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April 28, 2014 Volume-VI Issue-8

Shore Sports Network High School Sports 4-28-14 Vol-VI Issue-8

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Shore Sports Network 800 WINS For a Legend Toms River South's Ken Frank

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Page 1: Shore Sports Network High School Sports 4-28-14 Vol-VI Issue-8

April 28, 2014 Volume-VI Issue-8

Page 2: Shore Sports Network High School Sports 4-28-14 Vol-VI Issue-8

The first thing fans, players, coaches & parentswant to know after the big game is always,

”Is this going to be on ”

Shore Sports Network has established itself as a leader in scholastic sports coverage in Monmouth and Oceancounties, providing more video highlight clips, in-depth reporting, feature stories and

regular updates than ANY OTHER OUTLET in the area.

Shore Sports NetworkWeb S i te Features

n Get Video Highlights of all the important games that Shore Conference fans will be talking about.

n Catch up on the action you might have missed

n Watch video clips of everything from the action early in the event to the big finish as well as video interviewswith various athletes.

n www.shoresportsnetwork.com is the most visited sports site in the Shore Conference during the scholastic year

n Follow us on Twitter (over 12,000 followers) and Facebook, we keep fans posted on the latest scores and news

n Established leading portal for local high school coverage.

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Featuredin This Issue

3Football Academic All-ShorePlayers Honored

4Barnegat Boys Lacrosse Off to a Great Start

6Middletown North BaseballAdvances in the MCT

12Freehold Twp. Roars Backfrom Slow Start

14US Army All-Shore GridironClassic Rosters Announced

15 CBA's Luca Dalatri Shines

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8-9TR SOUTH’S KEN FRANK REGISTERSHIS 800TH WIN

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Agroup of Shore Conferencestandouts were honored on Sunday fortheir performances on the field and inthe classroom at the annual ShoreFootball Coaches Foundation banquet.The recipients of this year’s Academic All-Shore awards

were honored and the rosters and coaching staffs for thissummer’s U.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classic were alsoannounced at the banquet at Gibbs Hall. Kean Universityhead coach Dan Garrett, an Ocean Township resident, gavethe keynote speech. Lacey assistant Watson Heilala, a U.S.Army Reserve specialist, spoke on behalf of the U.S. Army,which has continued its generous sponsorship of the state’soldest all-star football game, which began in 1978. The eventwas emceed by the ShoreSports Network’s own KevinWilliams.This year’s game pitting the

top seniors from MonmouthCounty against theircounterparts from OceanCounty will be at 7 p.m. onJuly 17 at Brick TownshipHigh School. OceanTownship’s Don Klein willcoach the Monmouth squad,while Brick coach Rob Dahl,who led the Green Dragons totheir first state sectional titlesince 1994 this past fall, willlead the Ocean team.At halftime, the SFCF will

make its latest inductions intothe Hall of Fame. The coachinginductees will be former TomsRiver North head coach BobNani and former MiddletownSouth and Raritan head coach

Bob Generelli. Nani ledthe Mariners to SouthJersey Group IV titles in1994 and 1997 as well asa pair of division titles.Generelli won three statesectional titles betweenhis two coaching stints,including leading Raritanto its only state title inprogram history during anundefeated 2004 season.Two members of the

media will also beinducted. The ShoreSports Network’s own Ed

Sarluca, a long-time sidelinereporter on theradio broadcastsand a fixture ofShore Conferencefootball, will beinducted alongwith formerAsbury Park Presscolumnist andsports editor JoeAdelizzi, anotherlongtimesupporter andchronicler ofShore football.The recipients

of the Coach ofthe Year awardsfor each of theShoreConference’s sixdivisions werealso honored. The

honorees were Manalapan’s Ed Gurrieri(Class A North); Monmouth Regional’sRich Mosca (Class A Central); Brick’sRob Dahl, Toms River South’s RonSignorino Jr., Jackson Memorial’s WaltKrystopik (Class A South); Ocean’s DonKlein (Class B North); Shore’s MarkCostantino (Class B Central); andBarnegat’s Rob Davis (Class B South).Two players from each program were

selected as Academic All-Shore recipients.They had to maintain a 3.0 grade-pointaverage or higher and also displaycharacter and integrity off the field as wellas being a contributor on it. They wereselected by their respective coaches. Six

players who were Shore Sports Network first-team All-Shoreselections in the fall also earned academic honors:Manalapan linebacker Chris Noesges, Ocean linebacker DanLoizos, Jackson Memorial linebacker Ken Bradley andrunning back Khani Glover, Matawan kicker/punter MikeCreamer and Point Beach defensive back Noah Yates.

