Baseball Notes: Wall, Brick Memorial Swinging Big; Toms River Magic; Colts Neck’s Weapon; Meehan’s No-Hitter

If there is one takeaway from the last two years of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II Baseball Tournament, it is this: Teams do not win the section so much as they survive it.

Last year, Governor Livingston needed two late-game rallies to complete its second straight run to a sectional championship and this year, the No. 1 seed was bounced in the first round when No. 16 Holmdel shocked Rumson-Fair Haven.

Holmdel was one of three double-digit seeds to win in the first round and one of those teams (Robbinsville) is still playing as the semifinals approach on Wednesday.

Amid the madness of the section, Wall – the No. 4 seed in the section – has been steady in its quest to win the program’s first sectional title since winning all of Group III in 2019. The Crimson Knights are the lone Shore Conference team still in play for a Group II championship and since Rumson has already been eliminated, Wall will host its semifinal game Wednesday against No. 8 seed Allentown.

Every part of Wall’s game has clicked through the first two rounds of the tournament, with the Crimson Knights outscoring fellow Shore Conference teams Ocean and Raritan by an aggregate score of 19-3. Senior John Catanio has been the star through one week of the tournament: he picked up the win on the mound vs. Ocean and has drilled three home runs in two games, including a pair of two-run homers in Friday’s 9-1 win over Raritan. His first homer on Friday was a two-run shot in the bottom of the first that opened the scoring and he homered again in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 6-1.

“We want to win these games so bad,” Catanio said. “We have been dreaming about this for so long, so when we get out here, we’re fired up. We were one right from warm-ups and it carried over to the first inning. I got into a good count and got the pitch I wanted.”

Through two games, Catanio is 5-for-7 with three home runs, a walk, six runs scored, six RBI and two stolen bases.

“I fixed my swing recently,” Catanio said. “I was dropping my hands, so I had a little hitch in my swing. I’ve been trying to keep my hands steady so I go straight to the ball and it’s working really well.”

Raritan at Wall in early afternoon baseball in CJ2: John Catanio blasts off for a 2-run homer in the first to give Wall a 2-0 lead. Catanio also homered in the 1st round vs Ocean. pic.twitter.com/mkobK1f14F

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) May 29, 2026

Sophomore Luke Dana has been somewhat overshadowed by Catanio’s power surge, but the Wall first baseman has been locked-in as well to start the state tournament. Like Catanio, Dana also went 3-for-4 in the win over Raritan, including his second double in as many games. Dana is 4-for-7 with a pair of doubles, a walk, five runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases. Along with shortstop and leadoff hitter Jackson Soos, the two sophomores have set the table for Catanio for the latter half of the season, particularly last week.

Senior catchers Will Hague and Frank Soos each delivered a two-run double – Soos in the win vs. Ocean and Hague on Friday vs. Raritan. Sophomore centerfielder Will Hunt put up a 2-for-3 game with two RBI vs. Ocean on Wednesday and sophomore third baseman Chris Knight duplicated that stat line on Friday vs. Raritan while also adding a walk to his day at the plate.

The 19 runs in two games made life easy for Wall’s three pitchers during the first two rounds. Senior Dan Hennessy followed Catanio with 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the save on Wednesday and senior left-hander Nick Plevier needed only 77 pitches to pitch a four-hit complete game against Raritan.

Wall’s defense has also been on top of its game during the state playoffs, with the Crimson Knights committing just one error on a ball in play while its pitchers have only struck out a total of five batters in two games. The lone error came in the seventh inning vs. Ocean with Wall already leading, 10-2.

“I have a lot of confidence in our pitchers, myself and all of the guys and really that comes from just trusting our defense,” Plevier said. “I wasn’t really expecting (Raritan) to be as aggressive as they were, but they swung the bats early in the count and it worked to our advantage because our defense played great.”

With Wall hosting the semifinals on Wednesday and University of Pittsburgh commit Tyler Bunnell likely to pitch for No. 11 Robbinsville at No. 2 Governor Livingston on the same day, the bracket could be falling Wall’s way if the Ravens ace can lead his team over the defending champions. At the same time, beating Allentown will not be a breeze. The Redbirds rallied to beat Holmdel on Friday and hit the 20-win mark and are just two years removed from winning the Central Jersey Group III championship.

While Hennessy is 7-0 on the mound, Plevier has been Wall’s most reliable starter this season considering the competition he has faced and will be eligible to pitch on Wednesday should coach Jim Rochford want to go back to his senior left-hander. With just 77 mostly-low-stress pitches against Raritan, it likely would not be a physical challenge for Plevier to pitch again, but Catanio, Hennessy and Christian Suarez all make for quality senior options this week.

