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Pass the Baton: CBA Baseball Walks Off Middletown South with Five-Run Seventh Inning

Matt Manley|April 15, 2026|Last Updated April 15, 2026

MIDDLETOWN — As the No. 7 hitter in the Christian Brothers Academy batting order Tuesday, sophomore Jack Pascucci knew that if he batted in a bottom of the seventh inning that led off with the No. 9 spot in the order, the inning would be going very well for the Colts and he would have the chance to play the hero of CBA’s Shore Conference Class A South showdown vs. Middletown South.

For the first seven batters of the inning, Pascucci watched as batter after batter worked deep into the count, with just one plate appearance fewer than four pitches and six of the seven reaching base ahead of him. Along the way, the Colts cut a four-run deficit to one and indeed, Pascucci came to the plate with a chance to make a major impression early in his first varsity season.

So, after watching his older teammates work the count, what did he do? He picked out his pitch, got it and took a swing. His inner monologue following contact, however, was not that of a bottom-of-the-seventh savior.

“I was mad,” Pascucci said. “I thought I popped out to the first baseman.”

Pascucci hit a hit pop fly into shallow rightfield with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and like several shallow pop-flies that took off into the windy skies CBA’s campus Tuesday afternoon into the early evening, it dropped between the outgoing infielders and a charging outfielder. The sophomore watched his blooper touch down in shallow rightfield to allow the tying run to score, then saw a bobble in right that allowed senior Jared Matejicka to score the winning run to complete a five-run seventh and a furious comeback for CBA in an 8-7 win over Middletown South.

The Colts — ranked No. 1 in the Shore Sports Insider Top — leveled up their record at 4-4 with the win while remaining unbeaten vs. the Shore Conference in just three games so far. Tuesday was the second one-run win by CBA vs. an opponent from Class A North and the other of those was also a home victory — 6-5 over Manalapan on April 6.

CBA trailed, 7-3, heading into the bottom of the seventh and put the pressure on by successfully reaching on the first four plate appearances of the inning, starting with a pinch-hit single by Tommy Lee to lead it off. Leftfielder Alex Fiore was hit by a pitch, shortstop Colin Hoverter hit a bloop single into shallow rightfield and rightfielder Ryan Wetmore ripped an RBI single into left to make it 7-4 and prompt a pitching change by Middletown South with none out.

Eagles right-hander Johnny Daley won an eight-pitch battle with a strikeout to record the first out, then issued an eight-pitch walk to Dylan Reynholds to force in the fifth CBA run while moving the tying run to scoring position and the winning run to first base.

“We all just try to do our jobs,” Matejicka said. “That’s what we all came here to do. If it’s a runner on second base, we’re trying to move him over. If we’re down in the last inning, it’s just find a way on and pass it to the next guy.”

Jared Matejicka, who was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI in his first three plate appearances, drew a six-pitch walk to score the third run of the inning and cut the Eagles lead to 7-6. Pascucci then broke the trend of long at-bats by swatting the first pitch he saw into the air and dumping it between the first baseman, second baseman and right fielder for a single that tied the game. After Reynolds trotted home with the tying run, CBA coach Marty Kenney Jr. initially held Matejicka at third base, but a bobble in rightfield gave Matejicka a chance to score and he dove in head first with the winning run.

“I went up looking for my pitch and I got it,” Pascucci said. “I didn’t hit it like I wanted but about halfway to first base, I saw the outfielder charging in and the infielders going out and I realized it was probably going to drop. Then, when I saw him bobble it, I turned around and saw (Matejicka) and he was running home.”

First baseman Michael Marinich powered Middletown South’s early-inning scoring attack with RBI doubles in both the three0run second inning and the two-run third, which helped the Eagles claim a 5-3 lead. Leftfielder Owen Maguire and second baseman Matt Korth also drove in a run each in the second and starting pitcher Peter DeNicola plated one in the fifth with an RBI fielder’s choice that made it 4-3 ahead of Marinich’s second double.

