two-run double that gave Toms River North a 4-1 lead.

“I just got my foot down earlyand tried to see the spin on theball,” Rose said. “I wasn’t tryingto pull the ball because I know hehas a lot of life on his pitches.“I was thinking about the fastball because he wasn’t getting it

over on the couple pitches before that and I thought he would tryto find it. I just got my foot down, I saw the curveball and I put agood bat on it.”

With the crowd surrounding Ryan Field still buzzing, Ciervojumped on the very next pitch from Groome and belted a two-runhome run over the left field fence to give the Mariners a

commanding 6-1 lead.

“I just wanted to pick Rose up,” Ciervosaid. “He’s been walking a lot, getting hitby pitches and everyone is always tellingme, ‘Pick your friend up.’ It was a firstpitch fastball and I just turned on it.

“It felt great, honestly. Turning on theball like that, you feel it right away. Justlooking at it, I saw it had the height andthe adrenaline took over from there. It feltgreat.”

Toms River North would add one moreunearned run in the inning before Groomewas lifted following the error that led to it.

“I didn’t think we’d get seven,” Rosesaid. “I thought we’d battle him and scrapfor a run or two and whoever scored firstwas going to win the game.”

Although the game spiraled out ofcontrol for the Vanderbilt commit and No.3 player on Baseball America’s latest listof top MLB Draft Prospects, Groome wasone pitch away from escaping the fifthwithout allowing a run. After hitting centerfielder David Cordoma on the shoulderwith one out, he struck out shortstop andleadoff hitter Mike Nyisztor with a curveball and jumped ahead ofleft fielder Austin Feigin 1-2 in the count.

Groome’s 2-2 changeupmissed just high and afterFeigin fouled off a 3-2fastball, he laid off a lowfastball to work a two-outwalk and give Rose achance to hit with a runnerin scoring position.

Most opponents havepitched around Rosewhenever possible – asevidenced by his 14 walksand eight hit-by-pitchescoming into the game –but the Oklahoma Statewas afforded a chance toswing the bat Saturdayboth because of thesituation and becauseGroome has no need topitch around any highschool hitter.

In his first at-bat, Rosereached on a single thatwas a towering fly ball toright that Barnegat rightfielder Anthony Lanicould not track. He later

struck out on a 2-2 changeup from Groome, a pitch that Rose calleda “Big League changeup.”

In his final at-bat, Rose took advantage of a get-me-overcurveball from Groome and drilled his 12th extra-base hit of theseason to chase in two runs. Rose now has seven home runs andfive doubled on the season and the RBI were Nos. 27 and 28.

“I knew he was going to comeafter me because me and him werethe main matchup today,” Rosesaid. “I know he’s not going toback down from the challenge andfacing him was a challenge I waslooking forward to.”Ciervo’s home run was his first of the season and the first

Groome has allowed as a high school pitcher. Groome overpoweredCiervo in his first two at-bats, needing only six pitches to strikehim out twice. In his Ciervo’s second at-bat, Groome blew threestraight fastballs by the Toms River North right fielder, includinga game-high 95-mile-per-hour heater.

Rose, Ciervo Power Toms River Northto Win Over Groome, BarnegatBy Ma t t Man l e y – S en i o r S t a f f Wr i t e r

TR North’s Joey Rose

See TR N orth page 12Barnegat senior Jason Groome

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“My first two at-bats, I didn’t have a good approach,” Ciervo said. “He was just throwing fastballsby me right down the middle.”

Groome then tried to sneak a fastball past Ciervo on the inner half and Ciervo turned on it and gothis barrel to the ball.

Despite enduring the rockiest outing of his high school career, Groome still showed the full arsenalthat has him in the mix to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. His fastball topped out at 95 while it sat inthe 91-93 mile-per-hour range and he threw it more often than in his previous start against Pinelandslast Saturday. He also featured his full three-pitch mix against Rose, who is also likely to be draft inJune in the wake of his huge senior season.

In total, Groome allowed four earned runs on six hits in his 4 2/3 innings of work while walkingthree, hitting a batter and striking out nine. He recorded eight of the first nine outs via the strikeout,but faced more contact in his final two frames as his velocity settled into the 89-91 mile-per-hourrange. Groome finished with 87 pitches, 61 of which were for strikes.

“They were just hitting the ball,” Groome said. “Ican’t do anything about it. This is probably the mosthits I’ve given up that I can remember. I thought Ihandled it pretty good, but when they’re putting theball in play, you just hope you get outs and thatdidn’t happen today.”Groome was the second Division I pitcher against whom Toms River North scored seven runs this

season. The Mariners put up seven runs on Monroe right-hander and North Carolina commit RobbiePeto in a 8-5 win over the Falcons on April 17.

With the confidence from having hit Peto and an entire rained-out week to prepare specifically forGroome, the Mariners came in prepared for another challenge.

“We were in the gym all week and we just turned up the Jugs Machine, moved it up 20 feet andworked on getting the barrel to the ball,” Ciervo said.

“The message was just to get the barrel to the ball,” Pagano said. “When you’re a strong kid and theball is coming in that hard, all you need to do is make solid contact. I don’t know what his fastballgot up to today but it looked good. That’s a guy who could be pitching in the Major Leagues somedayand I told the guys, ‘You could be telling your kids about facing him one day.'”