Academic All-Shore TeamAsbury Park - Daquane Bland-Bennett, Ricky CortezBarnegat – Mark Magoon, Tom KampoBrick – Drew Scott, Logan SchmitzBrick Memorial – Lance Hansen, Jake LombardoCentral – Tom Koenig, Paulius KudarauskasColts Neck – Mike Ververka, Martin HooperFreehold – Simar Ahluwalia, Luke TiefenthalerFreehold Township – Sam Beres, Drew CastlemanHolmdel – Matt Dixon, Kevin BradyHowell – Stephen Boncimino, Connor McGlynnJackson Liberty – John Veneziano, Nathaniel MatosJackson Memorial – Ken Bradley, Khani Glover

Keyport – Michael Wingate, Alex ThomsonLacey – Trace Dittenhofer, Tom KellyLakewood – Ivan Marks, Dan NiblackLong Branch – Conor Mullan, Shabazz ShulerManalapan – Chris Noesges, Tyler LeonettiManasquan – Denis Moran, Evan WalshManchester – Nicholas Ientile, Devin TomeiMarlboro – Chris Coyle, Reuben CruzMatawan – Mike Creamer, Nick TomkinsMater Dei Prep – Sam Miles, Derrick LopezMiddletown South – Tayler Hendrickson, Andrew WisialkoMiddletown North – Jake Betkowski, Jake ZaniMonmouth Regional – Joe Pietz, Michael MoranoMonsignor Donovan – Dean Wilk, Brett HogancampNeptune – Nyjeer Wesley, Michael DoveOcean – Cole Mehr, Dan LoizosPinelands – Matt MacPhee, Dan MacPheePoint Beach – Noah YatesPoint Boro – Brendan O’Hara, Matt GliddonRumson-FH – Chase Caruso, Kyle BurnettRaritan – Jared Collins, Tyler JonesRed Bank Catholic – Frank Olmo, Pat ToomeyRed Bank Regional – Adam Lynch, Gary JohnsonSt. John Vianney – Billy DeMato, Julanee PrinceShore Regional – Brian Miller, James MurphySouthern – Christian Lovas, Vinnie ColecchiaToms River East – Dean Ramos, Matt GudzakToms River North – Robert Deitlmeier, Nick SilvaToms River South – Sergio Hernandez, Justin SchumanWall – Pete Miceli, Jack Cluley

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Kean University head coach Dan Garrett

Army representitiveWatson Heilala

Academic All-Shore Players HonoredB y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

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When Barnegat walked off thefield after the third quarter of itscrucial Shore Conference Class ASouth game against Lacey on April23 it was a team barely holding ittogether.The Bengals had built a two-goal halftime

lead on the Lions, only to see it wiped awayduring a quarter in which little went right forthe host squad. The Bengals’ offense was outof sync, and frustration was mounting. Thesituation only became more dire when DanCannon gave Lacey the lead early in thefourth quarter. If Barnegat was going to keepits undefeated record and division title hopesintact, it had to find its game and do it fast.

“I know they don’t have quit in them,” saidBarnegat head coach Ryan Dalon. “Sometimesthey do get frustrated and you can see it, butthey usually fight through it. When we getmomentum going in our direction we knowhow to use it.”

Trailing by one midway through the finalperiod, the Bengals drew even on a goal byjunior attackman Matt Manno and then pulledin front when senior Ethan Tonneson threadeda gorgeous pass to sophomore attackman RyanReynolds with 5:23 left. Senior Matt

Grobelny made some clutch saves over thefinal five minutes and Barnegat held on toedge Lacey, 7-6, in a pivotal Class A Southshowdown.

“Everyone was saying we hadn’t playedthat great of teams,” said senior defensemanGreg Moran. “We knew Lacey was a bigchallenge for us, and to win was a bigstepping stone to show we are for real.”

“In the third quarter we kind of fell apart,”Tonneson said. “(To come back) showed howmuch heart we have.”

Tonneson dished out four assists in thegame to extend his team lead. Reynolds andjunior midfielder Ricky Gerena each scoredtwice for Barnegat while senior AnthonyHause, sophomore J.J. McKenna and Mannoalso found the back of the net. Grobelnyfinished with 14 saves, including five in thefourth quarter. Seniors Dan Cannon and JoeyLong each scored twice for Lacey withgoalie Kyle Fisher making 12 saves.

Barnegat’s victory keeps it in line withdefending A South champion Southern atopthe division standings. After passing a majortest against Lacey, defeating Jackson Liberty,13-5, on April 25 and holding off ShoreRegional, 6-4 in a nondivisional game onApril 28, the Bengals need to only defeatToms River North to enter the game versus

Barnegat Lacrosse EnjoyingBreakout SeasonB y B o b B a d d e r s - S e n i o r S t a f f W r i t e r

Ethan Tonneson (24), Matt Manno (10), Ricky Gerena (1)

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Southern on May 1 with a chance to win thedivision title.

Wednesday’s contest was tight from thestart, and remained that way throughout.Barnegat’s two-goal lead at halftime was thelargest advantage either team had all game.Lacey got on the board a mere 37 seconds intothe game when Cannon found Long right infront of the net with a great pass for a tap-ingoal. Barnegat answered when Gerena scoredunassisted off an isolation drive from the topof the box at 10:27, and took a 2-1 lead whenTonneson steered a pass from the right sideinto the box where McKenna corralled it andzipped a shot past Fisher at 6:57.

Long then tied the game at 4:22 with a greatindividual effort, curling around the creaseand diving through a defender to beatGrobelny and knot the score at two. With 3:03left in the opening quarter, Tonneson sent apass to the goal mouth that Reynolds caughtand deposited into the net to give Barnegat a 3-2 lead after the first quarter.

