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Start-to-Finish: Brick Memorial Baseball Gallops Back to Central 3 Final

Matt Manley|June 4, 2026|Last Updated June 4, 2026

COLTS NECK — No baseball game, and certainly not a state tournament game, is decided on the first batter, but the right lead-off hitter can send a message. Brick Memorial senior shortstop Tyler Garbooshian delivered a resounding message on the first batter of Wednesday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III semifinal at Colts Neck and his head coach made a statement in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Garbooshian made it four straight games with a homer with his solo shot leading off the game and Brick Memorial coach Evan Rizzitello closed the game with senior ace Brody Moore after six strong innings from junior Zach Pirnik as the Mustangs edged Colts Neck, 3-2, to reach the sectional final round for the second straight year.

For the second straight game, Garbooshian led off Brick Memorial’s half of the first inning with a home run, which marked his fourth home run in three NJSIAA Tournament games and his sixth of his senior season. It was the first of three straight innings in which the Mustangs put a run on the board, which was enough for junior left-hander Zach Pirnik to earn his eighth win of the season.

“After that first bomb to start the game, I was like, ‘Dude, you are pretty much unstoppable right now,” Moore said of Garbooshian. “The last two weeks have been crazy. He was having a good year the whole year, but now the singles and doubles are turning into doubles and home runs — power.”

At the start of play on May 19, Garbooshian was hitting .427 but had not hit a home run. The NJSIAA Tournament cut-off had already passed and the Mustangs had just lost to Point Pleasant Boro in the Shore Conference Tournament round of 16. On that day, Garbooshian hit his first home run against New Egypt, which also set a new Brick Memorial career record for hits with 103. Starting with that game, Garbooshian has .583 (14-for-24) with 6 home runs, two doubles 15 runs scored and 15 RBI, which includes going 6-for-12 with four home runs, a double, six runs and eight RBI during the NJSIAA Tournament.

“I have been telling people all year that it’s a big deal to get this one hundred hits thing and everyone is telling you that you have to get that,” Garbooshian said. “I was telling myself I had to make contact and get hits. Once that pressure is off, it was like, ‘Alright, I’m ready to swing like me again.’ I’ve been letting the barrel go a little bit more and in the leadoff spot, no one wants to walk the leadoff guy so you’re going to get something to hit. I have been pretty locked-in in that leadoff spot. I think I hit .200 hitting leadoff last year, but it has been working well this year. I don’t know what it is, but I’m loving the leadoff spot.”

“He has always been so good, but there has always been a lot of pressure on him,” Rizzitello said of Garbooshian. “He committed so early (to Rutgers) and everybody knows his name but you still have got to go out and play really well and he does. I’m glad he is playing his best when it matters most.”

Pirnik allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks (one intentional) in six innings of work, during which he threw just 71 pitches. Even with a light pitch count and four consecutive scoreless innings in which the only Colts Neck base-runners reached due to two errors and an intentional walk, Pirnik’s day was done after six innings with Moore available to pitch the seventh.

Facing the seven, eight and nine hitters in the Colts Neck order, Moore fired a swinging strikeout with his slider to start the inning, induced a weak ground ball to second baseman Trevor Kish, then rolled a grounder to first baseman Dan Golembiewski, who scooped up the ball and tagged the first-base bag to end the game.

“The way that it broke down, their seven, eight and nine guys were coming up and we felt like they couldn’t touch Brody’s stuff,” Rizzitello said. “If they saw Zach again, they would have a better opportunity against Zach, so it was almost a no-brainer.”

For the second straight year, Pirnik and Moore are Brick Memorial’s one-two punch as left-handed starters and this season, Moore has distinguished himself as Brick Memorial’s most overpowering option on the mound. Pirnik has thrown 10 more innings, while Moore’s earned-run average is around half that of Pirnik’s, 1.35 to 2.61. Moore has also struck out 88 with 15 walks in his 57 innings.

“Brody has really separated himself and Zach would be the first one to tell you that,” Rizzitello said. “He knows Brody is our guys right now. He is a senior. He has really stepped up and progressed from last year and he was really good last year. We did not expect the offensive production he has been giving us either, so he has probably been one of the best two-way guys in the area.”

“He is nasty,” Garbooshian said. “Every time he is on the mound, it’s like, ‘We’re going to win this game.’ That goes for Zach, too. That’s my mindset going into every game, but with those two on the mound it’s just a different feeling.”

On paper, the move to Moore for the seventh inning checked out, but it was a different role for the senior left-hander. Moore is the Mustangs’ starting centerfielder when he does not pitch and he has not pitched in relief since his first outing of the 2025 season, in which he entered the game with a 7-0 lead — a far cry from a one-run game in June.

“I only had one inning in me, so just put it all out there and empty the tank,” Moore said. “I just had so much adrenaline going, I honestly wasn’t even thinking. I was just going right at them. I trusted all my stuff and it worked out.”

