Capenter Cup Semis

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We're live from Citizens Bank Park in Philly for the Carpenter Cup Semis between the Jersey Shore and Chester County (Pa.). A baseball game at 9:30? I can't think of a better way to start the day.

Top 1st

The Jersey Shore is the away team for the second straight game, and for the second straight game, they'll try to jump on the opposing pitcher, who today is Matt Murray. The Shore looks to be going with its "B" lineup to start the game and bring in its big bats in the later innings. Kevin Majer rips a single between short and third with one out in the first, but is caught stealing by Chester cathcer Andrew Rychlak. Murray strikes out Chris Bresnahan to end the inning.

Bottom 1st

Chad Geran takes the ball for the Shore today, and looks sharp in striking out Kyle Stackhouse leading off the inning. Joe Wendle follows with a double to the gap in right-centerfield. After a hit batsman, Rob Slauch launches one over Steve Giordano's head in dead centerfield to drive in two runs. Majer's relay throw from Giordano nailed Slauch going for a triple, but the damage was done. Geran showed his curve more after the first double, but fell behind Slauch 2-1 before serving up the two-run double.
After 1st: Chester 2, Shore 0.

Top 2nd

The Shore second start just like the Chester first, with Mike Lacava doubling to right-center, followed by a hit-by-pitch. Murray wiggles out of it though, inducing groundouts to second base by Drew Pinero and Sean Gavin.

Bottom 2nd

Majer shows off his glove at short during the home half of the second, recording all three outs. The first play showcased his arm in particular when he sat back on a ground ball and whipped it to first to nab Rychlak.
After 2nd: Chester 2, Shore 0.

Top 3rd

Murray gets set for his last inning, and John Melendez welcomes him back with a leadoff single to right. After a groundout to first by Giordano, Majer works a six-pitch walk. Melendez heads to third on a Bresnahan flyout, and A.J. Miller draws a walk to load the bases. That's all for Murray on the mound, as Chester goes to righthander Chris Ott to face LaCava with the bases loaded. Ott gets the job done, striking out LaCava with a fastball up in the zone. Ott has an interesting delivery, kind of a violent, herky-jerky type motion, a la Roy Oswalt/Tim Lincecum. I wish the radar gun was working, because it looked like he was throwing pretty hard.

Bottom 3rd

Left-hander F.J. Lucchetti comes on in relief of Geran for the bottom of the third. Geran had another inning if manager John Muslof wanted, but he elected to go with a new look early. Luccetti walks Wendle to lead off the inning, but LaCava helps him out with the glove with a leaping grab just in front of the wall in left to rob Kahn of extra bases. Luchetti strikes out Slauch for the second out, and after surrendering a single to Pete Hissey, retires Scott A'hara on a lineout to first to end the threat. Lucchetti faced three lefties in the inning, two of which he retired, so it appears the move to the left-hander was both calculated and, all-in-all, effective.
After 3rd: Chester 2, Shore 0.

Top 4th

Ott baffles two more Shore hitters with strikeouts, but falls behind Gavin 3-1. Gavin makes him pay with a triple to the wall in right-center to set up an RBI opportunity for Melendez. The Matawan second baseman hangs in with a good at bat, but grounds out to short to end the inning.

Bottom 4th

Defensive changes for the Shore: Dom Hayes in centerfield, Jim Laufer at first, Dave Laufer in right, Jamie Rosenkrantz at second. Rychlak singles and Tom Rafetto walks to start the inning. Josh Martin tacks on two more runs with a triple to left-center, just out of the reach of a diving Hayes. Craig Hughes comes on in relief of Luchetti. New second baseman Rick Gehman hits a sacrifice fly to center, followed by another extra base hit just out of the reach of a diving Hayes in left-center, this time a double off the bat of Wendle. Hughes gets the last two hitters to end the inning.
After 4th: Chester 5, Shore 0.

Top 5th

Domm Hayes works a walk to start the inning, and two batters later, pinch hitter Mark Galeotafiore belts a slider into the right-center gap to drive in Hayes with the Shore's first run. After Keith Weinkofsky's pop out, Pat Biserta rips a single past Gehman to plate Galeotafiore. Ott gets Jim Laufer to fly out to left to end the inning.

Bottom 5th

After the Shore gets on the board in the top of the inning, Chester responds by putting runners on first and with with a leadoff walk, followed by a single to right by Mike Schuster. Hughes gets a pop up for the first out, but Tom Rafetto comes through with a sac fly to get the run in. Hughes works around an error to get out of it while giving up just one run.
After 5th: Chester 6, Shore 2.