Cannon tied the score at three at 8:28 of thesecond quarter when he dodged a defender highin the box and blasted a left-handed shot pastGrobelny. Barnegat re-gained the lead just overtwo minutes later when Gerena cut in from theleft corner behind the net and sank his secondgoal of the game. Another great pass fromTonneson pushed the Bengals’ lead to 5-3, as hefound Hause with a pass across the box and thesenior finished the play at 3:23, enablingBarnegat to enter halftime with a two-goaladvantage.

Any momentum Barnegat had built over thefirst 24 minutes dissipated after halftime,however. Lacey won all three third-quarterface-offs, and the advantage in possession

helped the Lions tie the game, 5-5. They cut thedeficit to one at 9:16 of the third quarter whenjunior defenseman James Peaney engineered asuccessful clear and led the rush into theoffensive end. He found Pat Quinn in stride,and the senior scored to made it 5-4.

With 4:20 to go in the quarter, sophomoreRyan Mahon scored from point-blank range totie the game at five. The damage could havebeen worse if not for the play of Grobelny anddefensemen Ryan Parker, Hunter Narozniak andMoran. Grobelny made five saves in the quarterto help offset a period in which unforced errorsand low-percentage shots plagued the Bengals.

Lacey took its first lead since going up 1-0when Cannon drove to his left and unleashedanother bomb that rippled the twine behindGrobelny, putting the Lions up 6-5 just 43seconds into the fourth quarter. Barnegat

looked like a teamready to fold, but theBengals were able toreverse their fortuneover the game’s finalsix and a halfminutes.

Moran started thebreakout onBarnegat’s game-tying goal when hepicked up a groundball in his own end.The ball eventuallycame to Reynolds,who then quicklydished to Manno fora goal that made it 6-6 with 6:28 left. Thegame-winning goalcame off another

great clear, this one by McKenna. Thesophomore ran the ball across the midfield lineand out-raced Cannon down the right sidelinebefore dishing to Tonneson, who was campedout behind and to the right of the goal.Tonneson quickly flipped a pass to a wide-openReynolds, who scored for the 7-6 lead.

“J.J. is a player that’s on the rise,” Dalonsaid. “He plays a lot of lacrosse so heunderstands the game very well. He doesn’tpanic when he has the ball on his stick.”

“Having Ethan Tonneson out there, his visionis so key,” Dalon added. “He’s my offensivefield general out there. He calms everythingdown and gets the offense in sync. When he hasthe ball on his stick I feel comfortable he’sgoing to make the right decision all the time.”

For Lacey, Wednesday’s loss marked its first

defeat since dropping a 10-8 game to Marlboroon April 5. The Lions have already eclipsedtheir win total from last season (8-10) whenthey qualified for the NJSIAA and ShoreConference Tournaments for the first time. Witha 9-2 record already this season, they’re well ontheir way to a return to each.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge,”said Lacey head coach Shane Allen. “We had anopportunity to see them earlier in the week, andwe knew their lineup was strong top to bottom.We had to play mistake-free lacrosse, and wedidn’t do that today.”

For a team that entered the season havinggraduated a 50-goal scorer, plus being short onmidfielders, offense was a question markheading into the season. But with Tonneson’spassing and a balanced set of finishers thatincludes six players with at least 10 goals, theBengals’ offense hasn’t missed a beat. Add thatto a solid defense in front of a stingy goalie andit’s easy to see why Barnegat has enjoyed abreakout year.

And if all continues to go right, they’ll beplaying for a division title against last season'sSouth Jersey Group IV champions. The test willbe unlike any opponent they've face thus far,however. The Rams crushed Lacey, 15-1,following the Lacey-Barnegat game and havewon 11 straight games, averaging over 15 goalsper game during that span. The odds arecertainly stacked against Barnegat, but a winwould not only be a historic moment for itsprogram, but would be a significant step in thegrowth of Shore Conference lacrosse.

“Every year we come in as underdogs,”Tonneson said. “The whole Shore or A Southdoesn’t see us as competition, but this yearwe’re showing everyone we’re coming for it.”

Junior midfielder Ricky Gerena (1)

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Most high school catchers turn theirhead toward their dugout somewherebetween 70 and 120 times per game tofind out what pitch their pitcher will bethrowing and, in some cases, how tocall the pitch.Middletown North senior catcher Ryan Goscinski is indeed

the first player to find out what pitch his pitcher about tothrow, but that’s because he’s the one picking the pitches.When two players are as familiar with one another asGoscinski and senior right-hander Mike Zibrin, why lean on amiddleman?

Zibrin and Goscinski crafted a four-hit gem Saturday as theLions – the No. 15 seed in the Monmouth County Tournament– took down No. 2 Shore, 3-1, to advance to the quarterfinals,where they will play crosstown rival and seventh-seededMiddletown South.

“Goose (Goscinski) calls a great game, and I just lean onhim,” Zibrin said. “We’ve been playing together forever andhe knows my stuff as well as I do, if not better. It’s just up tome to execute the pitches and I felt pretty good aboutthrowing all of them wherever Goose wanted them.”