Toms River North jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead when Nyisztor drew a walk, Rose hithis sky-high single and both advanced on a passedball. Groome struck out Ciervo before juniorJared Bellissimo hit a hard ground ball to secondbase that junior Justin Diefenbach could nothandle, which allowed both Nyisztor and Rose toscore.

Barnegat had three opportunities to tie the gameor take the lead but junior starter Brendan Mullinsand sophomore reliever Anthony Sasso squashedboth threats. Barnegat junior shortstop AaronMcLaughlin – who relieved Groome on the mound– led the game off with a double to left field onthe first pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bysenior Collin O’Conner, but was stranded theirafter Mullins notched a strikeout and a groundoutto end the threat.

An error, a single by O’Conner and a walk bysenior Jared Kacso loaded the bases with one outin the Barnegat third and Diefenbach deliveredand RBI single to get the Bengals on the board.Mullins then induced a fielder’s choice groundout to Rose at third and retired Nik Caputo on acomebacker to end the threat.

The Bengals again threatened Mullins in thefourth, with runners reaching the corners with one out. McLaughlin then popped out to second baseand after a walk to O’Conner, Mullins coaxed Kacso into an inning-ending fielder’s choice groundoutto Nyisztor at shortstop.

In the fifth, it was Sasso’s turn to evade trouble.Diefenbach led the inning off with a single, thenwent to third on a hit-and-run single by seniorcatcher Max Ritner, who later moved up to secondon a wild pitch with none out. Sasso respondedby striking out the next two batters and afterissuing a walk to Lani, struck out one more toescape with Toms River North still leading, 2-1.

“Mullins got in some tough situations and gothimself out of them,” Rose said. “We toldourselves, ‘We’ve got to get this kid a couple ofruns.'”

Sasso struck out six in three scoreless inningsto save the win for Mullins, who allowed oneunearned run on three hits.

Rain over the past week disrupted thetournament schedule, which leaves the schedulingof the final two games of the tournamentuncertain. Toms River South will host Brick inthe other semifinal, but the Indians have a gamescheduled on each of the first four days of theupcoming week. Brick is scheduled to play onMonday, Tuesday and Thursday and the Mondaygame is at Toms River South at 7 p.m.

The OCT final was originally scheduled foreither Tuesday or Thursday depending on the schedules of the teams involved, but the strongpossibility remains that the final will be pushed back if Brick and Toms River South can’t find a timeto play before Friday, when both teams have openings on their respective schedules.

Whichever team emerges from the other semifinal and whenever they do so will face a Toms RiverNorth team that has won six straight and is now the second-highest scoring team in the ShoreConference on a per-game basis, behind only St. Rose. Both, however, have defeated Toms RiverNorth this season.

“We had to rally around each other at the start of the yearand get the chemistry going,” Ciervo said. “We’ve reallybeen together as a team the last few weeks and we’restarting to heat up now.”

Toms River North senior Jeff Ciervo


TR North Continued from page 10


by:

Matt Manleywww.shoresportsnetwork.com

Photos: M a r k B r o w nb 5 1 p h o t o g r a p h y . c o m

14 VOLUME -V I I I / I S SUE -9 / 5 / 1 1 / 1 6

Brian Oehme was apretty good basketballplayer at Brick TownshipHigh School, a 6’4forward who started forthree seasons andgraduated last June.His basketball talents and academic achievements landed

him at Drew University where he appeared in 17 games thispast season, coming off the bench to hit 18 3-pointers forthe Rangers. With three of the team’s four leading scorersgraduating it would appear that Oehme would have a greatopportunity to contribute even more next year but there issomething blocking his immediate basketball future: cancer.

Brian has been diagnosed with stage two testicular cancerwhich has moved onto the lymph nodes under his liver. Heis currently undergoing chemotherapy and right now theprognosis is a bit uncertain but he and his family, includinghis parents George & Kathy are staying strong and positive.

Oehme has received a lot of support from his alma materas Brick Township High School has rallied around andbehind him. The school and the Green Dragons basketballprogram are selling tee shirts and bracelets to help with the

growing costs associated with his fight againstcancer. The shirts say “Oehme Strong” on thefront with his number 33 on the back. It wouldbe great to see other Shore Conference schoolsjump on the bandwagon to support the effort andthey can do so by reaching out to coach MikeGawronski at [email protected] can also see a picture of the shirts on their@brickbasketball Twitter page.

Brian has a challenge that’s greater than anyhe has faced on the basketball court and whocould blame him from being down and out.Instead he’s facing it head on and wants tospread the word about testicular cancer which is the mostcommon form of cancer for men between the ages of 15-35.Every year approximately 8500 men are diagnosed with thedisease.

With the help of his doctorsalong with family, friends andteammates #33 will be shootingand making 3’s again in thefuture.

Brian Oehme

Support Br ian Oehme and come buy a t -shir t .$10 a shir t . $2 a bracelet . See Mr. Lynch orMr. Gawronski! #Oehmestrong

Green Dragon, Ranger & Oehme StrongBy Kev i n Wi l l i ams – D i r e c t o r Sho re Spo r t s N e two rk

Shore Sports Networks 2016 MCT CBA vs RBC Championship

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