The Week Ahead: 7 Public Baseball Teams Left at the Shore

Tuesday’s NJSIAA sectional semifinals will mark the first June baseball games in the state of New Jersey and 10 Shore Conference teams survived May and are still playing to touch some hardware before the year is through.

Of those 10 teams, seven of them are public-school teams that will take the field on Tuesday hoping to earn a spot in Thursday’s sectional semifinals. There are a number of stories to follow over the next three days, the biggest of which is the town whose name is almost synonymous with baseball.

 

Reviving the Tradition

Baseball remains a big deal in Toms River, which means it is also a big deal that the town so steeped in baseball success over the last 40 years has not been home to an NJSIAA sectional champion in over 15 years.

That drought could be coming to an end this week, when both Toms River East and Toms River South host semifinal games in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III Playoffs on Tuesday with the hope of reaching Thursday’s championship game. If both the Raiders and Indians can hold serve at home in the semifinals, Toms River will be bracing for a South-vs.-East showdown for the title Thursday at Bill Frank Field.

Although both teams are at home, their victories are far from a certainty given the caliber of opponent each will face. As the No. 2 seed, Toms River East was a lock to be a host team in the semifinals, so long as the Raiders handled their own business in the first two rounds. The surprising part of their semifinal is the opponent: No. 6 Shawnee knocked off 20-win No. 3 seed and defending sectional champion Delsea Thursday in the sectional semifinals. Toms River South, however, is a surprise host as the No. 5 seed after No. 9 Ocean City shocked top-seeded Mainland on Friday in the sectional quarterfinals. Ocean City is not a run-of-the-mill No. 9 seed, with a decorated recent history of success and an Alabama infield commit in Ryan Taylor leading the pitching staff and playing shortstop.

Toms River South has made it this far thanks to outstanding pitching, solid defense and an offense that has not scored much, but has given its pitchers early leads with which to work.

Senior right-hander Aiden Lynch opened the state tournament with a two-hit shutout on 75 pitches that included two walks and seven strikeouts and the Indians needed him to be that good. Junior Jaden Geremia slammed a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning and that was all the offense at Ken Frank Stadium that day, as Toms River South slipped past 12th-seeded Absegami, 1-0.

In round two, the Indians hit the road to play No. 4 Clearview and stormed out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a triple by Geremia, an RBI double by sophomore Christian Mascaro and an RBI single by junior Evan Schmidt. The Pioneers answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the first, but sophomore Aiden Moylan shut them out the rest of the way for a 6 2/3 one-hit innings with six strikeouts.

Through two games, Toms River South’s starters have allowed one run (unearned) on three hits with five walks and 13 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings, with Mascaro covering the final out of the 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Clearview on just three pitches.

Toms River East’s pitching has been even better, although it has not needed to be. The Raiders finished off both No. 15 Timber Creek and No. 7 Hammonton in five innings each with a combined scored of 25-0. Junior Mason Pentz and senior Dan Nafziger have combined for nine shutout innings with three hits allowed, three walks and nine strikeouts, with Casey Rubin pitching the last inning of Tuesday’s 16-0 win over Timber Creek.

Rain in the bottom of the fifth inning stopped Friday’s quarterfinal win over Hammonton and with the game-ending run at third and one out in the inning at the time of suspended play, Hammonton conceded the victory to the Raiders.

The standout hitter for Toms River East through two rounds has been junior Chase Caswell, who is 5-for-5 with a double and five RBI through two rounds of the tournament – including a 3-for-3 day with four RBI in the quarterfinal win over Hammonton.

Caswell, of course, was not alone in putting up gaudy hitting numbers. Junior Lucas Melton went 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI vs. Timber Creek, Nafziger 3-for-4 with three RBI in the two games and Joe DiMeo went a combined 4-for-7 with a triple, four runs and two RBI during the week.

The last sectional champion from Toms River came in 2009, when Toms River North captured the South Jersey Group IV championship. Toms River East has not won a sectional title since 2006 and Toms River South has not won a sectional crown since 2003 – Todd Frazier’s junior year at South. Now that the two crosstown rivals reside in different divisions, they only met once this season – an 8-7 win for Toms River East that ended with the Raiders scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to win it.

The two teams are a win each away from entering a new era of the East-South rivalry – one that was fueled by the sibling rivalry between coaching legends Ken Frank (South) and Bill Frank (East), who combined for more than 1,400 career wins. Both programs are now run by former players, with former Raider Keith Smicklo in his seventh season at Toms River East and former Toms River South standout Jim Rankin is in his first year leading the Indians after Ken Frank and longtime assistant Mitch Powitz retired following the 2024 season.

Although they went to rival high schools, Rankin and Smicklo are very familiar with one another: Smicklo was Rankin’s assistant when Rankin was the head coach at Jackson Liberty.

Those stories will make for great fodder between Wednesday and Thursday night, but only if Toms River South and Toms River East can pull off one more win.

 

Vulnerable No. 1 Seeds?

Three Shore Conference teams are hoping last week’s close calls for Northern Burlington and Governor Livingston – the No. 1 seeds in Central Jersey Group III and Central Group II, respectively – are an indication that the two championship favorites might not be as invincible as they appeared heading into the tournament.