“I’ve always let the catchers call the game onthe field,” third-year Middletown North coachMike Dooley said. “They are the ones playingthe game, so they should be the ones to make thedecisions out there. It’s the best thing for theirown development, and then they can show theyounger guys how to do it and you get it passeddown from year to year.”

Shore’s lone score was an unearned run in thefifth inning that came following an errant pick-off throw that moved a runner into scoringposition. Kevin Donegan followed with a groundball that rolled through the right side to scorethe Blue Devils’ lone run.

Zibrin finished with six strikeouts and nowalks while pitching on three-days’ rest. Thesenior threw 5 1/3 innings in a 9-4 loss toChristian Brothers Academy on Tuesday, whichdropped the Lions to 3-5.

“I felt good,” Zibrin said. “I didn’t changeanything in my routine, and we pretty muchtreated it like any other day. Normally, thiswould have been my day to throw off the moundso instead of doing it in practice, I just took itout into the game.”

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Middletown North BaseballAdvances in MCTBy Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

Senior right-hander Mike Zibrin

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Zibrin surrendered three of the four hits to the opposingstarting pitcher, junior right-hander James Kelly. AlthoughKelly hurt him out of the clean-up spot by going 3-for-3 witha double to deep center, Zibrin quieted Shore’s two mostpowerful hitters – center fielder Matt Cosentino and catcherNick Blaney. Cosentino rolled over two groundballs to shortstop on well-located fastballs andflew to right in his final at-bat, while Blaneywent down on strikes, got under a fly ball to rightfield and grounded out sharply to third base.

“I didn’t treat any one spot in the lineup as theout I needed to get, but I felt like I located wellagainst those guys,” Zibrin said.

Middletown North managed only four hits aswell against Kelly, but aggressive baserunning, acouple of Blue Devils errors and a well-timedsuicide squeeze helped the Lions make the mostof their baserunners.

“We’re getting to a point where if we can gettwo, three, four runs, we feel like we’re going towin the game,” Dooley said. “In high schoolbaseball, the name of the game is defense. Youhave to be able to defend and even though wehad some tough games in the field early on, thedefense has been pretty good lately and thatallows us to try some things on offense to tryscore an extra run here or there.”Senior center fielder Ryan Byrd reached base

twice on errors and scored each time. In the topof the first, Byrd went to third on a well-executed hit-and-run by Goscinski. Courtesyrunner Anthony Ventrano stole second base, andwith one out and runners on second and third,clean-up hitter Mike Bartels dropped a bunt with

both runners in motion. Byrd scored easily on the play andwhen the throw went to first base to get Bartels, Ventranocame flying around third base to score a second run on theplay and give the Lions an early 2-0 lead.Byrd again reached on an error in the fifth and stole two

bases before scoring on a ground out to shortstop by rightfielder Conor Youncofski.Along with Goscinski, Youncofski and Matt Reilly, Zibrin

also had one of the four Middletown North hits. Youncofskihad the lone extra-base hit, a double to right-center in the

third inning.The preliminary-round win over

Manasquan on Friday and Saturday’swin over Shore bumped the Lions backup to .500 (5-5). Although the MCTscheduled is usually staggered enough toallow a team to ride one pitcherthroughout the tournament, Dooleyinsists he will stick to the rotation as hetries to keep his team in contention forthe Shore Conference and NJSIAATournaments, as well as the A Northtitle. Although the Lions have five lossesin the division, A North has beencompetitive from top to bottom and awinning streak of any degree could beenough to make a difference.“Our first goal was to win A North and

even though that might be a long shotwith five losses already, we still want tomake the Shore Conference Tournamentand position ourselves the best waypossible for that,” Dooley said. “I havean equal amount of confidence inanybody I send to the mound, so I don’tfeel like we need to set our rotation withone game in mind. I see us as havingthree number-one guys and whichevergame is up next, we’ll throw the nextguy up.”

Senior center fielder Ryan Byrd

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In a 36-year career thathas become the best in

the history of NewJersey high schoolbaseball, Toms RiverSouth coach KenFrank crossed anotherrecord-setting milestoneoff the list onSaturday night.Frank became the first baseball coach

in state history to reach 800 winswhen the Indians defeated visitingBayonne, 7-2, in a nonconferencegame. It was the second crack at themilestone after Southern rallied to beatToms River South, 4-3, a night earlier, andit put Frank in rarefied air among coaches in any sportin the state. Fittingly, it came on the field that bears hisname – Ken Frank Baseball Stadium.

Toms River East transfer Tyler Folger pitched acomplete game six-hitter and also went 3-for-3 to lead theway to the milestone win. Jake Ryan and Spencer Kappopened the scoring for Toms River South with back-to-back doubles in the second inning and Kapp later scoredon an RBI single by Trevor Wagner. Ray Liguori and Ryaneach singled in a run in the fourth and fifth innings,respectively, to give Folger all the support he would need.

It added to Frank’s legendary resume, as he became thestate’s all-time winningest coach in April of 2012 whenthe Indians beat Southern for victory No. 755.

“The thing that hasmeant the most to me isjust the tradition andthe players,” Frank said.“What is always themost gratifying is seeingguys come back and

watch our games orcheck up on the teambecause they will alwaysbe part of the family thatwe have created here. I’vejust been blessed withgreat coaches and greatplayers to work with,and this is really allabout these kids andgiving them a positiveexperience.”

