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Mustang Rally: Brick Memorial Surges Into Central Group 3 Final

Matt Manley|June 4, 2025|Last Updated October 15, 2025

BRICK TWP. — In a season of full firsts and first-in-a-while’s, the Brick Memorial baseball team experienced another first Tuesday against Middletown South in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III semifinals and it was one that put the Mustangs’ banner season on the brink.

Heading into the bottom of the third inning, CBA faced its largest deficit since April 5 and in the two instances Brick Memorial trailed by as much as it trailed on Tuesday, the Mustangs lost both games. Put simply, to keep its season alive, Brick Memorial would have to stage its biggest comeback of the season.

Starting pitcher Brody Moore and senior centerfielder Jimi Popp keyed the mid-game awakening by the Brick Memorial offense and the Mustangs bullpen picked up a Moore on the mound in an 8-6 win over Middletown South that sends Brick Memorial to the sectional final round of the state tournament for the first time since 2013.

Brick Memorial trailed, 4-0, heading into the bottom of the third inning on Tuesday, which marked the second time the Mustangs faced a deficit of that size this season. The Mustangs trailed Christian Brothers Academy, 9-4, in the bottom of the seventh of their season-opening meeting on March 29 that ended with that same score. On April 5 at Central Regional, the Mustangs fell behind, 10-6, in the bottom of the fifth inning and went on to lose, 10-7.

For the Mustangs to move on to their first sectional final in 12 years, they had to successfully come back from a four-run deficit for the first time this season — this time with the deficit befalling them in the early innings.

“We have been in situations like this and we just had to battle back,” Popp said. “We had to bring the same energy (Middletown South) did and bring it right back to them.”

Middletown South scored four runs in the first three innings off Moore — who missed Friday’s 3-1 quarterfinal win over Steinert due to illness — to lay claim to a 4-0 lead. Junior centerfielder Jack Concordia led off with a single and scored on an RBI infield single by senior Pat Dempsey in the top of the first and made it 2-0 in the second when he sliced an RBI double down the leftfield line to score senior Jack Buono, who also doubled to lead off the inning.

Shortstop Brendan Sliva led off the top of the third with Middletown South’s third double in the three innings and scored on an RBI single by junior second baseman Jack Dougherty, who later scored on an RBI single by Buono to put the Eagles on top, 4-0, by the middle of the third inning.

“They really wanted to beat us and you could tell,” Popp said of Middletown South. “They got here, they were going crazy in the dugout from the first pitch. That puts you down. They’re into it while we’re at home, relaxed and just chilling. It puts pressure on you when they come out like that and you have to respond. But you’ve got to deal with it. That’s the game.”

“Our coaches always tell us, ‘You want somebody to drive by and not know what the score is,'” Nalducci said of his team’s temperament. “We try our best to stay up in the dugout and it ended up paying off.”

Brick Memorial mounted its comeback during the bottom of the third and fourth innings. Middletown South starter Peter DeNicola hit back-to-back batters with one out in the third and when both teams made a mistake on Brayden Nalducci’s line drive into centerfield, the Mustangs had the bases loaded with one out. Concordia deked Brick Memorial first baseman Dan Golembiewski — the runner at first — into thinking he would catch the ball and when it one-hopped to him, he had enough time to throw Golembiewski out at second, his throw was on target, but Dougherty could not squeeze it and Golembiewski made it into second safely, as did courtesy runner Matt McGlynn at first base and Nalducci at first.

Senior centerfielder Jimi Popp got Brick Memorial on the board with an RBI single to score a run, the Moore, lined a two-run single into right-centerfield to pull the Mustangs within 4-3. At that point, Middletown South went to its bullpen and senior Michael Zena, who was the winning pitcher in each of Middletown South’s two prior NJSIAA Tournament wins — both in relief.

“We have faced pretty much everyone this year,” said Popp, referencing a Brick Memorial schedule that has pitted the Mustangs against the likes of Toms River East, Jackson Memorial, Christian Brothers Academy, Red Bank Catholic and Colts Neck over the course of the season. “We weren’t really worried too much about when they might change pitchers or who we are facing. We just go up there ready to hit.”

Middletown South got a run back in the top of the fifth against Brick Memorial junior left-hander James Martin on a misplayed pop fly that still turned into a fielder’s choice out at second base, but allowed senior Mike Frandsen to score from third.

Martin’s inning was important in managing Brick Memorial’s pitch counts ahead of the sectional final. If Martin’s 33 pitches were added to either Pirnik’s or Nalducci’s pitch total, either would have been ineligible on Thursday.

“It’s huge that he did that, even though things didn’t necessarily go his way that inning,” Nalducci said of Martin. “He kept us in the game and it’s good to know that he can step up in that spot and it’s not just us three who have to get the outs. We have a lot of guys who can do the job.”

