#image_title

Saving Face: Fiore Survives Scare, Blasts CBA Into Baseball Sectional Final

Matt Manley|June 2, 2026|Last Updated June 2, 2026

FLEMINGTON — In his first at-bat of Tuesday’s NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A semifinal at Diamond Nation, Alex Fiore saw his life flash before his eyes. The next time that happens, the Christian Brothers Academy junior is going to see what happened during the rest of that game, which turned out to be the game of Fiore’s life.

Fiore made a diving catch that prevented two runs from scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning, then connected on a tie-breaking solo home run leading off the top of the eighth inning to deliver CBA — the No. 5 seed in the section — a 1-0 win over top-seeded Immaculata in eight innings, which sends the Colts to the South Non-Public A championship game for the second straight year.

“Definitely the best game I’ve ever played in my life,” said Fiore, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI in the Shore Conference Tournament championship victory over Rumson-Fair Haven on May 24, but topped that performance on Tuesday. “I try not to focus on myself. I try to focus on my team, which is what I did in the Shore Conference final and I tried to do again today.”

Before his escalating heroics throughout the game, Fiore’s day started with a major scare in the bottom of the third, when he was struck in the left cheek by a fastball from Immaculata senior left-hander Cole Raymond. With senior Parker Hughes on first base after a leadoff walk, Fiore squared to bunt and the ball hit part of his cheek as well as a portion of the ear flap of his helmet, which prevented the damage to his face from being more severe.

Fiore ran up the third-base line in shock after taking the ball to the face, gathered himself, and stayed in the game. After the game was over, he held an ice pack to his cheek as he reflected on his eventful day and CBA’s best win of the season.

If there was any doubt about Fiore’s frame of mind going forward, he but it to rest in his second plate appearance with a sacrifice bunt to move Hughes to second base after Hughes legged out a lead-off infield single to start the fifth — CBA’s first hit of the game against Raymond.

“I just tried to think goldfish memory,” Fiore said. “As soon as something happens, move on to the next play.”

“He is a hard-nosed kid, for sure,” CBA coach Marty Kenney Jr. said. “You could see from his reaction that he was scared, but then his next thought was, ‘I’m fine and I don’t want to come out.’ That’s who he is. He is a tough kid, and then he put down a great bunt.”

In the bottom of the fifth, Immaculata weaved together its most promising threat since stranding the bases loaded with two out in the bottom of the first inning. Second baseman Luca Catanzarite singled with one out, went to second on an errant pick-off throw to first and reached third with two out on a wild pitch. Catcher Owen Schilling also walked with two out and courtesy runner Nate McGann went to second on defensive indifference, with CBA attempting to avoid a rundown.

With two out and runners on the corners, Kenney Jr. summoned junior right-hander Declan Doogan from the CBA bullpen to take over for senior left-hander Dan Pardini, who extended his season-long streak to 25 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. For the final out of the fifth inning, however, the streak hung in the balance with Doogan on the mound and McGann advancing to second made things slightly more dangerous, as there were now two runners in scoring position.

Immaculata clean-up hitter and third baseman Owen Rivenbark stepped in and on a 0-2 pitch, lofted a slicing drive toward the rightfield corner. Fiore raced toward the rightfield line and made a sliding catch on the fair side of the line to secure the final out of the inning and prevent two Immaculata runs from crossing the plate.

The Spartans again threatened in the bottom of the seventh vs. Doogan with a two-out double by shortstop Justin Labrador, an intentional walk to Schilling and a wild pitch with Rivenbark at the plate. Doogan had already helped himself earlier in the inning when he picked off rightfielder Jackson Lewis at first base after Lewis led off the inning with an infield single and that out proved to be critical given the double and the wild pitch that followed. Doogan ended the inning by inducing a pop up to shortstop Colin Hoverter.

In the top of the eighth, Fiore took a curveball for strike one, laid off a fastball out of the zone, then measured up a hanging breaking ball from Immaculata freshman Bryson Auten. Fiore was ready for the mistake and he launched it to leftfield, clearing the leftfield wall and setting off an eruption out of the CBA dugout. The helmet that saved Fiore’s face in the third inning, flew off in his elation and he circled the bases without any head gear.

“He did hang me one,” Fiore said. “The first one he threw me buckled me a little, so I wanted to be ready when I saw it again and when I saw it, I smashed it. I knew it off the bat. I tried to reel in the emotions after the fact, but that was probably one of the best moments of my life.”

Doogan pitched with an runner on base for the fourth straight inning when he hit centerfielder Nehemiah Diaz with the first pitch of the bottom of the eighth —  the third time Diaz was hit by a pitch in the game and the fifth hit batter in the game altogether. Andrew Wheeler then attempted to sacrifice the runner to second, but CBA third baseman Michael Knox bounced on the bunt, threw to second baseman Dylan Reynholds on the bag, where Reynholds made the return throw to first baseman Jared Matejicka for the 5-4-3 double-play.

Although he was overshadowed by Fiore’s catch and home run, Knox was CBA’s defensive star on Tuesday, handling seven plays on the ground at third base and committing one throwing error on the second batter of the game.

“Defense has been a big part of our run too,” Kenney Jr. said. “Early in the season, we were kicking the ball around too much, especially in the first inning. For some reason, everything would always happen to us in the first inning and we would be chasing the game. The pitching has been good, in part, because the defense is good. They have really complemented each other. Our offense has really allowed us to take off, but so much of what we were fighting early on was our defense more than our pitching.”

Doogan finished the game by coaxing a ground ball to Hoverter at shortstop, which Hoverter fired to first for the final out. While CBA’s offense has been piling up runs during its current 11-game winning streak, the pitching has not allowed more than three runs in any of its last 10 games, which includes two shutouts — both started by Pardini.

“When Pardini first came back (from an ankle injury), he hadn’t thrown in four weeks and his command was an issue,” Kenney Jr. said. “I knew the more he threw, the command would come back, because throughout the preseason and in California in late March, he didn’t have that problem. Once that came back, the confidence grew and everything has really slotted into place with Pardini and Danny DiTullio starting games and Doogan closing. We know who we are right now and having that consistency and stability has really helped us.”

CBA will once again take a long bus ride on Thursday, this time due south to play second-seeded St. Augustine in the South Jersey Non-Public A final. The Colts are the defending champion, but a number of the third-year senior starters have unsettled business with the Hermits, who beat CBA in Richland in the 2024 sectional semifinal round. St. Augustine owns a home winning streak in the state tournament of greater than 25 games.

“Today definitely brought me back to the games we played last year in the state tournament,” Fiore said. “This is when it starts to get gritty and every play is big. You do whatever you have to to get the win and move on.”

 

Box Score

CBA 1, Immaculata 0 (8 Innings)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
CBA (18-8) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 3
Immaculata (22-6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2

Pitching

CBA IP H R ER BB SO PC
Dan Pardini 4.2 3 0 0 1 6 77
Declan Doogan (W, 4-2) 3.1 2 0 0 1 1 43
Immaculata IP H R ER BB SO PC
Cole Raymond 6.1 2 0 0 3 4 88
Bryson Auten (L, 3-3) 1.2 2 1 1 0 2 19

Top Hitters

CBA Game Stats
Alex Fiore 1-1, HR, HBP, R, RBI
Parker Hughes 1-2, BB
Michael Knox 1-3
Immaculata Game Stats
Luca Catanzarite 2-4, SB
Justin Labrador 1-4, 2B
Brian Cilento 1-4, SB

 

 

Related Articles