Players all the way from currentCincinnati Reds third baseman Todd

B y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

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Frazier to current MonmouthUniversity star lefty AndrewMcGee to the pitcher whoearned the win in Frank’s firstcareer victory have allremained close to the programafter their high school careersended. Mike Garrity was thewinning pitcher in an 8-2victory over MonmouthRegional in 1978 for Frank’scareer win and was inattendance on Saturday night.Top assistant Mitch Powitz,the team’s pitching coach, hasbeen by Frank’s side for 21years after starring for him asa player in the mid-1980s.

Frank took the style of hard-nosed baseball he learnedwhile playing at Snyder HighSchool in Jersey City undercoach Gerry McKinney in theearly 1960s. He went on toplay at Miami-Dade Junior College in 1966 under Doc Mainieri, the father ofcurrent LSU head coach Paul Mainieri, and then finished his career at MontclairState. Frank has been a fixture at Toms River South since he began teachingthere in 1969 and coaching under the legendary Al Fantuzzi before taking overas the head coach in 1978.

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Alittle more than a weekago, the Freehold Townshipbaseball team seemed like ajaded team when it came toclose games. Now, thePatriots can’t lose.Freehold Township scored three runs in the

first inning for senior right-hander ChrisTalbott, who went the distance in leading thePatriots to a 4-3 win over fourth-seed anddefending tournament champion Red BankCatholic Saturday at Count Basie Field in theMonmouth County Tournament first round.

The win was the second of an MCT double-header – Freehold Township beat No. 20 RedBank, 6-4, to earn a game with Red BankCatholic – and the sixth straight for the

Patriots. Every win during the streak but theRed Bank victory has been by a one-runmargin.

“Losing all those close games left a bittertaste in our mouth, and we didn’t want to keepexperiencing that,” Talbott said. “We couldeither quit and let the season get away, or wecould work harder and with the talent we havehere, we knew if we kept working and keptbattling, good things would eventuallyhappen.”

Freehold Township started the season 3-3 andits final game before the tournament was seededwas an 11-9 loss to Middletown South in whichthe Patriots squandered a 9-3 lead. The pedestrianstart resulted in a No. 13 seed, but since that lossto Middletown South, Freehold Township hasrolled up wins over Marlboro, Wall, Howell andMiddletown North before sweeping its MCTdouble-header on Saturday.

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Freehold Twp. Roars Back fromSlow StartBy Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

Senior right-hander Chris Talbott

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATIONContact : Steven Meyer 732-233-4460 smeyer@al lshoremed ia .com

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“I just think we were coming up short on doing some of thelittle things in the late innings, and it was costing us,”Freehold Township coach Todd Smith said. “We would play agood game, but then we would mess up one play or oneinning and that would turn out to be the difference. Theseguys saw how much one pitch or one play can make thedifference in a close game and, basically, they just stayedcommitted to what they were doing and focused even more ondoing those little things late in games that make thedifference.”

The win over Wall has been the defining win of the seasonfor the Patriots, even though Wall does not reside in the ClassA North division. The Crimson Knights entered that game onApril 19 as the unbeaten, No. 1 team in the Shore Conferenceand the Patriots outlasted them, 5-4, in 15 innings.

“That game was huge, not only to beat a team like that, butto do it in a game that could have gone either way and to bethe team that came out on top,” Smith said. “I think getting awin in that spot showed our guys what they can do when theykeep fighting until the last out and since then, we’ve had thatsame mentality.”

Although the Patriots have been on their game over the lastnine days, Saturday was the game that saw Talbott flash hisbest stuff, according to Smith. The senior right-handerpitched into the sixth inning for the first time this seasonwhile limiting Red Bank Catholic to seven hits and a walk.

“He got a late start on the mound during the preseason andgot on the mound about 10 days later than everybody else,”Smith said of Talbott. “As a result, he’s had trouble gettingout of the fourth inning of his starts. Today, he had it all theway until the end, and I actually thought he had some of his

best stuff in the last couple innings.”

“On a day like today, you can always count on Chris to hithis spots,” junior catcher Joe Silvestrone said. “He was reallysharp today.”

Freehold Township’s offense – which included a 2-for-4 dayfrom Talbott with a double and two runs scored – gave itspitcher a lead before he ever took the mound. Talbott andSilvestrone hit back-to-back singles with one out in the first

and came around to score on a two-run triple by seniorfirst baseman Nick Cardace. Julius Saporito then platedCardace with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Silvestrone went 3-for-3 in the game, later adding an RBIsingle in the fifth to make it 4-2 after Talbott doubled to deepcenter field. The single was a response to Red BankCatholic’s first score of the game, a two-run home run bysenior third baseman Matt Kurdewan in the bottom of thefourth.

Kurdewan later launched a second home run in the bottomof the sixth, a towering blast that landed on the adjacentsoftball field and stayed just to the fair side of the foul poleextended. Prior to Kurdewan’s second home run, Talbottcoaxed RBC senior Al Molina to ground into a 1-6-3 doubleplay to clear the bases and record the first two outs of theinning. The double play ensured that Kurdewan’s homer wasonly a solo shot, which preserved the Freehold Townshiplead.

