Baseball NJSIAA Tournament Preview: The Shore Non-Publics

As is usually the case, there is championship pedigree all over the non-public sections of South Jersey and the NJSIAA Tournament has not even started yet. In the South Non-Public A section alone, there are four teams (Red Bank Catholic, St. Augustine, St. Joseph Metuchen and Immaculata) that won a county or conference championship while three more (RBC, Christian Brothers Academy and Union Catholic) lost in a championship game of a county or conference tournament.

Pitching depth is always an edge for private schools when facing public school teams in those in-season tournaments, but now, the playing field is more level. Between all the teams in South Non-Public A, there are eight committed Division I pitchers in the section, including two each on the top three seeds in the section.

In Non-Public B, the talent is more concentrated within the rosters of three teams – Gloucester Catholic, Ranney and Bishop Eustace — with Gloucester Catholic packing as much next-level talent as any team in the state this season.

Both Gloucester Catholic and St. Augustine have been the dominant teams in their respective South Jersey sections, but RBC, CBA, and Ranney have all had their moments within the last decade and are each capable of creating another memorable moment this June.

 

South Jersey Non-Public A

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 1 Christian Brothers Academy, No. 2 Red Bank Catholic, No. 9 St. John Vianney, No. 10 Donovan Catholic
Top Seed: CBA
Defending Champion: No. 3 St. Augustine

Favorite: Red Bank Catholic. For most of the season, CBA has been the Shore’s top team and that’s reflected in the Colts getting the No. 1 seed in the section. Lately, however, RBC has been the hotter of the two Shore Conference teams, with the Caseys beating the Colts, 8-3, in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game on May 20 to take a 2-1 lead in the season series that may or may not be over. RBC dominated its first three opponents in the Shore Conference Tournament before losing an 8-7 championship game to Brick Memorial. The Caseys offense remained hot in the final vs. Brick Memorial’s top pitchers and will have a chance to reset their rotation over the next several days as they prepare for their NJSIAA Tournament opener on Friday.

Dark Horse: No. 5 Immaculata. This is about as far down the list of seeds as you can go in South Non-Public A and still come up with a team that could potentially win the bracket. Maybe rust will adversely impact the four teams that do not play a state tournament game until Friday, but those teams will also have all of their top pitching lined up. Immaculata has the big pitcher to throw against CBA in junior left-hander and Wake Forest commit Ryan Auten, plus a capable lineup and solid pitching staff to back him up.

No. 6 Union Catholic is 5-2 in its last seven games with the only losses coming to the No. 1 team in the state, Governor Livingston. The Vikings don’t have a dominant pitcher, but they are a balanced team that plays well when the game is tight, which is a good trait to have when visiting St. Augustine in late May or early June.

No. 7 Notre Dame and Donovan Catholic are battling it out for the right to face RBC and Notre Dame will have to decide when to pitch junior ace Josh Klena against the Griffins or save him for a potential quarterfinal game at RBC on Friday. Donovan Catholic will likely split any state game it plays on the mound and hope the top of the lineup is on its game. Catcher Ryder Simpson is having a big season despite his team’s low win total and he is capable of breaking open a game.

Paul VI has some talent that could give CBA a challenge, but the Eagles will have to navigate past a St. John Vianney squad that has turned itself into a formidable scoring outfit. The Lancers are averaging 7.3 runs per game in May and have scored at least six runs in each of their last five games for an average of just under nine per game during that stretch. That might be enough noise for Paul VI to have to break out ace Tyler Rodgers to get by SJV instead of saving him for a potential quarterfinal match-up at CBA.

Bracket Breakdown: There are some quality players throughout this section, but the top six seeds are a cut above the rest and within that group, CBA, RBC, St. Augustine and Immaculata appear to be the contenders. CBA has hit a slump at the plate and left-hander Sean Loggie is coming off a couple off-days in his last two starts – one of which started with him no-hitting Ocean through four innings before running into problems in the fifth. With two committed Division I juniors in Loggie (Virginia) and Dylan Iwanyk (Michigan), an All-Shore junior left-hander in Danny DiTullio and two dependable seniors in Shane Langan and Jack Dufficy, CBA has more pitching than any team in the field. The question for the Colts is whether or not Loggie can find his groove again and if the lineup can get its rhythm back.

RBC is licking its wounds after losing an exciting SCT final to Brick Memorial. There was plenty to like from the RBC perspective: the Caseys came back from deficits of 3-1 and 6-3 to tie the game and Max Dantoni swung just underneath a 1-2 pitch when he flew out to end the game with runners on second and third. RBC will want to clean up its defense after a few gaffes on Monday night in Lakewood and there are some questions about the pitching pecking order, but the way the lineup has performed in recent weeks, the Caseys won’ be out of any game.

St. Augustine is the default favorite on a year-to-year basis, with the Hermits winning six consecutive South Jersey titles from 2016 to 2022 before RBC ended that streak in 2023. After climbing back to the top of Non-Public A last season, St. Augustine is tryin to rekindle the dynasty with a second straight championship and with Division I players around the diamond, the ingredients are there. Penn State commit Alex Weingartner is the team’s best hitter and pitcher, while Bryant commit Jameson Dobis is second behind him in the rotation. There is a drop-off after the top two in the pitching staff, but the Hermits make up for it with Division I position players like shortstop Joe Erace (Rutgers), outfielder Marco Christopher (La Salle) and second baseman Brady Jackson (Old Dominion).

