Baseball Shore Conference Tournament Pitching Preview: First Round

The Shore Conference Tournament is an exciting stage of the season in any Shore Conference spot, but in baseball, there are two elements that makes it more unique and unpredictable than any SCT in any other sport and both are related to pitching.

The first element is quite simply pitching. Now that the SCT is scheduled to be played within a 10-day window, teams will need more than just two pitchers to make the run to the championship game and teams that have to play in Saturday’s opening round are at a disadvantage because they will most certainly need at least three pitchers – possibly more – to make it next Saturday’s SCT semifinals. How teams line up their pitching sets the stage for potential upsets and determines which teams have the hardest paths to the championship.

The other element is the ongoing division races leading up to and, in some cases, during the SCT. Christian Brothers Academy, Colts Neck, Holmdel, Raritan and Keansburg all clinched their respective division titles within four days of the first round and both Brick, Toms River South, Manasquan and Point Pleasant Beach are still battling for division titles at the start of Friday. On top of that, Red Bank Catholic and Colts Neck are playing one another in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals on Friday, which potentially takes away the bye advantage for both teams heading into Monday’s SCT round of 16.

At each stage of the tournament, we’ll take a look at how each team is set up on the mound and how those conditions could effect both the match-up at hand and potential match-ups going forward. Here is a look at the first round.

No. 24 Keansburg at No. 9 Ocean, 4 p.m.

Both teams likely have different pitching plans for Saturday than they had prior to Wednesday’s events. Keansburg’s almost certainly shifted when Keyport jumped on starter James Valle and the Titans turned to No. 1 starter Mikey Clayton to pitch the final five innings. It took Clayton 108 pitches to finish off a 13-9 win for the Titans that was well worth it: Keansburg clinched its first division championship in 28 years.

As for Ocean, the Spartans have three of their top four starters ineligible in Jack Kelly, Derek Vazquez and Mike Martin, so returning All-Shore right-hander Tommy Kowaliwskyj would be the obvious choice to start. With Ocean drawing Keansburg without Clayton as an option, however, the Spartans could opt to keep Kowaliwskyj on ice or perhaps keep his workload under 51 pitches so he is eligible to pitch again on Monday at Manasquan if Ocean advances.

Advantage: Ocean

No. 23 Freehold Twp. at No. 10 Raritan, 10 a.m.

Freehold Township was Raritan’s last obstacle in its quest to win its first division championship since 2018 and the Rockets completed a hard-earned sweep over the Patriots with wins of 6-5 and 3-0. The second of those wins came on Tuesday, when Freehold Township ace Jackson Redmond pitched a no-hitter in a 3-0 loss in which he and his team were done in by three errors during a three-run inning. The silver lining for the Patriots in the loss was that Redmond threw only 62 pitches, which makes him eligible to come back and throw 84 in Saturday’s rematch. Freehold Township’s decision will be to throw a different look at Raritan; Redmond leads the team with 34 innings while the next highest total is 12 2/3, so if the Patriots choose not to push Redmond on short rest, a committee approach like the one that came up just short in the first game vs. Raritan would be the play.

Raritan, meanwhile, split its Tuesday game vs. Freehold Township between its top two pitchers – Alan Warren and Will Meehan – so both are eligible to pitch. With 99 available pitches to Meehan’s 78, Warren would be the safer play for Raritan, but both pitchers are on the table for coach Jeff Struble. Freshman Brendan Evernham has been sharp in relief throughout the season and will factor into the plans as well, even if he’s a contingency should the starter exhaust his limit.

Whatever Raritan opts to do on Saturday, the Rockets will likely prefer to keep one of Meehan or Warren eligible for Monday in a potential round-of-16 match-up at Jackson Memorial. The best plan in these situations is always to break out the bats and put plenty of runs on the board, which has been a challenge for Raritan this week. After being no-hit by Redmond, the Rockets were shutout by Barnegat ace Nick Malinowski in a 2-0 Bengals win. Freehold Township, meanwhile, put up 12 runs against a Manalapan team that has struggled to score (outside of the 18-12 win over Freehold Township) during its 7-13 season, but has been solid on the mound. The cliché that it is hard to beat a team three times is just that, but in some cases, it does play out that way. In this particular case, Raritan could have its hands full, especially if Redmond gets the ball on the mound again.

Advantage: Long-term, Raritan; Saturday, push

No. 22 Toms River North at No. 11 Point Pleasant Beach, 11 a.m.

From Monday, April 28 through Saturday, May 3, Point Beach went 2-3 that week with four games decided by one run. The Garnet Gulls went 1-3 in those one-run games and the only win was over Toms River North on the road. The Garnet Gulls could have more pitching options at their disposal, but that will depend on Friday’s scheduled game vs. Manasquan. Point Beach needs to win that game to clinch the outright Class B South championship and even if the rain in Friday’s forecast moves the game, the Garnet Gulls will want to keep pitching available for next week’s race to the finish line in the division.