“I was definitely kicking myself, especially on the secondone, because I hit with (Kurdewan) every week and I’mdefinitely going to hear about it,” Talbott said.

Talbott hit Chris Bender with two outs in the bottom of the

fifth, but induced a game-ending fly out to nail down the win.

Freehold Township has made a habit out of late-season runsover the last two years, during which a number of the playerson this year’s team have been significant contributors. Lastyear, Freehold Township bowed out of the MCT early andmissed out on both the Shore Conference and NJSIAATournaments, but managed to win its final eight games of theseason to finish the season with a 13-12 record.

One year earlier in 2012, the Patriots also failed to makethe SCT, but they caught fire in the MCT and knocked offRed Bank Catholic in the championship game.

Freehold Township will look to extend its winning streak toseven games Monday against Christian Brothers Academy, thecurrent leader in the Class A North standings. The Colts willlikely trot out sophomore phenom Luca Dalatri, who is 4-0with one earned run allowed and 36 strikeouts in 27 inningsthis season.

“I think our division is deeper than any other division,”Smith said. “The worst team in the division is not a bad teamand at this point, it’s hard to even tell who the worst team is.Every team has three arms they can throw at you and a deeplineup with guys who can beat you all throughout the lineup.

“I think our kids have learned early on this year and evengoing back to last year that if you don’t bring it every singleday, you’re going to get picked off. We’ve seen it happen tous, and we’ve done it to teams, so I think they have anappreciation for that going forward and it’s just going to be amatter of who plays the best.”

Page 14: Shore Sports Network High School Sports 4-28-14 Vol-VI Issue-8

The Shore Football CoachesFoundation unveiled the players whowill be participating in this summer’sU.S. Army All-Shore Gridiron Classicat its annual banquet on Sunday atGibbs Hall.The latest edition of New Jersey’s oldest high school

football all-star game, which began in 1978, will be at 7 p.m.on July 17 at Brick Township High School. The top seniorsfrom Ocean County will take on their counterparts fromMonmouth County. Before the game, the annual GridironClassic 7-on-7 championship will be held with the winnersfrom each county squaring off.

The rosters were selected by the SFCF based on playersselected to first-, second-, and third-team All-Shore in the fallas well as All-Division. Ocean Township head coach DonKlein, who led the Spartans to a 10-1 season, the Class BNorth title and an appearance in the Central Jersey Group IIIsemifinals, will coach the Monmouth County squad. Brick’sRob Dahl, who led the Green Dragons to the NJSIAA CentralJersey Group IV crown for their first sectional title since1994, will coach the Ocean team on his home field.

The inspiring story of Anthony Starego, the Brick kickerwith autism, will also have another chapter as he will be akicker for Ocean County and play on his home field one lasttime. He will be the first special needs player to participate inthe 36-year history of the game.

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US Army All-Shore GridironClassic Rosters AnnouncedB y S c o t t S t u m p – M a n a g i n g E d i t o r

HERE ARE THE ROSTERSAND COACHING STAFFSFOR THE GAME.MONMOUTH COUNTYHead coach: Don Klein, Ocean Twp.

Assistants: Marc Tomo, Jim Simonelli, Pat O’Neill, Mike Lambusta, Erik Mammano, John Della Pesca, Rich Mosca, Mark Costantino, Mike Whitacre, Tom Gallahue

ROSTERJake Betkowski, WR/DB, Midd. North

Blaine Birch, LB, Manasquan

John Bostic, OL/DL, Freehold Boro

Kevin Clayton, TE/DE, Rumson-FH

Mike Creamer, K/P, Matawan

Chris Cruz, DB, Manalapan

Dylan DaVita, TE/DE, Red Bank Regional

Nick Douglas, DE, Manalapan

Joe Fittin, WR/DB, Manasquan

Matt Forst, OL/DL, Manasquan

Anthony Gargiulo, RB/LB, Colts Neck

Mike Halawani, DE, Ocean

Dustin Jensen, QB/DB, Marlboro

Tyler Jones, LB, Raritan

R.J. Krause, TE/DT, Manalapan

Tyler Leonetti, RB, Manalapan

Dan Loizos, LB, Ocean

Tom Martello, LB/DB, Rumson-FH

Cole Mehr, WR/DB, Ocean

Shawn McCord, DE, Red Bank Catholic

Sam Miles, LB, Mater Dei Prep

Brian Miller, RB/LB, Shore

Joe Murphy, RB, Manasquan

Chris Noesges, LB, Manalapan

Myson Pennington, DB, Long Branch

Kason Preston, QB/WR/DB, Keansburg

Julanee Prince, WR, St. John Vianney

Matt Proto, OL/DL, Shore

Chris Quinlan, WR, Wall

Peter Righi, OL, Rumson-FH

Mark Scherzer, WR, Holmdel

Ryan Schoer, LB, Red Bank Catholic

Joey Schultz, WR, Howell

Shabazz Shuler, QB/DB, Long Branch

Monte Sinisi, OL/DL, Manasquan

Alex Thomson, QB/LB, Keyport

Nick Tomkins, TE/DE, Matawan

Pat Toomey, QB/K/P, Red Bank Catholic

Chris Veary, OL, Matawan

Nick Volpe, LB/DE/TE, Colts Neck

John Walsh, OL, Ocean

Dan Weissman, LB, Freehold Twp.

