Who is No. 1? CBA, Don Bosco Match-Up in Non-Public A Baseball Final

NJSIAA Non-Public A Group Championship

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

At DeMeo Field, Veterans Park, Hamilton

 

Christian Brothers Academy (22-4) vs. Don Bosco (24-2), 7 p.m.

 

CBA at a Glance

Head Coach: Marty Kenney Jr.
Group Championships: 3 (1977, 2009, 2015)
Group Final Appearances: 7 (1977, 2001-03, 2008, 2009, 2015)
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 8 Paul VI, 2-0; No. 4 St. Joseph Metuchen, 6-3; No. 2 Red Bank Catholic, 11-1

 

Projected Lineup

Will Fahey, Sr., CF (.408, 20 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 20 R, 9 RBI, 13 SB)

Dylan Reynholds, So., 2B (.346, 9 H, 4 2B, 1 HR, 8 R, 8 RBI)

Danny Tsimbinos, Sr., C (.500, 35 H, 14 2B, 1 HR, 5 R, 31 RBI, 1 SB)

Dylan Iwanyk, Jr., 1B (.235, 4 H, 2 R, 5 RBI)

Dan Russo, Sr., 3B (.338, 27 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 19 R, 25 RBI)

Ryan Wetmore, So., RF (.303, 23 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 17 R, 17 RBI)

Jared Matejicka, Jr., DH (.333, 22 H, 7 2B, 1 3B, 26 R, 21 RBI, 15 SB)

Jayden Matejicka, Jr., LF (.250, 17 H, 3 2B, 24 R, 10 RBI, 19 SB)

Colin Hoverter, Jr., SS (.278, 15 H, 2 2B, 18 R, 12 RBI, 6 SB)

 

Probable Starting Pitcher

Dylan Iwanyk, Jr., RHP (4-0, 0.72 ERA, 29.1 IP, 12 H, 21 BB, 40 SO)

 

Out of the Bullpen

Danny DiTullio, Jr., LHP (7-0, 2.59 ERA, 48.2 IP, 46 H, 9 BB, 66 SO)

Sean Loggie, Jr., LHP (5-1, 2.39 ERA, 29.1 IP, 17 H, 20 BB, 48 SO)

Shane Langan, Sr., RHP (1-0, 2 saves, 0.81 ERA, 17.1 IP, 5 H, 7 BB, 39 SO)

Jack Dufficy, Sr., RHP (4-1, 2.96 ERA, 23.2 IP, 23 H, 8 BB, 31 SO)

Dan Pardini, Jr., LHP (1-1, 2 saves, 3.23 ERA, 13 IP, 10 H, 11 BB, 21 SO)

 

Don Bosco at a Glance

Head Coach: Mike Rooney
Group Championships: 8 (1979, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2008, 2022, 2023)
Group Final Appearances: 11 (1972, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2022, 2023)
Road to the Final: Defeated No. 10 Oratory Prep, 10-0; No. 4 Delbarton, 8-6; No. 3 DePaul, 6-4

 

Projected Lineup

Chase Bagley, Jr., C (.438, 28 H, 5 2B, 16 R, 25 RBI, 6 SB)

Mike Hanna, Jr., LF (.381, 32 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 24 R, 20 RBI, 15 SB)

Nick Becker, Sr., SS (.407, 24 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 21 R, 24 RBI, 13 SB)

Junzen Sarza, Jr., 3B (.361, 26 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 18 R, 26 RBI, 9 SB)

Nick Gilpin, Sr., 2B (.391, 27 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 20 R, 17 RBI, 9 SB)

Mason Daly, Sr., 1B (.367, 22 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 14 R, 19 RBI, 2 SB)

Nick Bumbaco, Jr., DH (.357, 15 H, 4 2B, 1 3B, 12 R, 11 RBI)

Dylan Espinal, Sr., RF (.196, 10 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 21 R, 4 RBI, 8 SB)

Dennis Mulhearn, Sr., CF (.375, 18 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 22 R, 15 RBI, 7 SB)

 

Probable Starting Pitcher

Anthony Costello, Sr., LHP (7-0, 0.96 ERA, 36.1 IP, 20 H, 23 BB, 53 SO)

 

Out of the Bullpen

Ethan Lee, Jr., RHP (5-0, 2.16 ERA, 32.1 IP, 16 H, 25 BB, 51 SO)

Dylan Henshaw, Sr., RHP (2-0, 2.88 ERA, 17 IP, 15 H, 8 BB, 29 SO)

Nick Gilpin, Sr., RHP (1-0, 3 saves, 1.35 ERA, 10.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 17 SO)

Junzen Sarza, Jr., RHP (1-1, 2.14 ERA, 16.1 IP, 17 H, 4 BB, 12 SO)

Evan Stavrou, Sr., LHP (3-1, 0.78 ERA, 18 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 24 SO)

 

Don Bosco and CBA entered the season as the favorites to reach the Non-Public A final and now here we are at the finish line with the two favorites surviving their respective sectional gauntlets and meeting one another for the ultimate prize in Non-Public A – perhaps even in the entire state. Whichever of Don Bosco and CBA wins would have a case to be the No. 1 team in New Jersey, with Don Bosco a near-lock thanks to a 24-2 mark heading into Wednesday night. CBA’s argument is slightly more complicated, but with its only losses coming to Red Bank Catholic (twice), Brick Memorial and Middletown South, a Non-Public A championship could very well be the final piece to a No. 1 résumé.

