Baseball, softball teams strive for state bids

Last week was moving week for the Freehold Township High School baseball team. With the May 8 deadline looming for New Jersey's high school baseball and softball teams to be .500 or better in order to qualify for the state tournament, the Patriots went 3-0 to raise their record to 10-5 overall and clinch a spot in the NJSIAA tournament.

The Patriots beat Middletown North on April 30, 7-6, on a strikeout, throw-out double play in the bottom of the seventh inning initiated by catcher Chris Gheraldi, who nailed a runner attempting to steal second before the tying run from third base crossed home plate.

On May 2 the Patriots rallied from five runs down to beat Manalapan, 6-5, in eight innings. To beat the Braves, the Patriots had to hand Manalapan ace Ryan Harvey (5-1) his first loss of the year.

Harvey pitched three innings in relief and surrendered the game-winning RBI single by Kevin Litus in the top of the eighth.

Sean Edgeworth won in relief for the Patriots by pitching three scoreless innings against a strong Manalapan lineup.

Despite the loss to Freehold Township, Coach Brian Boyce's Braves are heading for the NJSIAA tournament. Manalapan was 11-5 heading into this week's action. The loss to the Patriots brought the Braves back to the pack in the Shore Conference A North Division. Manalapan is 6-4 in A North and tied in the loss column with Colts Neck and Middletown South, which are 7-4.

There is still a lot baseball to be played before the A North championship will be decided. The Braves will be thinking about the division title this week. They were scheduled to play at Colts Neck on May 5.

Coach Mike Yorke's Colts Neck Cougars, last year's A North champions, began the week at 8-5 and were assured of a state tournament berth. But like Manalapan, the Cougars will be thinking about the division title. Colts Neck was scheduled to host Manalapan on May 5 and is scheduled to play at Christian Brothers Academy today. Those games will go a long way toward determining the A North champion for 2009.

The only other Freehold Regional High School District team with an outside chance of qualifying for the state tournament is Coach Bill Gallacher's Howell Rebels. The Rebels started the season 0-6, but they have gone 5-3 since. At 5-9, the Rebels must find a way to win four games by Friday to qualify for the state tournament.

On the softball side of the ledger, the Freehold Township High School softball team (8-6) won four straight games last week to move closer to a state tournament berth.

The Patriots must be at or above .500 at the end of play on May 8 to reach the state tournament.

On May 1 the Patriots advanced to the Monmouth County Tournament Red Division (championship) quarterfinals with a 6- 3 win over Wall Hall School.

A four-run first inning that was highlighted by Melanie Walling's three-run home run gave pitcher Brooke Witcher a 4-0 lead she did not surrender.

On May 2 the Patriots delivered a damaging blow to Manalapan's state tournament hopes with a 2-0 victory over the Braves. Witcher tossed a two-hitter.

Carly Friedman and Arianna Barres provided all the offense Witcher needed with RBI doubles in the top of the fifth inning to edge the Braves.

The Patriots were scheduled to play No. 1 seed Red Bank Catholic on May 5 in the Monmouth County Tournament quarterfinals.

Manalapan slipped to 5-8 after the loss to Freehold Township and must win all of its games this week to qualify for the NJSIAA tournament.

Colts Neck began the week at 8-6 and was in control of its state tournament destiny.

Freehold has been getting better in its last few games and at 5-7 the Colonials need to keep winning in order to qualify for the state tournament.