Jersey Shore Arms Shine Again in Carpenter Cup Quarterfinal Rout
PHILADELPHIA — Three senior pitchers combined for six shutout innings in the Jersey Shore’s Carpenter Cup first-round win on Monday and in Thursday’s quarterfinal against N.J. neighbor Mercer County, the Shore squad unleashed a pair of younger arms to set up the senior trio for another dominant finish.
Toms River South junior Aiden Moylan and Rumson-Fair Haven sophomore Brady Williams covered the first four innings and the first-round trio of Raritan’s Will Meehan, Holmdel’s Jack Vallillo and St. Rose’s Peter Nolan sealed the combined shutout with three innings apiece as the Jersey Shore routed Mercer, 11-0, to reach the semifinals of the Carpenter Cup Saturday at 4 p.m. at Philadelphia’s FDR Park.
Moylan struck out five of the seven batters he faced Thursday over two scoreless frames, during which he allowed one hit. Brady Williams followed with four strikeouts and no walks over two scoreless innings, with the runners reaching on one hit, a hit batter and an error against Williams.
After Moylan and Williams shined in their first mound action of the Carpenter Cup, Meehan picked up where he left off after a dominant two innings on Monday. Like Moylan, Meehan — a Boston College commit — struck out five of the seven batters he faced to start Monday’s game and on Thursday, he struck out two more while working around a hit and a walk.
In the top of the sixth, Vallillo pitched his third perfect inning over the first two rounds, striking out two batters in a one-two-three inning. In two appearances, Vallillo has struck out five during his three perfect innings.
Nolan closed out the win with two more punch-outs around a one-out walk. In 14 innings so far this tournament, the Shore pitching staff has allowed one run on six hits and five walks while striking out 29.
Moylan and Williams both pitched in a tight game, but by the time Williams reached the mound for his second inning of work, the Jersey Shore offense had blown the game open with seven runs in the bottom of the third to open up an 8-0 lead.
The bottom of the third inning started with back-to-back singles by Williams and Toms River South outfielder Jaden Geremia, then a walk to Wall sophomore shortstop Jackson Soos to load the bases. Toms River East junior Joey DiMeo ripped a misplayed ground ball to shortstop to score both Williams and Geremia and Brick Memorial first baseman Dan Golembiewski followed with a two-run single to left for a 5-0 Shore lead.
Red Bank Catholic junior outfielder Luke Lonczak legged out an infield single and a throwing error on the play scored Golembiewski, who had advanced to second on a passed ball. Lonczak later scored the sixth run of the inning on a wild pitch and Williams plated the final run on an RBI ground out to score Toms River North junior catcher Jason Verderrosa, who reached on another Mercer error.
DiMeo also created the first Shore run in the bottom of the first, when he drew a two-out walk, stole both second and third, and scored on the first of Mercer’s four errors.
Brick Memorial shortstop Tyler Garbooshian added to the lead with a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth and Luke Dana capped the scoring with an two-out RBI triple in the bottom of the sixth — the Shore’s lone extra-base hit in the game.
Jersey Shore will take on Philadelphia Catholic Saturday at 4 p.m. at Dick Allen Field in FDR Park, with a spot in Monday’s championship game on the line.
Box Score
Jersey Shore 11, Mercer County 0
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| Mercer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Jersey Shore | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | X | 11 | 10 | 1 |
Pitching
| Jersey Shore | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | PC |
| Aiden Moylan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 35 |
| Brady Williams (W) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 37 |
| Will Meehan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| Jack Vallillo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Peter Nolan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| Mercer | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | PC |
| Aiden Poot (L) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 31 |
| Anthony Benitez | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Chase Hammerschlag | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 30 |
| Tyler Bunnell | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Chase Pullen | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| Cayden Burns | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
Top Hitters
| Jersey Shore | Game Stats |
| Luke Dana | 2-2, 3B, R, RBI |
| Dan Golembiewski | 1-2, R, 2 RBI, SB |
| Tyler Garbooshian | 1-1, HBP, 2 RBI |
| Jake Liotti | 1-2, R |
| Jaden Geremia | 1-3, R |
| Brady Williams | 1-2, R, RBI |
| Luke Lonczak | 1-2, R |
| Joey DiMeo | 0-1, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB |
| Mercer | Game Stats |
| Josh Vichrosky | 2-2, SB |
| Dan Ducalo | 1-1, BB |