With two out in the bottom of the fourth, junior catcher Joe McGlynn struck back with an RBI single to cut Middletown South’s lead to 5-4. Courtesy runner Matt McGlynn stole second and took third on a wild pitch before Golembiewski drew a walk. Nalducci then ripped an RBI single through the middle to score the tying run.

After Golembiewski and Nalducci executed a double-steal, Popp cashed in with a single back through the middle to score both runners and give Brick Memorial its first lead, 7-5. Popp then stole second and was running on the pitch when Moore hit a line drive right in front of him through the left side to score the run and make it 8-5, Brick Memorial.

“Knowing it’s do-or-die now and this is my last year since I’m not playing in college, so this is it for me,” Popp said. “I feel like I always get myself in situations where I come up when it’s close, there’s two outs with runners in scoring position or the last ball is getting hit to me, so I’m used to it by now. I just try to put the ball in play. Just hit the ball and run.”

After a leadoff walk in the top of the fifth by Martin, sophomore Zach Pirnik — the winning pitcher in Brick Memorial’s prior three games — took over and worked his way through the inning without allowing the inherited runner to score. Pirnik then pitched a clean sixth inning, setting up Nalducci to pitch the seventh in search of his fourth save — all in the last 16 days.

Middletown South authored a threat against Nalducci with a leadoff walk by Dougherty and a one-out double by Buono that put runners on second and third. Nalducci and his defense traded a run for an out when senior third baseman Vinny Alcure hit an RBI ground out to second baseman Dan Popovitch for the second out. Nalducci then struck out the final batter of the game on a 1-2 curveball to send Brick Memorial through to the final while denying Middletown South its second straight appearance in a sectional final.

Nalducci had not pitched in relief in 2025 prior to his four-out stint to close out a Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinal win over Colts Neck on May 17. From there, Nalducci has made his last five appearances as a relief and allowed two earned runs on three hits, four walks and eight strikeouts over 5 1/3 relief innings.

“I definitely like coming in late,” Nalducci said. “It’s fun, especially in a tight game, those high-pressure situations. I just like doing whatever we have to do to get the win.”

Brick Memorial will now prepare for a trip to play No. 1 seed Northern Burlington, which labored to get past a pair of Shore Conference opponents (Red Bank and Brick) in its first two rounds before handling No. 4 Lawrence, 8-3, in Tuesday’s other semifinal. The Mustangs will not have Moore available to pitch after he threw 78 pitches on Tuesday, but Pirnik, Nalducci and Martin are all available to throw a full allotment of 110 after Moore covered the first three innings and Martin took the fourth inning off the plate of Pirnik.

While Brick Memorial has reached a sectional final in its past, the Mustangs have never won an NJSIAA sectional title and a win Thursday would add to an already-lengthy 2025 résumé for the Mustangs that includes their first ever Class A South championship and their first aver Shore Conference Tournament title.

“It helps out a lot, like a ridiculous amount,” Popp said of Brick Memorial’s big-game experience in 2025. “In a game like today especially, all those games in the past helped us. It gives us hope that, even when we’re down, we can still come back and win. That’s our mentality and all those teams we played all taught us that.”

 

Box Score

Brick Memorial 8, Middletown South 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Midd South (15-11) 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 6 11 1
Brick Mem (22-6) 0 0 3 5 0 0 X 8 8 2

Pitching

Middletown South IP H R ER BB SO PC
Peter DeNicola 2.1 4 3 2 1 4 53
Michael Zena (L, 4-4) 1.1 4 5 5 2 0 35
Ben Shea 2.1 0  0 0 0 3 24
Brick Memorial IP H R ER BB SO PC
Brody Moore 3 9 4 3 2 3 78
James Martin (W, 1-1) 1 1 1 0 2 1 33
Zach Pirnik 2 0 0 0 0 2 27
Brayden Nalducci (SV, 4) 1 1 1 1 1 2 21

Top Hitters

Middletown South Game Stats
Jack Concordia 2-5, 2B, R, RBI
Jack Buono 3-4, 2 2B, R, RBI
Jack Dougherty 1-3, BB, R, RBI
Brendan Sliva 1-4, 2B, R
Mike Frandsen 1-3, BB, R, 2 SB
Pat Dempsey 1-3, BB, RBI
Vinny Alcure 1-4, RBI
Brick Memorial Game Stats
Jimi Popp 2-3, R, 3 RBI, SB
Brody Moore 3-3, 3 RBI
Brayden Nalducci 1-4, 2 R, RBI
Joe McGlynn 1-2, BB, HBP, RBI
Tyler Garbooshian 1-4, 2B

 

 

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