Reynholds and Matejicka hit back-to-back doubles in the CBA second, with Matejicka’s line drive into the left-center gap scoring two. Matejicka then raced to third on a ground out to shortstop — the second out of the inning — and scored when the throw from across the diamond hit him in the helmet and bounded to the fence near the Middletown South bullpen.

CBA loaded the bases with none out against DeNicola in the bottom of the fourth by Michael Gough came on to record three straight outs to escape the jam, which included a 12-pitch battle with Colts catcher Griffin Kilcullen that ended in a pop-up in foul territory for the second out. Gough then struck out the last batter of the inning and excitedly stomped from the mound back to the dugout.

Korth hustled for a two-out double in the top of the sixth, followed by a walk by shortstop Jack Dougherty that set up a two-out RBI single by Mike Mullane to make it 6-3. The Eagles added a seventh run on a dropped pick-off throw to first base that allowed Dougherty to score from third. Declan Doogan got out of the inning for CBA by picking off the runner at first, then pitched around a two-out error in a scoreless seventh to earn his first win.

Middletown South’s defense complemented its early scoring to help the Eagles draw within two outs of handing the Colts their first conference loss. The Eagles turned three double-plays, with Korth and Dougherty each contributing to two of them.

On the CBA side, the Colts standout skill on Tuesday was extending at-bats with two strikes. CBA fouled off 15 two-strike pitches in the game and four of its 11 hits came with two strikes in the count.

“That’s two-strike hitting,” Pascucci said. “We work on that a lot — just trying to shorten up and put the ball in play, do whatever it takes.”

“We crank up the pitching machine to ninety-plus (miles-per-hour) and just try to make contact as much as we can,” Matejicka said. “Those are the at-bats that make the difference and that was big for us today. We didn’t take advantage for the first six innings but in the last inning, we all just tried to be a tough out and it worked out for us.”

A 4-4 start is not an ideal one for a team that came within one win of the program’s fourth NJSIAA group championship, but CBA has tested itself with a trip to San Diego for four games, during which the Colts went 1-3, and also took on a stacked Hun School lineup on Monday, which resulted in a 15-8 CBA loss. With pitchers like Doogan and Will Biggie — the latter of whom pitched the middle 1 2/3 innings for CBA on Monday — performing behind returning starters Danny DiTullio, Dylan Iwanyk and Dan Pardini, the Colts have the pitching staff to make another run at a second Shore Conference Tournament championship in three years, as well as a second straight sectional title.

“We know what it takes and that’s just focusing on what we need to do today,” Matejicka said. “Teams are going to give us their best, so we always have to be ready to play, ready to battle.”

 

Box Score

CBA 8, Middletown South 7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Midd South (2-4, 1-4) 0 3 2 0 0 2 0 7 11 1
CBA (4-4, 3-0) 0 3 0 0 0 0 5 8 11 2

Pitching

Middletown South IP H R ER BB SO PC
Peter DeNicola 3 4 3 2 3 4 53
Michael Gough 2 2 0 0 1 1 43
Cameron Galante 1 4 4 4 0 1 26
Johnny Daley (L, 0-1) 0.1 1 1 1 2 1 23
CBA IP H R ER BB SO PC
Danny DiTullio 4 9 5 5 2 3 80
Will Biggie 1.2 1 1 1 1 4 28
Declan Doogan (W, 1-1) 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 20

Top Hitters

Middletown South Game Stats
Michael Marinich 2-3, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI
Matt Korth 2-3, 2B, R, RBI
Jack Concordia 2-4, R
Peter DeNicola 1-4, R, RBI
Mike Mullane 1-2, 2 BB, RBI
Jack Dougherty 1-3, BB, R
Ryan Cerminaro 1-4, R
CBA Game Stats
Jared Matejicka 3-3, 2B, BB, R, 3 RBI
Dylan Reynholds 1-2, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI
Michael Knox 2-3, BB, R
Ryan Wetmore 1-3, BB, R, RBI
Jack Pascucci 1-4, RBI
Colin Hoverter 1-4, R
Alex Fiore 1-2, BB, HBP, R

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