“I’m up for pitching Wednesday or in the championship. Whatever coach wants,” Plevier said. “I know John will be good if it’s him. I’m just hoping we can good crowd. It’s huge we don’t have to get on a bus for an hour, so we’ll enjoy being at our field.”

 

Brick’s Bombers

Senior Dan Golembiewski leads the Shore Conference with 11 home runs on the season, but during the state tournament, one of his Brick Memorial teammates has him beat when it comes to leaving the yard.

Senior shortstop Tyler Garbooshian has carried his torrid hitting into the state tournament, during which he has hit three homers in the Mustangs’ two wins. After socking a two-run home run in an 11-1 win over rival Brick, Garboosian slammed two home runs in another 11-1 win over sixth-seeded Hopewell Valley. Now with five homers on the season, Garbooshian more than doubled his season total and the Rutgers commit is now hitting .506 heading into the Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals Wednesday at Colts Neck.

Golembiewski did not let Garbooshian have all the fun by himself, as the slugging first baseman crushed his 11th homer of the year two batters after Garbooshian led off Friday’s win vs. Hopewell with a solo shot.

While Golembiewski, Garbooshian and senior Brody Moore have been locked-in at the plate all year, Brick Memorial is getting a boost from many sources through two rounds of the NJSIAA Tournament. Senior catcher Joe McGlynn hit .500 last season and had a breakout game vs. Brick in which he went 4-for-4 with a double, home run and two RBI. Junior rightfielder Michael Figner has also caught fire at the right time, going 5-for-7 with two doubles and a home run in the first two rounds of the tournament.

Following its 22-run week in the NJSIAA Tournament, Brick Memorial now leads the Shore Conference with 241 total runs and will face the team that is next in line, Colts Neck, with 217 in the sectional semifinal round on Wednesday.

 

Toms River Déjà Vu

Last year’s NJSIAA Tournament was a return to glory for Toms River baseball thanks to deep NJSIAA Tournament runs by both Toms River East and Toms River South that culminated with the former beating the latter in the 2026 South Jersey Group III championship game in front of a packed scene at Raider Ravine.

This year, the two teams across town from one another are at it again. Just minutes apart on Friday, both Toms River East and Toms River South finished off nine-inning wins over perennial title contenders in Group III, with Toms River East walking off sixth-seeded Shawnee, 2-1, and Toms River South battling past a top-seeded Clearview team that was ranked No. 5 in the state by NJ.com last week, with the Indians claiming a 4-3 victory.

“It’s so exciting,” Toms River South coach Jim Rankin said. “You’ve got people buzzing. You’ve got people talking in the hallways, which is great. People are paying attention to what these kids are doing, which is good. For a while, we fell off the map. We fell off the radar and I feel like now, we kind of have that mojo going again. It’s an exciting time for South, obviously, but it’s an exciting time for Toms River.”

Toms River East had to rally to keep alive its sectional title defense, with senior Lucas Melton stepping up as Friday’s hero. With his team trailing, 1-0, following a run by Shawnee in the top of the seventh, Melton cracked a triple off Renegades ace left-hander Tim Dougherty and scored the tying run on a bunt single by fellow senior Chase Caswell. In the bottom of the ninth, junior Joey DiMeo made his way to second base with a single and an advancement on a ground ball by sophomore Jayce Cappello to bring Melton back to the plate with a chance to win the game. The senior delivered again by punching a single into leftfield that chased DiMeo home with the game-ending run.

Melton missed his sophomore year due to injury and returned last year to start in rightfield and hit in the bottom half of the order. He made a memorable moment in the South Jersey Group III final, when he robbed a potential grand slam at the fence in rightfield. This season, Melton has slugged eight home runs, which is good for third in the conference.

Toms River South, meanwhile, stunned Clearview, 4-3, in nine innings despite Clearview out-hitting the Indians, 11-4, and threatening throughout the late innings. The Pioneers erased deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 to send the game to extra innings and placed runners at second base with less than two out in each of the final three innings, only to be denied by Toms River South freshman Andrew Schmidt.

Schmidt closed out each of Toms River South’s state tournament wins on the mound and his scoreless 3 1/3 innings pulled the Indians to the finish line at Clearview on Friday. Now, Toms River South will look to reach the championship game as a No. 9 seed by knocking off No. 4 Delsea on Wednesday.

 

Meehan’s Memorable Day

When Raritan’s first-round game at Delran was postponed from Wednesday to Thursday due to an afternoon shower that compromised the playing field, a large group of Rockets players decided to go to the Holmdel at Rumson-Fair Haven first-round game and watched Holmdel ace Jack Vallillo beat the No. 1 seed in the Central Group II bracket, 1-0.