Will Wells, LB, Asbury Park

Ryan Wetzel, OL, Colts Neck

Deon Williams, RB/LB, Long Branch

Andrew Wisialko, WR/DB, Midd. South

OCEAN COUNTYHead coach: Rob Dahl, Brick

Assistants: Chip LaBarca, Jon Power,Dean Helstowski, Kevin Stockhoff,Brian McNamara, Dan Curcione,Mike Smith, Chris Blackburn, Walt Krystopik, Kurt Wieboldt.

ROSTERMarcus Ademilola, TE, Jackson Memorial

Isaiah Akers, WR, Central

Tom Alber, OL/DL, Jackson Liberty

Zach Andrews, OL, Barnegat

Bill Barry, TE/LB, Point Beach

Mike Basile, RB/DB, Brick Memorial

KaShaun Barnes, QB/WR/DB, Manchester

Bailey Bellissimo, OL/LB, Southern

Shaquille Benjamin, WR/DB, Manchester

Joe Bick, OL, Manchester

Ken Bradley, LB, Jackson Memorial

Jesse Brown, DL, Central

Jerry Caporale, DB, TR East

Kyle Carrington, WR, Msgr. Donovan

Vinny Celidonio, LB, Jackson Memorial

Maurice Diawara, DE, Lakewood

Robert Dietlmeier, OL/DL, TR North

Marquis Drumright, QB, Central

Mason Fazekas, DL, Southern

Steve Ferlisi, P, Brick

Joey Fields, WR/RB/DB, Msgr. Donovan

Mike Gesicki, WR, Southern

Matt Gliddon, OL/DL, Point Boro

Matt Gudzak, RB/DB, TR East

Khani Glover, RB/DB, Jackson Memorial

Brian Golad, OL, Manchester

Vinny Grasso, QB/DB, Msgr. Donovan

Javon Hardy, RB/DB, Central

Darrius Hart, WR/DB, TR South

Nick Ientile, OL/LB, Manchester

Otis Kearney, RB/LB, TR South

Brendan Kelly, OL, TR South

Tom Kelly, QB, Lacey

Jake Lombardo, LB, Brick Memorial

Matt McGovern, OL, Lacey

Russell Messler, RB/LB/K, TR South

Sam Mistretta, OL, Jackson Memorial

Mike Muratore, WR/DB, Brick

Greg Moran, LB/DE, Barnegat

Matt Post, LB, Msgr. Donovan

Mike Randolph, WR/DB, Lakewood

Amani Richardson, WR/DB, Manchester

Drew Scott, TE/LB, Brick

Logan Sheehan, QB/DB, Southern

Zach Skesavage, DB, Msgr. Donovan

Dom Spalletta, DE, TR East

Anthony Starego, K, Brick

Sean Struncius, OL/DL, Point Beach

Rob Triano, QB/DB, Brick Memorial

Christian Tutela, WR/DB, Lacey

Ryan Ulrich, WR/DB/K, Barnegat

Matt Ulufanua, OL/DL, Brick

Ben Watson, OL/DL, Lakewood

Mike Yak, LB, Pinelands

Noah Yates, WR/DB, Point Beach

Page 15: Shore Sports Network High School Sports 4-28-14 Vol-VI Issue-8

Dalatri Continues BrilliantSeason for CBA BaseballBy Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

Facing a pitcher Monday whothrows a lot of strikes and stillavoids contact, the FreeholdTownship baseball team took asimple approach to hitting:swing a lot.Once Christian Brothers Academy sophomore Luca Dalatri – the

strike-throwing machine in question – caught on to the strategy, he had asimple enough response for someone who makes pitching look so simple:throw unhittable strikes.

Dalatri pitched his fourth complete game of the season and recordeddouble-digit strikeouts for the third time this year to lead CBA – No. 5 inthe Shore Sports Network Top 10 – to a 4-1 win over No. 2 FreeholdTownship, snapping the Patriots’ six-game winning streak while alsoextending the Colts’ winning streak to six.

“Coming in, I knew they were going to come after me,” Dalatri said.“They’re a good hitting team and they were on a great run and this isn’tthe end of it by any stretch.”

CBA gave Dalatri four runs on just three hits, but the sophomore right-hander also limited the opposition to three hits as well. While CBA drewsix walks against Patriots pitching, Dalatri did not issue a single freepass.

Dalatri (5-0) also struck out 10, just one shy of his career-high. AfterMonday’s performance, Dalatri has now struck out 46 would-be hitterswhile walking only three batters all year. Freehold Township sought toattack Dalatri early in the count to begin the game, with five of the firstseven hitters swinging at the first pitch.

“You look at his numbers and what sticks out is that he’s striking guysout without walking hardly anybody,” Freehold Township coach ToddSmith said. “Anytime you see a guy with high strikeout and low walknumbers, it means he’s got great stuff, and it’s great stuff in the zone. Hedoesn’t mess around when he gets to two strikes, so we talked a lot aboutbeing aggressive early in the count because those are probably going tobe the best pitches you’re going to see against him.”