As it is, Point Beach has left-hander Tommy Conroy and right-hander Bennett Moberg fully available and those two have been the Garnet Gulls’ most consistent performers on the mound so far this season. Noah Banick threw 94 pitches in Wednesday’s loss at Manasquan, so even though he is not eligible for Saturday, he becomes an option early next week, which frees up Point Beach to use both Conroy and Moberg if needed. The Garnet Gulls have also gotten quality innings from freshman Thomas Slobiski junior Antonio Acevedo – the latter of whom has been the close.

Toms River North saw four of the five Point Beach pitchers in a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Garnet Gulls on May 1: Banick, Slobiski, Acevedo and Moberg, with all three runs coming off the starter, Banick, in the sixth inning. While Toms River North’s lineup deals with a different arrangement from Point Beach, the Mariners will also be using a different plan of attack, although its May 1 starter, Blake Tillotson is still eligible after throwing 46 pitches in Thursday’s win over St. Rose. In fact, everyone on Toms River North’s team is eligible to pitch and the Mariners will likely have everyone ready to go. Toms River North has five pitchers who have thrown between 13 and 20 1/3 innings this season and the most effective of them by ERA has been Ian St. Luce (2.93), who has made all of his appearances in relief.

Advantage: Point Beach

No. 21 Central at No. 12 Holmdel, 11 a.m.

This game is the prime example of the advantage of being out of the divisional race in the week leading up to the SCT. Central has lined up left-handed ace Vinny Berardi to start on Saturday after he pitched the first two innings on Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Point Boro, then took the rest of the game off to keep himself eligible for 96 pitches. Fellow senior Chase Macri – who was more effective Wednesday in relief than Berardi was in his two innings to start the game – is also eligible for 86 pitches after his four scoreless innings of relief. Only Tyler Woemer will be ineligible after the junior threw 95 pitches Thursday at Point Boro, which takes him out of the picture for both Saturday and Monday. That means Central will have incentive to get through Saturday with just Berardi and top reliever Vinny Tremeterra while keeping Macri eligible for a potential Monday game at Colts Neck.

While Central has had a chance to manage its pitcher’s innings this week, Holmdel had a division to win. Ace Dylan Zammit pitched a complete game Wednesday to deliver the Hornets their first division title since 2002. Lincoln Maikos then pitched all seven innings of a 7-4 loss to Middletown North on Thursday, which sets up junior Jack Vallillo to take the ball on Saturday vs. Central. While Zammit is the hard-throwing right-hander with the NJIT commitment to his name, Vallillo has an impressive been impressive in his own right, flashing a 41-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 24 1/3 innings. That includes eight strikeouts, one walk and three hits allowed in four innings vs. Manasquan – a team that beat Central twice.

Advantage: Central

No. 20 Monmouth at No. 13 Wall, 10 a.m.

It is not a stretch to declare this as the most important game of first-round Saturday. Not only are Monmouth and Wall playing for a spot in the round of 16; they could very well be playing for a spot in the NJSIAA Tournament. Through Thursday, Wall currently occupies the No. 16 seed in the loaded Central Jersey Group II bracket, with Monmouth the first team out and right on Wall’s heels. To illustrate how unusual it is for a team as good as Monmouth to be fighting for its state-tournament life heading toward the final week before the May 17 cutoff, the Falcons would be no worse than the No. 13 seed in any other bracket in the entire state and would be the No. 9 seed were they in Central Jersey Group III.

Both teams will have major power-point opportunities next week – Wall with Point Beach and Middletown South and Monmouth with Brick Memorial and Toms River East – both the winner of Saturday’s game gets an important head start on the chase for state-seeding supremacy. Although Wall is the home team and has been the more consistent of the two teams this season, Monmouth has one of the Shore’s top pitchers ready to go on Saturday. Collin Denton dropped his first outing of the year, 2-1, vs. Ocean but is 3-0 in his subsequent four outings. The two formulas that have led to wins on Denton’s start day have been to beat the other players on the team – either by putting the ball in play and forcing defensive miscues or by driving Denton’s pitch-count up and getting him out of the game. Ocean struck out just four times vs. Denton on opening day but ever since, Denton has 50 strikeouts and six walks in 33 innings.

For better or worse, Wall has not been able to center its season around one dominant pitcher like Monmouth has. The Crimson Knights have battled pitching injuries all year, starting with the year-long absence of 2024 sophomore contributor Nick Plevier and continuing with injuries to Christian Suarez and Dan Hennessy. John Catanio has been a big-game starter over the past two seasons, although opponents have hit him more this year than last. Dane Rue is second on the team in innings, but is not eligible after throwing 94 pitches Wednesday at Rumson-Fair Haven, which means Catanio is the likely call for the Crimson Knights. With three freshmen in the starting lineup and two of those freshman – Chris Knight and Luke Dana – likely to be the first arms backing Catanio up, Wall will be tested by the visiting Falcons and their All-Shore ace.