The scene was enough to motivate Raritan ace Will Meehan to pitch his own gem the following day, but in case he needed an extra edge, one of his teammates provided it. According to Raritan’s coaching staff, one of Meehan’s teammates made sure to point out to him that Vallillo was the better pitcher. The slight jab, as it turned out, had the desired effect.

Raritan’s run in the 2026 NJSIAA Tournament is over after the first week, but Meehan gave the Rockets a game to remember before it came to an end. On Thursday at Delran, he pitched the game of the year by a pitcher in the Shore Conference when he threw a no-hitter with one walk and 16 strikeouts in a 2-0 win for the 12th-seeded Rockets.

“I didn’t think about the score or whether they got a hit off me,” Meehan said. “The last two times I did that, they got a hit off me in the seventh inning, so I just really focused on pounding the zone and letting my defense help me out.”

Meehan took a perfect game into the sixth inning, but the bid for perfection ended with an error leading off the inning, followed by Meehan’s lone walk of the game. He also struck out three in the sixth inning to keep the Bears off the board and sophomore Eric McCartney gave his pitcher some extra cushion when he belted a solo home run in the top of the seventh, extending the Raritan lead to 2-0.

Meehan returned to the mound for the seventh and struck out the first two batters on eight pitchers before jumping ahead, 1-2, on Dominic Favieri, who then fouled off three straight two-strike pitches. Favier finally put the ball in play and sophomore shortstop Bear Evernham inhaled it and fired to senior first baseman Jake Ricchiuti to finish off Meehan’s state-tournament no-hitter.

“I was hyped up on the first two outs and the ump wasn’t very happy with me,” Meehan said. “He kind of told me, ‘Calm down,’ which might have been a good thing. I was pretty hyped up.”

According to Meehan, his fastball carried him through Thursday’s win.

“My fastball has been pretty dominant recently so I just pounded them with the fastball,” Meehan said. “My curveball hasn’t been at its best, but I have still been putting guys away with it. I’m always looking to do better to get more out of my pitches.”

Thursday’s performance was neither Meehan’s first memorable state tournament outing, nor his first no-hitter, but it was the first that had a happy ending for him and his team. Last year, Meehan took a three-hit shutout into the seventh inning against unbeaten Governor Livingston, but ran out of pitches and watched from the dugout as the Highlanders scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to deny Raritan the massive upset in a 3-2 win for the eventual Group II champions.

Earlier this season, Meehan pitched a seven-inning no-hitter vs. Freehold Township, but came out on the losing end, 3-1. Five walks and an ill-timed error led to the three Patriots runs and senior right-hander Jackson Redmond out-dueled Meeham by pitching a four-hitter of his own. A year earlier, Redmond pitched a no-hitter in a loss to Raritan in a game that was also started by Meehan.

The no-hitter capped a strong finish to the 2026 season for Meehan, who worked seven innings in four of his final five starts. The one exception was a one-inning start at Toms River South in which he was simply tuning up for the state tournament and exited after one clean inning with a pair of strikeouts.

“I was struggling with walks throughout the season, but I feel like the second half, I really came around and started to locate in the zone,” Meehan said. “I have worked every day throwing to make it happen. I put so much work in in the winter. Me and my dad go to the field every day after practice and I would just try to hit targets. I feel like all that time and effort really paid off with the way I have finished this season.”

 

Colts Neck’s Sandman

Senior Ryan Spencer opened the season as Colts Neck’s No. 1 starting pitcher and remained in the starter’s role through the end of April. As a starter, Spencer boasted a 3.62 ERA in 29 innings and pitched past the fifth inning just once, which came in a 4-2 loss to Point Pleasant Boro.

Starting May 6, Colts Neck has deployed Spencer in the back-half of games as a multi-inning reliever and the results have been spectacular for both the team and pitcher. Spencer has pitched in all 10 of Colts Neck’s games since May 6 and posted a 2-0 record with four saves and a 0.98 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. Spencer has struck out 36 and walked seven, which is a strikeout rate of 44.4 percent and a walk rate of 8.6 percent. As a starter, Spencer’s strikeout rate was 34.4 percent with a walk rate of 18 percent. His base-runners allowed have also dipped significantly, with a WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched) of 1.65 as a starter and 0.84 as a reliever.

Colts Neck has all three of its top pitchers rested and eligible to face Brick Memorial on Wednesday and while coach Mike Yorke has typically scripted games with Spencer following one of senior Jack Dugo or Ryan Rude, he could make an effort to use each for 50 pitches or fewer, which would keep all three eligible for a potential championship game on Friday. Whatever the deployment of the pitchers in the first four innings, there is no secret who has the final two innings and if Colts Neck can grab a lead against Brick Memorial in the early or middle innings, Yorke will not hesitate to go to his closer.