Dalatri’s first adjustment backfired on him when he started off three ofthe first four batters in the bottom of the third inning with pitches out ofthe zone while looking to play off their aggressiveness. He ended upretiring right fielder Julius Saporito after falling behind and went to a fullcount before retiring No. 9 hitter Joe Ellerman for the first two outs of theinning.

Leadoff hitter and center fielder Steve Derby actually took strike oneon the first pitch with two out, but laid off an 0-1 breaking ball beforebelting a two-out, line-drive double over the head of left fielder GriffinArnott and to the left-field fence. Dalatri then fell behind 3-and-1 to No.2 hitter Chris Talbott – who singled on a fastball in his first at-bat – bythrowing three breaking balls in the first four pitches of the at-bat. Talbott

then took a 3-1 fastball from Dalatri andgrounded it into the left-field for an RBIsingle to tie the game at 1.

“I knew they were going to look toswing early in the count, so I looked tothrow more offspeed stuff early in thecount to get ahead and keep them offbalance,” Dalatri said. “I wasn’tcompletely successful with that and aftera while, it made me realize that I had tothrow quality strikes to get ahead so thatif they swung, they were swinging at awell-located pitch. Once I was ahead, Icould expand more and I started to havea little more success.”

For the second time in the game, CBAgot Dalatri a run thanks to an error onFreehold Township right-handed starterJoe Decelie, this time in the fifth inningto take a 2-1 lead. This time, that one-run cushion was enough for the sophomore hurler, who after the Talbottsingle allowed just one baserunner to reach, which came on an error tolead off the seventh. He retired 10 straight batters prior to the error, andafter failing to throw first-pitch strikes to the three batters in the third, hefell behind 1-0 to just one hitter for the rest of the game.

After Freehold Township first baseman Nick Cardace reached on ahard-hit ball to second base that resulted in an error to start the seventh,he induced a weak tapper back to the mound and finished the game withtwo strikeouts.

Dalatri needed only 84 pitches to complete the game and he threw 21of those pitches in the third inning. He threw 65 of his pitches for strikes,a 77 percent strike percentage.

“It’s pretty easy to play behind Luca because he throws a ton ofstrikes,” said junior right fielder Will Morgan, who hit a two-run homerin the seventh inning. “Not only does he throws strikes but hitters don’treally put the ball in play that much, either. It’s just really, really easy toplay behind him, and it’s pretty fun to watch too.”

While Decelie struggled fielding his position on the mound, he waseffective delivering the ball to the plate against the CBA lineup. Thesenior right-hander did not allow a hit over 4 2/3 innings of work andboth runs he allowed were unearned. The errors that cost him those twounearned runs, however, were his own, and the CBA lineup also waitedhim out for five walks – one intentional – and ran his pitch count up to101.

Decelie struck out six in his 4 2/3 innings and combined with JoseDiaz (one strikeout in one batter) and Kenny Carrier (four strikeouts),Freehold Township’s trio combined to strike out 11 CBA batters.

“We’re a little bit of a streaky team with the bats right now,” Morgansaid. “We’ve had some games where we’ve had a bunch of extra-basehits, and we’ve had some games where we’ve only had two or three hits

like today. We thought we weregoing to have a big year with thebats when we were crushing the ballin the preseason, but I guess thingschange during the regular season.”

CBA did not pick up its first hituntil the seventh inning, whensenior center fielder Ryan Ramizsmacked a clean single into leftfield. Two batters later, Morganhammered a 1-1 pitch from Carrierover the right field fence for hissecond home run of the season togive Dalatri two insurance runs.

“I’ve been struggling a little bitlately, just trying to do too much,”Morgan said. “That was a situationwhere I had a runner on third basewith less than two out and my jobwas to get him in. I just relaxed my

hands, let them go a little bit and the ball ended up over the fence.”

The Colts scored their first run when sophomore catcher BrandonMartorano was hit by a pitch, took second on an errant pick-off attemptmoved to third on a passed ball and scored on a double-steal, with seniorthird baseman Pete Papcun taking second on the play. The Colts scoredon a first-and-third play again in the fourth, with pinch-runner JamesMiller scoring on an errant throw to second by Decelie.

“Three runs normally isn’t a lot in a high school game, but with Lucaon the mound, it feels like a lot more than that,” Smith said. “You justhave to grind out the game, keep it even or within a run and try to scratchthat one run across. We were there for a while, but it got away from us atthe end.”

The Colts win now puts two games of separation between the top twoteams in Class A North – CBA and co-leader Colts Neck – and third-place Freehold Township.

“I think their second pitcher (Mike Garvey) has really come aroundand that makes this division a lot less open than it was a couple of weeksago,” Smith said of CBA. “I think you still have to give Colts Neck ashot because they will play them one more time, but as for the rest of thefield, it’s going to be really tough to catch them from this far back.”

15V O L U M E - V I / I S S U E - 8 / 4 / 2 8 / 1 4

by:M a t t M a n l e y

www.shoresportsnetwork.com

CBA sophomore Luca Dalatr i

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