CBA is also looking to end a 10-year drought, with the Colts’ last championship coming in 2015 at the expense of Don Bosco. A championship victory on Wednesday would also be the first for head coach Marty Kenney Jr., who was an assistant under his father, Marty Kenney, in 2015 and took over the program before what would have been the 2020 season.

On the Don Bosco side, the Ironmen are seeking their third state title in four years, with the last state-final victory coming over Red Bank Catholic in 2023. The Ironmen are seeking their nine group championship, which would move them into sole possession of second place on the all-time championships list, well behind Gloucester Catholic (21 titles) for first.

Match-Up History

Wednesday will mark the third time CBA and Don Bosco have battled in the Non-Public A final. In 2008, Don Bosco completed an undefeated season by topping the Colts in the championship game. Seven years later, CBA completed a historic season of its own with a 7-0 win over the Ironmen in the Non-Public A final. With its 2015 state championship, CBA completed a season in which it won the hallowed quadruple crown in the Shore Conference: championships in the division, county, conference and state tournaments. The 2015 CBA team and 2004 Wall squad remain the only teams in Shore Conference history to sweep the championships in a season.

Call to Arms

In 2015, CBA’s hope was to get to the final, then turn ace Luca Dalatri – the all-time Shore Conference wins leader and eventual starter at North Carolina – loose on the Ironmen, which worked exactly as the Colts planned it. Dalatri and fellow UNC Tar Heel Brandon Martorano both homered and Dalatri struck out 12 in a four-hit shutout.

This year’s CBA plan figures to be different, although Kenney is open to the possibility of one of his pitchers hurling a shutout. Who that pitcher would be, however, is not 100 percent clear, which is one area in which this year’s CBA team is different than its last state finalist.

Kenney hinted at the possibility of using multiple pitchers to navigate the Don Bosco lineup for the seven or so innings it figures to take for the Colts to win the game Wednesday night. As many as six pitchers could be part of a staff game for CBA: Junior Danny DiTullio, junior Dylan Iwanyk, junior Sean Loggie, senior Shane Langan, senior Jack Dufficy and Dan Pardini. That is exactly three right-handers (Iwanyk, Langan and Dufficy) and three left-handers (DiTullio, Loggie and Pardini) to keep the Ironmen guessing for the entire game.

Given that Iwanyk – a University of Michigan commit – threw 94 pitches in Friday’s 11-1 win over RBC, he would figure to be on a shorter plan than DiTullio would, if only because the four days of rest he will have between that win over the Caseys and Wednesday’s championship would be shortest rest between outings he has had this season. Iwanyk opened the season recovering from a hamstring injury and five days is the shortest rest period between starts for him this season. It is worth mentioning, however, that the five-day period came between back-to-back complete-game wins over Manalapan and Toms River South – the latter of which was a one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts against the South Jersey Group III runner-up.

Iwanyk’s availability and recent usage make him a possibility to play one of several roles for CBA on Wednesday: traditional starter, opener, closer, bridge reliever. The same could be said for DiTullio, who was the winning pitcher in each of CBA’s first two state tournament wins. The left-hander pitched a four-hit shutout to beat Paul VI, 2-0, then came out of the bullpen for six innings in a 6-3 win over St. Joseph of Metuchen. After a surprisingly difficult start to his 2025 following an All-Shore First-Team season as a sophomore, DiTullio has been lights-out since the calendar flipped to May: a 3-1 record with a 1.30 ERA, five walks and 33 strikeouts in 27 innings. His lone loss during that stretch was a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brick Memorial in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals.

If a traditional starter is what Kenney chooses to deploy on Wednesday, DiTullio would also make a lot of sense given his recent performance. He also, however, is team’s most versatile option on the mound, according to Kenney. DiTullio showed in the win over St. Joe’s that he can quickly get warmed up and take the mound on short notice while remaining effective, which Iwanyk and Loggie have not done as often.

Speaking of Loggie, the University of Virginia commit could be an x-factor if either CBA wants to use its entire staff or if Don Bosco forces Kenney to dip into the bullpen. Loggie was locked into a dominant stretch to start the season, before a bout with walks set in during a Shore Conference Tournament start vs. Ocean and stuck with him in each of his next two starts, during which he lasted a combined two innings. If Loggie can find the plate, he brings more velocity and as much pure stuff to the game than any pitcher on either side.

