Sunday Best: CBA, Rumson Armed and Ready to Clash in Shore Conference Baseball Final

Shore Conference Tournament Championship

Sunday, May 24, 2026

At ShoreTown Ballpark, Lakewood

7 p.m.

No. 5 Rumson-Fair Haven vs. No. 6 Christian Brothers Academy

 

Teams at a Glance

Rumson-Fair Haven (20-5, 11-1 in Class A Central division)

Head Coach: Owen Stewart
SCT Championships: None
SCT Final Appearances: 1 (2008)

Road to the Final

Round of 16: The Bulldogs got their scare of the tournament in their first SCT game, in which they coughed up a 7-3 lead in the top of the seventh and entered the bottom of the seventh trailing No. 12 Toms River South, 8-7. With the bases loaded and two out, catcher Luke Gallagher hit a pop-up into shallow leftfield that Toms River South failed to catch, dropping for a game-winning two-run single that sent the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals with a 9-8 win over the Indians. The winning hit capped a huge game for Gallagher, who was 3-for-4 with a home run and 5 RBI out of the No. 9 spot in the lineup.

Quarterfinals: Facing a No. 4 Ranney team and freshman pitcher Jake Abrams that shut out Rumson in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals, 2-0, the Bulldogs displayed their patience at the plate by working nine walks and got two big swings in the form of homers by Casper Billington and Dan McElduf that highlighted a 7-4 win over the Panthers on the road. Left-hander Cooper Jones battled through five-plus innings to improve to 6-0 and Hunter Beattie fired two hitless innings with four strikeouts and one walk to close it out.

Semifinals: After the red-hot Freehold Township lineup struck for a run in the first inning, Brady Williams and Rumson cruised to a 17-1 rout of the tournament Cinderella and the No. 17 seed. Williams pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts on 80 pitches, including 12 straight batters retired after giving up the game’s first run. The Bulldogs slugged four home runs, starting with a game-tying solo shot by third baseman D.J. Ylagan and continuing with centerfielder Jack Gyimesi, shortstop Miles Martin and rightfielder Casper Billington. With his grand slam that capped the scoring in the fifth, Billington connected on a home run for the third straight round of the tournament.

Projected Lineup (with 2026 stats)

Miles Martin, So., SS (.257/.402/.432, 4 2B, 3 HR, 28 R, 11 RBI, 12 SB)

D.J. Ylagan, Sr., 3B (.355/.474/.553, 7 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 24 R, 20 RBI, 3 SB)

Casper Billington, Jr., RF (.405/.479/.848, 4 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 26 R, 30 RBI, 14 SB)

Dan McElduf, So., 1B (.400/.494/.569, 5 2B, 2 HR, 12 R, 18 RBI, 1 SB)

Aiden Dill, Jr., LF (.281/.358/.561, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 11 R, 21 RBI, 5 SB)

Brady Williams, So., DH (.302/.451/.333, 2 2B, 15 R, 12 RBI, 5 SB)

Lloyd Bush, Jr., 2B (.317/.468/.433, 1 2B, 2 HR, 15 R, 14 RBI, 7 SB)

Jack Gyimesi, Sr., CF (.225/.293/.366, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 17 R, 14 RBI, 6 SB)

Luke Gallagher, Sr., C (.308/.429/.442/.1 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 10 RBI, 1 SB)

 

Probable Starting Pitcher (with 2026 stats)

Cooper Jones, Jr., LHP (6-0, 39.1 IP, 30 H, 23 BB, 62 SO, 2.49 ERA) – 110 pitches available

 

Available Pitchers (with 2026 stats)

Hunter Beattie, Jr., RHP (3-1, 1 save, 24.1 IP, 17 H, 9 BB, 29 SO, 2.30 ERA) – 110 pitches available

Max Hinchliffe, Sr., LHP (3-1, 1 save, 20.2 IP, 28 H, 10 BB, 24 SO, 6.43 ERA) – 110 pitches available

Brady Dill, Jr., RHP (2-1, 3 saves, 22 IP, 21 H, 2 BB, 17 SO, 3.82 ERA) – 110 pitches available

Lucca Strome, Sr., RHP (10.2 IP, 8 H, 4 BB, 11 SO, 3.94 ERA) – 110 pitches available

 

Ineligible Pitchers

Brady Williams, So., RHP

 

CBA (14-8, 7-3 in Class A North division)

Head Coach: Marty Kenney Jr.
SCT Championships: 8 (1993, 2000-02, 2014-16, 2024)
SCT Final Appearances: 11 (1993, 1997, 2000-02, 2007, 2009, 2014-16, 2024)

Road to the Final

Round of 16: The double-play duo of second baseman Dylan Reynholds and shortstop Colin Hoverter each collected three RBI and left-hander Danny DiTullio rolled through four innings of three-hit ball on the mound to help the Colts secure a convincing, 14-1, win over No. 22 Lacey. Hoverter, Jared Matejicka and Ryan Wetmore (3-for-4) each doubled and Jayden Matejicka and Reynholds each cracked a triple for CBA.

