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Turning Point: Point Beach Stuns Brick Memorial With Sixth-Run Seventh

Matt Manley|April 14, 2026|Last Updated April 14, 2026

The last time the Point Pleasant Beach baseball team played a game prior to Monday, Garnet Gulls sophomore Thomas Slobiski pitched five no-hit innings and the team pitched a combined one-hitter on the road against a Toms River East team that scored 17 runs against them two days earlier.

All that, and they still lost the game.

That is just the kind of week it was for Point Beach and to make things more dire, the new week opened with a home game against a Brick Memorial squad that just upset the No. 4 team in the state, DePaul Catholic, in extra innings on Monday.

Slobiski did not start Monday’s game on the mound, but with a chance to cap one of the great comebacks in the recent history of a team known for them, he found a way to finish it at the plate.

Slobiski drove a 1-1 pitch into deep right-centerfield with two out and when it landed in play, senior catcher Dan Lubach scored the winning run from third base to cap a six-run seventh that carried the Garnet Gulls to an improbable, 11-10, win over Brick Memorial — the No. 2 team in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10.

“Off the bat, I knew it was over his (the rightfielder’s) head, no doubt” Slobiski said. “I was just caught up in the moment. I just went up there like it was a zero-zero game and tried to put the bat on the ball. I think that was everybody’s approach in that last inning.

“This is a huge morale-booster. We all played good and we just felt like a team today. Even though we gave up ten runs, we stayed in it. Coming off last week, we knew we were better than that and we just wanted to show it.”

Over the past three seasons, Point Beach has authored a number of memorable finishes and Monday’s is near the top even for its seniors, many of whom were integral in the 2024 Central Jersey Group I semifinal comeback against Middlesex. In that game, Point Beach scored three runs with two out in the bottom of the seventh to win, 4-3, and advance to the sectional final, which the Garnet Gulls won over Shore Regional.

“It had that type of vibe,” Monday’s winning pitcher and fourth-year starter Tommy Conroy said. “We’ve been in that position before and it’s really just at-bat-by-at-bat, pitch-by-pitch and just never give up.”

“We put together last-inning rallies all the time, it feels like,” Slobiski said. “You’re never out of a game in baseball. Especially once we got (starter) Brody Moore out and you’re into their bullpen, we knew we were still in it.”

After a ground out to open the bottom of the seventh, eight straight Point Beach batters reached base to tie the game, 10-10, with an RBI single to rightfield by junior Brody Powers tying the game, 10-10. Sophomore Jack Moriarty, who entered the game to pitch when Powers came to bat, bounced back to notch a strikeout and threw a 1-0 fastball past Slobiski. On the 1-1 pitch, Slobiski caught up to another fastball and launched it over the head of rightfielder Michael Figner and off the fence on a hop, allowing Lubach — who was intentionally walked — to trot home as the winning run.

“I just went right to my two-strike approach — I just didn’t take a stride and focused on bat-on-ball,” said Slobiski, who finished 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI, as well as a sliding catch in leftfield foul territory to end the top of the first inning. “I have known (Moriarty) all my life, so I knew what he had. What’s going through my mind is striking out and how much I would hate that. There is nothing I hate more than striking out and all I want to do is just put bat on ball there. I’d rather hit a pop-up, weak grounder, anything. I didn’t want to go down looking, which I did earlier, so I went up there with a chip on my shoulder and drove the ball.”

“The nice thing about Slobiski is he is a pitcher, so he is able to think along with the guy on the mound and have an idea of what the other guy is trying to do to get him out,” Point Beach coach Angelo Fiore said. “We have been going back-and-forth trying to find that third outfielder along with Conroy and Brody Powers and it’s tough because (Slobiski) is one of our top guys on the mound and it’s asking a lot for him to be that guy who does everything as a sophomore, but he has been really impressive in the way he has handled leftfield and his bat is too good to keep out.”

Brick Memorial senior first baseman Dan Golembiewski was a menace on Monday, when he blasted two home runs and drove in four two days after he belted a grand slam at DePaul Catholic. The Fairleigh Dickinson commit socked his second home run of the game in the top of the seventh inning to extend Brick Memorial’s lead to 10-5 — a solo shot to right field to go with his three-run home run in the fourth inning that broke a 5-5 tie.

Senior left-hander James Martin struck out the side in order in his first inning of work and retired the first out of the bottom of the seventh on a ground out to second baseman Trevor Kish. The rally then began with a walk to Slobiski and senior Dan Coleman beat out an infield single  for his second hit of the game after coming off the bench to replace starter Matt Rossi after Rossi was hit on the knee by a pitch. Martin then hit No. 9 hitter Devin Ryan to load the bases and Conroy then ripped a single into rightfield that scored two runs thanks to a fielding error in rightfield, with Conroy also moving up to second base on the error.

“You know the situation going up there, so I’m just trying to keep my composure, take a deep breath and see every pitch,” Conroy said. “I saw his curveball, so his spin and hopped right on it. That got the boys going and we just strung some more hits together.”

Freshman Mason Sesny then hit a firm ground ball that skipped under Kish’s outreached glove and into rightfield to plate two more runs, cutting the Brick Memorial lead to 10-9. A wild pitch moved Sesny to second and it prompted Brick Memorial to intentionally walk Lubach, a two-time First Team All-Shore catcher as the potential winning run.

Moriarty replaced Martin and Powers greeted him with a line drive into right field that scored Sesny from second with the tying run. Moriarty hit junior Carson Pfeifer with a 2-2 curveball to load the bases, then struck out Antonio Acevedo for the second out of the inning. Slobiski then stepped in and delivered Point Beach’s biggest swing of the young season.