Advantage: Monmouth

 

No. 19 Middletown South at No. 14 Brick, Noon

Brick is another team trying to both win a division title while also preserving enough pitching to make an SCT run, which will be especially difficult for the Green Dragons given their draw. With No. 1 starter Sean Savannah ineligible to pitch until Monday, Brick will try to clinch the Class B South championship on Friday at Toms River South, then deal with Middletown South – a team that just stomped No. 1 CBA and already beat No. 3 Red Bank Catholic – on Saturday morning. One benefit Brick has earned, however, is the Green Dragons still have three more chances after Friday night to clinch the Class B South title, so if Toms River South beats them, the Green Dragons can still win the outright title by winning two out of their final three division games vs. Barnegat, Lacey and Pinelands. Brick also has every one of its pitchers outside Savannah available heading into Friday night and will have Savannah eligible again if the Dragons can make it to Monday’s potential round-of-16 game at Red Bank Catholic.

Middletown South played just one game this week and it was a statement. The Eagles beat CBA, 11-3, for their second straight win – a sign they have put a 1-7 stretch behind them. Chris Long and Tom Costello split the CBA, with Costello going four innings, Long going three and both throwing over 60 pitches, which makes both ineligible for Saturday at Brick. Middletown South, however, still has options, led by Peter DeNicola and Mike Zena. DeNicola got off to a red-hot start to the season that included a three-hitter in the 2-1 win over RBC, but has since given up 12 earned runs in his last 7 2/3 innings. DeNicola was better vs. Middletown North (two earned runs, three hits, two walks, five strikeouts in four innings) in his last start, so he is still likely the best option, but Zena and closer Dan Daley will likely figure into the plans as well.

Advantage: Middletown South

No. 18 Southern at No. 15 Rumson-Fair Haven, 10 a.m.

During the Ocean County Tournament, Southern was playing like the hottest team at the Shore. Now, it might be Rumson-Fair Haven that wears than moniker. The Bulldogs lost back-to-back games to Middletown South and Caldwell on April 25 and 26 and have gone 5-0-1 since with wins over Ocean, Wall and No. 2 Toms River East. Now that sophomore and RBC transfer Hunter Beattie is eligible, Rumson has a wealth of quality pitching options heading into Saturday’s game vs. Southern, led by senior Owen O’Toole. The senior right-hander has been at his best during his career when pitching in relief and coach Owen Stewart has favored that use of O’Toole lately, although instead of operating as a tradition one-or-two-inning closer, he has been more of a bulk closer who pitches the final three-to-five innings. By holding O’Toole for later in the game, Rumson can use Beattie, freshman Brady Williams or sophomore Cooper Jones to start the game and play to the scoreboard.

Southern’s decision on the mound is a much more straight-forward one. Senior right-hander Tyler McCleod got off to a rocky start to the season but has been on his game lately, with just three earned runs allowed in his last five outings, totaling 17 2/3 innings. McLeod pitched 8 2/3 consecutive no-hit innings of relief during the run to the OCT semifinals and although he took the loss at Brick Memorial in the semifinal, he held the Shore’s deepest lineup to two earned runs on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts in five innings.

The intriguing layer to this game is the winner will play Toms River East, which has lost to both these teams this season. In Southern’s case, the Rams did not have McLeod on the mound for that game either, so the decision to throw McLeod on Saturday and take their chances with Trevor Kerlin as a potential Monday starter seems like the best play.

Advantage: Push

 

No. 17 Toms River South at No. 16 Howell, 2 p.m.

It is unusual that a 16-vs.-17 game in the Shore Conference Tournament pits two teams that played one another during the regular season against each other and the team that lost that head-to-head game is hosting. Toms River South beat Howell, 3-1, last Saturday in Toms River, albeit in a game that lasted only 4 1/2 innings due to unplayable field conditions that resulted from rain during the game. This time, Howell will get a chance to play Toms River South on its own field and the pitching decisions for both teams are not obvious ones and for different reasons.

Toms River South’s decision on the mound will become clearer after Friday’s divisional game vs. Brick, but the answer could be the obvious one. Aiden Lynch is coming off his first loss of the season Wednesday against Brick and only lasted 2 2/3 innings on 56 pitches, making him eligible for up to 94 pitches on Saturday. Coach Jim Rankin could also give Lynch extra time to rest and roll the dice with sophomore left-hander Aiden Moylan, who earned the win vs. Howell last Saturday and has been outstanding outside of a nightmare first inning vs. Point Beach in the OCT quarterfinals. Junior Evan Schmidt will also come into play on the mound on Friday or Saturday – either as a starter of one of the games or as the next pitcher on the mound after Lynch on Saturday.

Howell does not have a clear ace like Toms River South does, but the Rebels have a likely choice for Saturday. With Phillip Christopher throwing 82 pitches in Thursday’s win over Jackson Memorial, Xavier Cortez is the likely choice for coach Eric Johnson to face Toms River South on Saturday. Cortez is coming off a complete-game victory over Point Boro on May 1 and will have Kurtis Lovegren to back him up if he can’t finish Saturday’s start on his own. Six of Lovegren’s seven outings this season have been in relief and he owns a 1.34 ERA on the season. Jackson Vetrano, Jake Jensen and John Bertan are also quality options for the Rebels as they try to piece together wins over Toms River South and former Class A North foe CBA to reach the SCT quarterfinals.

Advantage: Long-term, Howell; Saturday, Toms River South