Northern Burlington jumped out to an early lead in round one vs. No. 16 Red Bank, but let the Bucs hang around before closing out a 5-3 win. In the next round, the Brick ambushed the top-seeded Greyhounds in taking a 7-1 lead before Northern Burlington stormed back to walk off with a 9-8 win over the eight-seeded Green Dragons. Both were rousing wins for a team trying to build postseason momentum, but surprisingly close for a team that heads into the week with a 24-2 record on the season.

Northern Burlington will have to get past No. 4 Lawrence on Tuesday to meet another Shore Conference opponent and the Greyhounds would be guaranteed a Shore Conference opponent. No. 6 Middletown South will travel to No. 2 Brick Memorial in the other semifinal hoping for better results than the last time it went to Brick for a tournament game. Brick host Middletown South in the Shore Conference Tournament opening round and handled the Eagles, 9-0. This version of Middletown South, however, has figured out its plan on the mound, which has been to lean on the trio of Peter DeNicola, Michael Zena and Dan Daley to cover seven innings. The trio has combined to allow one run through the first two rounds of the tournament and the Eagles also have Chris Long, Ben Shea and Will McCarthy at the ready to contribute on the rubber. McCarthy, in particular, is a wild card: the senior was projected to be Middletown South’s No. 1 starter this season, but injury has cost him most of the year. McCarthy put himself back in the picture with five strikeouts in two scoreless innings against Cranford during the final week of the regular season.

Brick Memorial, meanwhile, has all of its pitching available after Zach Pirnik beat No. 10 Steinert on 87 pitches in the sectional quarterfinals. Brody Moore started the Shore Conference Tournament final on May 25 and will be unlimited, with senior right-hander Brayden Nalducci ready to back him up now that he has taken to the closer’s role. Pirnik could still be a possibility in the right situation and he is looking like the likely starter in a potential sectional final. If Lawrence can finish off Northern Burlington after Brick fell just short, Brick Memorial would have a chance to host the sectional final if it can hold off Middletown South.

Governor Livingston needed two late-inning explosions at the plate to avoid stunning upsets against both No. 16 Point Pleasant Boro and No. 9 South River in Central Jersey Group 2. Now, Raritan hopes to get to where Point Boro and South River got, then win the final three innings against a Governor Livingston outfit that has scored 12 runs in innings five through seven of the tournament and seven in innings one through four.

Raritan has experienced high-level tournament success under 13-year head coach Jeff Struble, including a trip to the 2018 Group II championship game and a Central Jersey Group II final appearance in 2021. The Rockets have been dormant over the last three years, but this senior class has helped revive the program while winning 20 games and a Shore Conference Class C North division title.

Raritan’s pitching has been its strength, with Alan Warren and freshman Bear Evernham combining to pitch all 14 innings so far with just two runs allowed. The Rockets are hoping 6-foot-4 junior left-hander Will Meehan can join the rotation in some capacity this week after he experienced elbow discomfort last week, according to Struble.

Governor Livingston and Raritan have met twice in the state tournament since Struble took over the program in 2013, with the two teams splitting the series. As a No. 11 seed, Raritan upset No. 2 seed Governor Livingston in the 2021 Central Group II semifinals and lost to the Highlanders in the 2017 CJ2 quarterfinals.

 

Group 1 Déjà Vu?

For the second straight year, Point Pleasant Beach, Middlesex, Shore Regional and Florence are figuring prominently into the drama unfolding in Central Jersey Group I. Last year’s sectional playoff in Central Group I concluded with Point Beach beating Shore in Point Pleasant for its third straight sectional title, but it was the semifinal round that housed the two most exciting finishes. Point Beach scored three runs with two out in the bottom of the seventh to stun Middlesex and Shore won a 14-inning, 1-0 marathon at home over Florence.

Shore and Florence already got a jump on the drama in the quarterfinals on Friday, when the Blue Devils rallied from a 7-2 deficit through five innings, scoring four runs with two out in the bottom of the seventh to break the hearts of the Flashes for a second straight year. An error on a fielder’s choice extended the game with two out and Enzo Cagliostro ended it with a two-run single that scored Rory Burkhardt with the winning run from first. Now, the Blue Devils head to top-seeded Middlesex to take on the team that eliminated them in both 2022 and 2023 and would have opposed them in the 2024 final were it not for Point Beach’s improbable seventh-inning comeback.

While Shore escaped elimination on Friday, both Point Beach and Middlesex coasted through the first week of the tournament, with Point Beach outscoring Henry Hudson and South Amboy by a combined score of 25-2 and Middlesex taking out Keyport and South Hunterdon by an 18-1 aggregate score.

The other team in the final four of Central Jersey Group I is No. 6 seed Delaware Valley – a traditional Group II school that dropped into Group I this year. The Terriers will play at Point Beach, with the Garnet Gulls looking to advance to the sectional final for the sixth straight season for what would be either a rematch of the 2024 final or the 2019-through-2023 finals between Point Beach and Middlesex.