Conroy reached base in all five of his plate appearances Monday, including three walks — two of which were intentional. After Brick Memorial opened the game with three runs in the top of the first inning, Conway led off the bottom of the first with a double to the left-centerfield gap and scored on an RBI ground out by Lubach.

On the mound, Conroy pitched the seventh inning to earn the win, allowing the solo home run to Golembiewski and two other singles. Lubach helped make sure the Golembiewski home run only plated one run by throwing out senior shortstop Tyler Garbooshian attempting to steal second base with Golembiewski at the plate.

Lubach threw out three of the four base-stealers that attempted to run on him and also back-picked a runner at second base to end the top of the second inning.

“I was kind of shocked,” Fiore said. “They kept running and he just kept firing — bang, bang, bang. That’s just coordinating with Sesny at second base. That kid is a freshman and he is dialed in to what our senior catcher is thinking, so he gets a lot of credit for a few of those as well. But Danny played a tremendous game behind the plate.”

Garbooshian drove in the game’s first run by hitting the second of back-to-back doubles to score sophomore Matt McGlynn, who led off the game with a double that skipped over the third-base bag. Brick Memorial starting pitcher Brody Moore punched a ground ball that got under the glove of Point Beach senior first baseman Dylan Ryan to score Garbooshian and Golembiewski, who walked in his first plate appearance, scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

Brick Memorial extended its lead to 5-1 on a two-out, two-run single by senior catcher Joe McGlynn in the top of the second, which started with a leadoff double by senior centerfielder Gavin McCue.

Point Beach got a run back in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Ryan through the right side — the first of two RBI in the game for the Garnet Gulls No. 9 hitter. Senior Bennett Moberg pitched a scoreless top of the third for Point Beach and over the course of his four innings of work, he notched his 100th career strikeout.

In the bottom of the third, Slobiski delivered his first big swing of the game with the bases loaded when he lifted a double to centerfield that scored two runs and set up Ryan for a game-tying suicide squeeze bunt that pushed home Acevedo, who broke for the plate when Moore began his windup.

“The bottom of the lineup was huge for us today,” Fiore said. “Dylan Ryan getting that bunt down on the suicide squeeze, Dan Coleman coming off the bench and giving us some good at-bats. All our guys at the top are beasts at the plate, so when we are able to get our guys at the bottom giving us quality at-bats and setting the table, we’re really tough to pitch to.”

In the top of the fourth, Matt McGlynn singled and Garbooshian walked with one out to bring Golembiewski to the plate for his third plate appearance. In the top of the second, Moberg struck out Golembewski by setting him up with inside fastballs, then spinning a slider that Golembiewski chased for strike three. This time, Moberg left a first-pitch breaking ball over the plate and Golembiewski launched it to dead centerfield for a three-run blast.

Moore pitched five innings for Brick Memorial and before he was officially replaced by Martin on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, he helped add to his lead by leading off the top of the sixth with a single and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Moriarty to make it 9-5.

Brick Memorial owns the best win of any Shore Conference team with its triumph at DePaul and boasts an experienced roster of players that played key roles on the 2025 team that went 22-7 and won a Shore Conference Tournament title, but the Mustangs find themselves 2-3 in Shore Class A South divisional play and will have to make up a two-game deficit to both Wall (4-1) and Toms River East (4-1) while also jumping Point Beach (3-2) if they are to successfully defend their 2025 Class A South division championship.

Point Beach, meanwhile, breathed life into its chase for a fourth straight division championship and a first ever Class A South championship — a major potential accomplishment for a Group I program that just three years ago was coasting through the Class B Central division against the other Group I programs of the Shore Conference.

For a team that was down bad after being swept by Toms River East and committing 10 errors in two games last week, Point Beach seventh inning felt like a potential season-shifter.

“It’s all about how you bounce back,” Conroy said. “We have the type of leadership on this team where we’ll go out to eat, have a day with the boys and regroup. We had three or four days off to try to process what was going on, take a deep breath and just get back at it.”

 

Box Score

Point Beach 11, Brick Memorial 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Brick Mem (5-3, 2-3) 3 2 0 3 0 1 1 10 13 3
Pt Beach (3-2, 3-2) 1 1 3 0 0 0 6 11 10 2

Pitching

Brick Memorial IP H R ER BB SO PC
Brody Moore 5 6 5 4 6 5 100
James Martin (L, 1-2) 1.1 2 6 4 2 3 37
Jack Moriarty 0.1 2 0 0 0 1 16
Point Beach IP H R ER BB SO PC
Bennett Moberg 4 8 8 6 5 4 101
Antonio Acevedo 2 2 1 1 2 2 38
Tommy Conroy (W, 1-0) 1 3 1 1 0 0 17

Top Hitters

Brick Memorial Game Stats
Dan Golembiewski 2-4, 2 HR, BB, 3 R, 4 RBI
Matt McGlynn 3-5, 2B, 3 R
Tyler Garbooshian 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 3 R, RBI
Joe McGlynn 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 RBI
Jack Moriarty 1-3, RBI
Brody Moore 2-5, R
Gavin McCue 1-4, 2B
Point Beach Game Stats
Thomas Slobiski 2-3, 2B, R, 3 RBI
Tommy Conroy 2-2, 2B, 3 BB, 2 R, RBI
Dylan Ryan 1-2, HBP, R, 2 RBI
Dan Coleman 2-2, R
Danny Lubach 1-4, 2 R, RBI
Brody Powers 1-5, RBI
Antonio Acevedo 1-4, BB, 2 R

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