Quarterfinals: CBA did not get its rematch with Brick Memorial after losing to the Mustangs in last year’s SCT semifinals, but the Colts instead took it to the team that beat Brick Memorial the prior round. Four two-run singles carried the CBA offense and Dan Pardini went four innings to lead the effort on the mound as the Colts picked up a 10-3 win over No. 14 Point Pleasant Boro. Jayden Matejicka went 2-for-4 with four RBI on two two-run singles, plus stole four bases. Jared Matejicka and Wetmore each smacked a two-run single and finished with two hits apiece as well.

Semifinals: After surrendering two runs in the top of the first, DiTullio allowed just one base-runner over the next five innings to spinning a six-inning gem that powered CBA to a 5-2 win over No. 15 Colts Neck. CBA took advantage of three two-out errors by the Cougars, which led to the first four runs by the Colts. Catcher Griffin Kilcullen drove in the final run with a pop-fly single that dropped in leftfield and junior Declan Doogan closed out the game with a perfect seventh inning.

Projected Lineup (with 2026 stats)

Jayden Matejicka, Sr., CF (.388/.516/.735, 4 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 20 R, 20 RBI, 10 SB)

Jared Matejicka, Sr., 1B (.321/.465/.429, 4 2B, 1 3B, 14 R, 17 RBI, 3 SB)

Dylan Reynholds, Jr., 2B (.403/.507/.548, 3 2B, 3 3B, 20 R, 13 RBI, 2 SB

Ryan Wetmore, Sr., DH (.343/.425/.429, 4 2B, 1 3B, 12 R, 14 RBI, 2 SB)

Colin Hoverter, Sr., SS (.347/.392/.472, 3 2B, 3 3B, 13 R, 13 RBI, 4 SB)

Michael Knox, Jr., 3B (.373/.458/.471, 2 2B, 1 HR, 12 R, 8 RBI)

Parker Hughes, Sr., LF (.359/.510/.410, 2 2B, 15 R, 8 RBI, 1 SB)

Griffin Kilcullen, Jr., C (.275/.404/.550, 5 2B, 2 HR, 8 R, 17 RBI)

Alex Fiore, Jr., RF (.273/.475/.386, 5 2B, 10 R, 9 RBI)

 

Probable Starting Pitcher (with 2026 stats)

Dan Pardini, Sr., LHP (4-0, 15 IP, 4 H, 12 BB, 14 SO, 0.00 ERA) – 110 pitches available

 

Available Pitchers (with 2026 stats)

Declan Doogan, Jr., RHP (3-2, 3 saves, 17 IP, 14 H, 7 BB, 23 SO, 4.53 ERA) – 110 pitches available

Luke Grbic, Jr., RHP (2-1, 14.1 IP, 13 H, 2 BB, 15 SO, 2.44 ERA) – 110 pitches available

Andrew DiMarsico, Jr., RHP (0-2, 11.1 IP, 15 H, 5 BB, 8 SO, 5.56 ERA) – 110 pitches available

Gavin Peters, So., RHP (1-0, 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 7 BB, 3 SO) – 110 pitches available

Brian Kissinger, Jr., RHP (1 save, 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO) – 110 pitches available

 

Ineligible Pitchers

Danny DiTullio, Sr., LHP

 

Putting the Pound in Dawg Pound

Rumson entered the season expecting to lead on its deep, accomplished pitching staff in its pursuit of multiple championships and that has been the case to this point thanks to big seasons from starters Brady Williams and Cooper Jones with important contributions from Hunter Beattie, Brady Dill, Max Hinchliffe and Lucca Strome in slightly lesser roles.

What the Bulldogs might not have expected from themselves – at least not to this degree – was the power output at the plate. Rumson’s 181 is third in the Shore Conference, but it’s how they are scoring the runs that stands out. The Rumson lineup has combined to slug 25 home runs this season, which is six more than the two teams tied for second – Ranney and Brick Memorial.

The primary contributor to that stat is Casper Billington with his nine home runs and another driver of that home run total is Rumson’s short rightfield fence (284 feet down the line) at Hal Lorme Field. Seventeen of the Bulldogs’ homers have come at home and two of the other eight were at Ranney’s home field, which has even friendlier home-run-hitting dimensions.

Billington, however, has not been a short-porch merchant. Six of his nine homers are away from Lorme Field, including a home run at Colts Neck’s more pitcher-friendly grounds and a road homer off Freehold Township ace Jackson Redmond, who has allowed just five earned runs all year.