“He is a guy who really likes his routine,” Rizzitello said of Moore. “We gave him enough time over there. We pinch-ran for him in the seventh to give him time and he was pretty pumped up and you saw it out there. He got a strikeout and two weak contacts. It was our best guy to get three outs against the bottom of their order to get to a sectional final.”

Between Garbooshian’s home run and Moore’s save, Brick Memorial displayed its lineup depth early before Colts Neck showcased its bullpen dynamo. The Mustangs grew their lead to 2-0 in the top of the second thanks to the bottom of the batting order, starting with a lead-off double by Kish. Junior designated hitter Will Montanye then bunted for a base hit and No. 9 hitter Gavin McCue lined a single over the head of shortstop John Sponder to score Kish from third.

“We weren’t real happy with leaving all those guys on base,” Rizzitello said. “But McCue comes up with a clutch RBI, Will getting a bunt down, Trevor with a double. (Michael) Figner got some big hits for us in the first two rounds. I just think the bottom of the order is starting to gain a little more confidence and it has really helped. Anything they do, it’s big because the top of the lineup is so strong.”

The first two Brick Memorial hitters in the top of the third reached on a dropped fly ball and the lone walk of the game by Colts Neck junior starter Ryan Rude. The first-and-second threat with none out prompted Colts Neck coach Mike Yorke to summon senior right-hander Ryan Spencer to take over for Rude and sophomore third baseman Matt McGlynn greeted him with a single to leftfield. Golembiewski initially stopped at third base, but when the throw from leftfielder Austin Hardy skipped past catcher Matt Clark after Spencer deflected it, Golembiewski trotted home for a 3-0 lead.

“Every game is like that: you want to get on top early,” Garbooshian said. “We like hitting first. To come out early and score first, that’s what you want.”

Colts Neck got climbed to within a run behind a two-run rally in the bottom of the third. Rude ripped a two-out RBI single that took a sharp, unpredictable hop over the shoulder of Garbooshian at shortstop to score designated hitter John Glusko from second. Glusko opened the inning with a double to the left-centerfield gap.

Rude then scored on a play similar to the one that plated Brick Memorial’s third run. Senior third baseman Joe Pignatelli lined a single to centerfield and Yorke held Rude at third initially before sending him after Moore’s throw from centerfield skipped all the way to the backstop. Rude then raced home to cut the Mustangs lead to 3-2.

“Zach did a tremendous job,” Rizzitello said. “He was all around the zone. He was throwing all his pitches for strikes. I felt like he was in control. We thought the ball that hopped over Garbooshian’s head was a bad break and then the errant throw to the cutoff man, so the two runs that scored were not really on him.”

Pirnik got out of the third with the lead intact and did not allow a hit the rest of the way. The only base-runner he allowed of his own volition was an unintentional walk, which came after a dropped pop-up in foul territory that would have ended the inning. Pirnik ended the threat by picking him off for the final out of the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, a dropped fly ball with two out and an intentional walk put two runners on with two out and Garbooshian got Pirnik out of it by fielding a ground ball and firing to second base for the inning-ending force-out.

“He was painting,” Moore said of Pirnik. “He was dotting everybody up, keeping them off-balance all game. That’s what he does to most teams.”

Spencer, meanwhile, kept the pressure on Brick Memorial by pitching five scoreless innings of relief to finish his remarkable run as a reliever, which started on May 6. Since that day, Colts Neck played 11 games and Spencer pitched in all 11 to spectacular results: a 2-0 record, four saves, an ERA of 0.80 and 44 strikeouts against eight walks in 26 1/3 innings. On Tuesday, he pitched five innings scoreless innings of relief with four hits, a walk (intentional) and eight strikeouts.

“He was impressive,” Rizzitello said of Spencer. “I was impressed. Against our top guys, he did well and basically shut us down. We got the one single off him when he came in with runners on and after that, we couldn’t score on him. It was my first time seeing him in person and I was very impressed.”

“He was mixing it up well,” Garbooshian said. “His fastball had a little ride to it. I was just missing him, but the first time I saw the slider, it was two-two and he struck me out on that. He is a good arm, you’ve got to give him props.”

For the second straight year, Brick Memorial will play in the Central Jersey Group III final at No. 1 seed Northern Burlington — the defending overall Group III champion. The Greyhounds beat Brick Memorial, 8-4, in last year’s championship game, which was started by Pirnik. This year, it will be Moore who takes the ball as Brick Memorial’s starter as the Mustangs shoot for the first sectional title in program history.

“The first interview I did this year, I remember saying, ‘I want Northern Burlington,'” Garbooshian said. “Last year, we went there and we didn’t bring our best stuff. This year, we are ready to go. That’s the game we have been waiting for all year.”

“It’s nervous excitement,” Moore said of his looming championship start. “I’m excited to get out on the mound and go at those guys. They’re really good. They are the defending champs and we want to take it from them, so I’m excited.”

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