Dufficy, Langan and Pardini make up the reliever crew for CBA, with Dufficy and Pardini the likeliest to be kept on the shelf during the game in case of an emergency, but still proven pitchers when it comes to getting big outs for the Colts. Langan, meanwhile, is the name Kenney would like to call with a lead and three outs left to record. The senior right-hander has been a shutdown reliever for the last two seasons and his performance this year has been as good as any by a pitcher in the Shore Conference in 2025.

How Kenney structures the pitching remains to be seen, but there are no shortage of options. The pressure lies in picking the right combination when every out is crucial.

Don Bosco coach Mike Rooney’s decision would appear to be more straightforward. Senior left-hander and Charleston-Southern commit Anthony Costello has been Don Bosco’s big-game pitcher all year and coming off a win over rival Delbarton in the North Jersey semifinals, he is in line to take the ball on a week’s worth of rest.

Like CBA, Don Bosco has a wealth of quality options and could mix things up if it chooses. Junior right-hander and Virginia Tech commit Ethan Lee would be a worthy starter for this game and senior right-hander and Stony Brook commit Dylan Henshaw is two years removed from closing out the 2023 state final vs. RBC with a scoreless seventh inning.

The Lineups

Both teams have taken different approaches with their lineups this season, with Rooney penciling in a rather steady lineup from one-through-nine in the order. Kenney, on the other hand, has shuffled lineups throughout the season – partially due to injuries, but also in pursuit of the combination that works best.

Kenney may have finally found that optimal order for his team after the Colts scored 11 runs against the Caseys after putting up six in the sectional semifinal vs. St. Joseph. When healthy, Monmouth commit and senior centerfielder Will Fahey has been the ideal leadoff hitter. Senior catcher and Catholic University commit Danny Tsimbinos is hitting .500 with 14 doubles heading into Wednesday and has occupied the No. 3 spot for most of the season.

Every other spot in the order for CBA has moved around, with sophomore second baseman Dylan Reynholds currently swinging a hot bat and climbing up to the No. 2 spot in the order. Senior third baseman Dan Russo has been, arguably, CBA’s best situational hitter this season, which makes him a good fit for the No. 5 spot, while sophomore rightfielder and No. 6 hitter Ryan Wetmore has looked comfortable in the box throughout the season.

Junior twins Jayden and Jared Matejicka have top-of-the-order speed and hitting ability and, along with No. 9 hitter and junior shortstop Colin Hoverter, they create a unique threat at the bottom of the order.

The wild card in the CBA lineup has been the clean-up spot. In recent games, it has been Dylan Iwanyk and if Kenney would like to keep Iwanyk as his clean-up hitter while still getting something out of him on the mound, starting him as the pitcher-designated-hitter would be the easiest way to do that. Iwanyk would then be able to hit in his starting position in the order after being removed as the pitcher, should a staff game be the plan.

In the other dugout, the only lineup variation Rooney has employed in recent weeks has been to flip senior first baseman Mason Daly and junior DH Nick Bumbaco at the Nos. 6 and 7 spots in the lineup depending on the match-up. Other than that, the Ironmen have relied on Maryland commit and senior catcher Chase Bagley to lead things off, with the option of a courtesy-runner to maximize his impact as an on-base machine and base-running threat. Junior Mike Hanna has been another capable table-setter, while shortstop and New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year Nick Becker is the headliner in the lineup. Becker is committed to the University of Virginia, but may not make it to campus if his name is called early enough in the July Major League Baseball Draft. At points this spring, Becker has been considered a potential first-round pick.

Prediction

As tempting as it might be for Kenney to throw as many of his arms at Don Bosco to keep the dangerous Ironmen lineup off-balance, it will be even more tempting for the CBA skipper to stick with a hot hand should one emerge. The way DiTullio has pitched recently, it would seem he is the most likely option to carry the game on the mound for the Colts, but the Iwanyk factor – both his ability on the mound and his recent performance as the clean-up hitter and DH – make him a prime candidate to start the game, even if it is just for an inning or two.

Whatever the formula is for the first four-to-five innings, CBA is building its game-plan with the hopes of handing the ball to Langan for the final three-to-six outs of the game. To get there, the Colts will have to solve Costello, who has a sub-1.00 ERA, but has also been prone to issuing free passes. CBA did enough to blow the game open vs. RBC when the Caseys also had problems with walks, but the Colts will likely need more than the five hits they mustered in the RBC win.

CBA’s formula against top competition this season was always going to be built around its considerable pitching depth and that will not change on Wednesday night. For the Colts to collect their fourth state championship in program history, they will need whichever pitchers take the ball to be at their best against a Don Bosco lineup that can handle itself against quality pitching.

With both teams ready to march excellent pitching to the mound, the difference is going to be the quality of the at-bats, the execution on the defense and the ability to cash-in with the big hit. CBA will be in it, but Don Bosco’s bats have to give the Ironmen the slight edge going in.

The Pick: Don Bosco, 4-2