Rumson’s only home run by someone other than Billington that was hit somewhere other the Bulldogs’ or Ranney’s home fields was a home run by Luke Gallagher at Ocean. With that in mind, if the Bulldogs pop a home run on Sunday night, there is a good chance it is Billington.

 

Southpaw Special

Rumson and CBA enter their showdown with some contrasts in the way they do things at the plate, but both rosters are foundationally built on their pitching staffs. If pitching depth were the sole basis of reaching the Shore Conference Tournament final, we could have booked the Colts and the Bulldogs for this game in March, because no teams entered the season with more pitching than these two teams.

With two Division I arms in Dylan Iwanyk and Sean Loggie currently hurt for CBA, the names in the pitching staff have not been exactly the ones that were expected to carry the staff but they have nonetheless done the job. Among the pitchers to step forward is Sunday’s starter, senior left-hander Dan Pardini. After working his way into CBA’s top seven pitchers on last year’s loaded staff, Pardini has been lights-out as a senior, pitching 15 innings without allowing an earned run and posting a 4-0 record.

Pardini and projected Rumson starter Cooper Jones are similar pitchers in that they are both left-handers with nasty breaking balls and a tendency to issue some walks. Pardini has given out 12 free passes in his 15 innings, while Jones is at a more manageable 23 in 39 innings while also striking out 62. Both pitchers can miss bats and rack up a wave of strikeouts, but that might be difficult considering how both teams hit the ball in the semifinals

 

Where are the Whiffs?

CBA’s five-run output vs. Colts Neck Friday paled in comparison to Rumson’s 17-run, 15-hit, four-homer effort vs. Freehold Township on Thursday, but the two teams had one aspect of their game in common that reflected their shared dominance.

In both games – Rumson’s in five innings and CBA’s in seven – neither winning team struck out a single time at the plate.

Rumson had the luxury of avoiding Redmond, a Seton Hall commit, and against just about every other notable pitcher on the Patriots staff, the Bulldogs went 15-for-29 with two doubles, four home runs, five walks and no strikeouts. With the Bulldogs boasting eight right-handed bats in its lineup, Pardini will have to be sharp to keep missing bats against the Bulldogs.

CBA, meanwhile, faced the three top pitchers on Colts Neck’s team and also did not strikeout. The Colts’ offense numbers were not as robust (7-for-28 with one double and three walks) but their stubbornness at the plate kept the pressure on the Cougars, who committed three two-out errors that directly led to four of the five CBA runs.

Twin-Killing It

Jayden and Jared Matejicka have worked their way to the top two spots of the CBA order after hanging around near the end of it early in the year. Jayden has been unconscious over the last nine games, hitting .586 (17-for-29) with four doubles, two triples, two home runs, 15 RBI and nine stolen bases to raise his average from .100 at the start of play on April 29 to .388 heading into Sunday’s final.

The two twins give the CBA order multiple layers right from the start of the game, with both capable of driving the ball for extra-bases, as well as stealing both second and third. The duo has set the table for three more hot hitters who have been constants for the Colts all year: Dylan Reynholds, Ryan Wetmove and Colin Hoverter.

For Rumson to beat CBA, Jones and any other pitcher that toes the rubber will have to find a way to keep the Matejicka twins off base and if they do reach, keeping then from running will be a challenge for the pitchers and Gallagher behind the plate.

 

Prediction

With similar left-handers on the mound and two hot lineups rolling into Lakewood on Sunday, the finer details are likely to determine which team prevails. Will one of Pardini or Jones struggle with command more than his counterpart? Will CBA run on Rumson if the Colts can get runners on with some frequency? Will Rumson’s power play against Pardini in a big ballpark? Which defense plays the cleaner game? Will there be a surprise hero off the bench or out of the bullpen for either of these deep teams?

One x-factor to watch: the No. 8 spots in the order. Both teams could make a lineup change, but if the semifinal lineups remain constant, both teams have real power threats hitting at No. 8. CBA catcher Griffin Kilcullen has a pair of home runs this season and some of the best raw power on the team, while Rumson’s Jack Gyimesi is one of the strongest athletes in the Shore Conference, which he showed with his line-drive home run that hit Freehold Township’s bus beyond the left-centerfield fence on Thursday.

The two innings leaders for each team are unavailable to pitch, but other than that, expect to see two quality arms at the start and multiple pitchers coming in to help both teams get to the finish line – for CBA, it’s potential ninth SCT title and for Rumson, it’s first ever.

The Pick: CBA, 5-3

 

SCT Semifinal Picks Record: 2-0

2026 SCT Picks Record: 17-6