Immaculata will have to get through St. Joseph of Metuchen in order to claim its place in the final four of the section. The schedule plays in the Spartans’ favor, because they can potentially pitch Auten against both St. Joseph and CBA. As for St. Joe’s, the Falcons don’t have the top-shelf pitching that the other four teams in the top five boast, but the Falcons enter the tournament on a nine-game winning streak after capturing the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship.

Championship Prediction: CBA over St. Augustine. The road to the final is by no means easy for CBA, but the Colts will have a favorable draw with which to pursue their first sectional championship in 10 years. They might have to face Auten if Immaculata reaches the semifinals, but the Colts can counter with their choice of pitcher to start the game and still have an abundance of options to finish off the week. Early in the year, it was Loggie who was the clear-cut No. 1 for CBA. Then, Iwanyk pitched back-to-back complete games and appeared to be rounding into No. 1 form. As the state tournament starts, DiTullio has recently looked closer to the pitcher that nabbed a First Team All-Shore spot as a sophomore than the one who got hit around over the first month of the current season. On top of the that, Langan has been lights-out in relief all year. There is likely to be a hot hand among the group and if more than one gets hot, it is hard to picture CBA losing – even as the offense works through a late-May slump.

The bigger question in this section is if CBA does reach the final, who will be opposing the Colts? RBC ended St. Augustine’s run of six straight titles by knocking the Hermits out of the 2023 tournament, but St. Augustine got its revenge a year ago by upending the Caseys in Red Bank – which would be the site of a rematch. Weingartner would be eligible to pitch as long as the quarterfinal round is played on time and even if it is not, there is a chance the Penn State commit will be ready for RBC. If not, the Hermits can still turn to Dobis and feel good about their chances. RBC, meanwhile, would like to give pitchers Luke Meyers and Ryan Prior a full week to rest up after both were worked hard leading up to the Shore Conference Tournament final, in which neither was at their best. Glen Popes could give his rotation mates a break with a strong outing on Friday, but the Caseys may choose to play it safe and go with Prior or Meyers in the quarterfinals. Either way, RBC will want to be ready for week two of the tournament, which could require the Caseys to beat St. Augustine and CBA within a three-day span.

 

South Jersey Non-Public B

Shore Teams in the Field: No. 4 Ranney, No. 9 St. Rose
Top Seed: Gloucester Catholic
Defending Champion: Gloucester Catholic

Favorite: Gloucester Catholic. The Rams have been the cream of the crop among the teams in this bracket on a year-in-year-out basis, with Ranney breaking up the stranglehold in 2022, when the Panthers won their first ever Non-Public B championship. This year, Gloucester Catholic remains a cut above the rest thanks to a lineup that includes Auburn commit Guy Lynam, Virginia commit Noah Danza, East Carolina commit Braeden Lipoff and uncommitted slugger Jack Mustaro. Coastal Carolina commit Jackson Smallets leads the rotation and both junior Jude Morgan (2 earned runs in 38 innings) and Mustaro (one run in 27 2/3 innings) have had near perfect seasons on the mound as the two-three combination in the rotation.

Dark Horse: Ranney. If Gloucester Catholic does not win the South Jersey Non-Public B championship, it is hard to picture any team but No. 2 Bishop Eustace or Ranney as the ultimate benefactor. With Bishop Eustace drawing the No. 2 seed and looking at a fairly easy road to the final, there is nothing dark about that horse.

Ranney is not exactly a plucky underdog either – at least not in the grand scheme of things. For the next week, however, the Panthers will play the role of underdog, but will first have to take care of business at home vs. Holy Spirit. The plus side for the Panthers is they can set up their pitching for Gloucester Catholic, with sophomore Justin Kauffman likely to get the ball after the Rams saw Nate Fuller and Zach Messina when the teams played one another on May 20. Those three pitchers have been Ranney’s most reliable arms and with a dangerous lineup led by Shore Conference home run leader and LSU commit Ricky Lopez and slugging third baseman Andrew Parisi in tow, that trio just needs to give the hitters a chance.

Bracket Breakdown: Bishop Eustace got a big break by landing on the side of the bracket opposite Ranney, which gives the Crusaders a chance to line up their pitching for the championship game. Whether it is Doane Academy, Princeton Day or Wildwood Catholic opposing Bishop Eustace in the semifinal, the Crusaders should overmatch them. In fact, St. Rose likely has the best shot of any team on that side of the bracket to beat Bishop Eustace.

The Purple Roses have one of the better players in the section in Pitt commit Peter Nolan, who is a hard-throwing right-hander on the mound when he is not manning shortstop for St. Rose. Even with a 2-15 record at the start of the tournament, St. Rose will have a good chance to knock off a St. Joseph Hammonton squad that has a 13-3 loss to Pinelands (4-15) early in the year. If the Wildcats throw sophomore ace Liam Hurley, St. Rose could be in for a tough game, but anyone else on the mound would leave the door wide open for the Purple Roses to earn a shot at Bishop Eustace.

As for the top-end of the bracket, Holy Spirit has a puncher’s chance vs. Ranney in the quarterfinal, but that semifinal will very likely come down to the aforementioned showdown between the Panthers and Gloucester Catholic in Brooklawn.

Championship Prediction: Gloucester Catholic over Bishop Eustace. Although Ranney has more experience and senior influence than it did a year ago, the Panthers are still a very young team, which will make taking out Gloucester Catholic a major challenge. The Rams have a more imposing collection of arms and a lineup that is further along in its development from top to bottom – even with Lopez and Parisi putting up seasons as good or better by the numbers than anyone on Gloucester Catholic.