Braves capture A North baseball championship

The wild, wild Shore Conference A North Division baseball championship was finally settled on May 14 when Manalapan High School secured the title no one seemed to want.

CHRIS KELLY staff Freehold Township High School's Logan MacLean steps back to first base before a pick-off throw can reach the glove of Manalapan first baseman Ryan Harvey. The Patriots won this Monmouth County Tournament game at Manalapan, 5-1, on May 15. The day before, Harvey was the winning pitcher when Manalapan clinched the Shore Conference A North Division public school championship. The Braves defeated Middletown North, 7-6, at home when Joe Ramirez's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Alex DeCastro with the winning run.

With the victory over the Lions, Manalapan finished the A North schedule with a 9-5 record, one game better than Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Middletown South, who were all 8-6 in the public schools title chase.

"We haven't won a division in 30 years," DeCastro said. "It's great. From the start of the year, this was our goal."

In the final inning against Middletown North, DeCastro led off with a line drive down the left field line that went for a double.

"I was just trying to get on base," he said. "I saw a fastball down the middle and took advantage of it."

DeCastro moved to third on Rich Ricciardi's sacrifice fly. The Lions walked Joe Lacugna to set up a double play and brought the infield in, hoping to prevent a grounder from getting through for a hit.

Ramirez made the strategy moot as he lashed a sinking line drive to center field that was caught, but was deep enough to score DeCastro with the game-winning run.

"It's (A North) a balanced division," Manalapan Coach Brian Boyce said. "It's a nice accomplishment. Our young guys stepped up and we got a lot of clutch hits."

For much of the game against the Lions it looked like the Braves were going to let the A North title slip away. If Manalapan had lost the game there would have been a four-way tie among the schools and the Shore Conference does not recognize fourway championships.

Before the Braves' bats woke up, they trailed Middletown North, 3-1.

Manalapan starting pitcher Nick Kreiger got a run back in the home third when he turned on an inside pitch and launched it over the right centerfield fence. That cut the Lions' lead to 3-2.

The Braves appeared to have taken control of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning when they scored three times to take a 5-3 lead. The big blow was DeCastro's bases-loaded double off the centerfield fence that plated the go-ahead runs.

The inning was set up by a leadoff single by Kreiger and a bunt single by Kevin Mulvanerton. Dan Frankel's single scored Kreiger with the first run of the inning.

But just as quickly as the Braves had gained the momentum, they surrendered it in the top of the seventh.

After the Lions scored a run to pull within one, 5-4, Boyce turned to his ace Ryan Harvey to bring the Braves home. With a runner on second and two out, Connor Delepine shocked the Braves by sending a pitch from Harvey over the centerfield fence as Middletown North regained the lead, 6-5.

Deflated but not out, the Braves tied the game in the bottom of sixth when Lawrence Schoer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. That made the score 6-6, but the Braves could not take the lead and the teams went to the seventh inning tied.

Harvey retired the Lions in order to set the stage for Manalapan to win it in the bottom of the seventh and the Braves came through.

DeCastro and Frankel both had three hits on the day, and Harvey picked up the win in relief to improve to 7-1. Manalapan raised its overall record to 16-6.

Middletown North slipped to 11-11 and 5-9 in the division.

It was a wild ride to the A North championship for Manalapan. The Braves were coasting along with a two-game lead over the field when they blew a 5-0 lead to Freehold Township on May 2 and lost, 7-5, to the Patriots.

That put the Braves in a position where they had to win three of their final four games to win the title.

"We circled the wagons after that loss," said Boyce.

One of Manalapan's remaining games was against state-ranked nonpublic power Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft. With Harvey on his game and tossing a 10- strikeout, two-hitter, the Braves beat the Colts, 5-3, on May 9 to regain control of the division.

Kyle Rubbinaccio, one of several sophomores who have made significant contributions this year, got the Braves one step closer to the championship on May 11 when he fanned eight and held Marlboro to three hits in six innings of work. Riding a tworun single by Ramirez, the Braves edged the Mustangs, 2-1, and were one game away from clinching the A North title.

But a 16-0 loss to Colts Neck on May 12 put the celebration off until the Middletown North game two days later.

Boyce said he thought the difference between the Braves and the other contenders in the division was their pitching depth and solid defense. He pointed out that with the game on the line in the seventh inning against Middletown North, the Braves were able to put an ace on the mound and the Lions were not able to do the same.

The NJSIAA state tournament began this week. Manalapan, the No. 5 seed in Central Jersey Group IV, was scheduled to play Colts Neck, the No. 12 seed, on May 18.

Freehold Township was the No. 8 seed in Central Jersey Group IV and the Patriots hosted No. 9 seed Edison in the first round.

Second round games in the state sectional tournament will be played on Friday.