Top 6th

Ott retires Dave Laufer and Billy Lee on groundouts and leaves with a 6-2 lead after working the three-inning max. Chris Campbell comes on in relief to face Rosenkrantz in his first plate appearance of the game. Rosenkrantz reaches on a throwing error by the third baseman. Dom Hayes launches a hanging curveball into the right field seats to cut the Chester lead to 6-4. The Phillies really need to draft the guy with the way he's hitting in their affiliated ballparks. Hayes also homered at First Energy Park (home the Blueclaws, the Phillies' Low-A team) in the Shore Conference game. A.J. Rusbarsky follows with a groundout to end the inning.

Bottom 6th

Once again, Chester responds to Shore's two runs, this time loading the bases with nobody out on two singles bookending a walk. After loading the bases, Hughes departs in favor of Ryan Casey. On the latter single, Hayes once again failed to come up with a diving catch, his third of the game. Casey induces a 4-6-3 double play, but another run crosses the plate. The Shore will take those two outs in favor of the run the way they are starting to swing the bats. What they didn't want to take was Schuster's RBI single to right to make the score 8-4 in favor of Chester. Weinkofsky throws one into leftfield trying to pickoff Schuster at first, sending him to third. Casey gets a groundout to end the inning, but Chester gets the two runs right back to end a busy sixth inning.
After 6th: Chester 8, Shore 4.

Top 7th

Galeotafiore leads off the seventh with his second double of the game. Weinkofsky follows with a walk, and the Shore has a little something cooking. Chester goes to the bullpen, bringing in righty Dan Ternowcheck. Biserta flies out to left for the first out, and Jim Laufer grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. I guess nothing was cooking.

Bottom 7th

Kyle Slate comes in to pitch three days after throwing three innings in the Shore's 6-2 quarterfinal win. The CBA righty flies through the inning with two strikeouts and a flyout, the first 1-2-3 inning of the day for the Shore defense.
After 7th: Chester 8, Shore 4.

Top 8th

After a one-out single by Billy Lee, Rosenkrantz grounds into an inning-ending double play. Long way to go for the boys in blue, but they'll have the top of the order in the ninth.

Bottom 8th

Anthony Ranaudo comes in to pitch the eighth and walks the leadoff man. Ranaudo's curveball was sharp in his outing on Monday, but walks were an issue for Ranaudo in that same game. Ranaudo walks another, followed by a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with two outs. Hissey singles to left to plate another, making it 9-4. Justin Lamborn is caught stealing home on a first-and-third play for the second out. Ranaudo strikes out Schuster on three pitches to end the inning. The strike-three fastball made Weinkofsky shake his hand, so I'm guessing he threw it pretty hard.
After 8th: Chester 9, Shore 4.

Top 9th

Last licks for the Shore unless they can muster up five runs. Hayes starts the inning with a single to left, but gets doubled off on a pop-out by A.J. Rusbarsky. For a brief moment, it looked like the pop up might drop, but catcher Andrew Dunn made the grab while falling to the ground. Either way, Hayes had no business straying as far off the bag as he did. Galeotafiore hits his third double of the game to keep the Shore's very slim hopes alive. Weinkofsky makes the chance a tad thicker with an RBI single to center. Biserta extends the game with a single to left, but Jim Laufer grounds into a fielder's choice at third to end the game.

Final Score: Chester 9, Shore 5.

Carpenter Cup

Note: keep scrolling down for inning-by-inning updates.
Edit: I incorrectly identified SOL's second pitcher as Chris Umstead. It was Vinny Voorhees. The correction is now made, but I apologize if anyone came across that.

Baseball man Tony Graham has the day off, so here I am at Meiklejohn Stadium in Philly for the Carpenter Cup Quarterfinal. The Jersey Shore team is taking on a team by the name of SOB National/ Bicentennial, which I'm told is comprised of all-stars from Montgomery and Bucks Counties in Pennsylvannia. Anthony Ranaudo is on the hill for the Shore and he's been off his game a bit since that visit to Yankee Stadium. I've onlt seen scouting video of him, so I'm looking forward to seeing the real thing.

Top 1st

SOB starter Tim Walton looked overmatched against the Shore lineup. He walked the first two batters on nine pitches and gave up three singles that scored three runs. Keith Weinkofsky, Pat Biserta and Jim Laufer drove in runs with singles.

Bottom 1st

Ranaudo walked the leadoff man, and induced a pop up, a ground out to first, and struck out the cleanup hitter w/ a low-90s fastball. He had a little trouble snapping his curve the first couple times he threw it, but the last two he threw looked pretty sharp.
After the 1st: Shore 3, SOL 0.

Top 2nd

New pitcher Vinny Voorhees worked around a two-out walk to Dom Hayes to retire the side.

Bottom 2nd

Ranaudo broke out the two-seam fastball in this inning. He may have tried to use it much in the first inning, but it wasn't noticeable to me. Outside of a hit batter, he cruised through the inning by getting ahead of the SOL hitters, and finished the second off with a curve that made Paul Bako (yes he's a catcher, and no Greg Maddux is not pitching) look pretty bad.
After 2nd: Shore 3, SOL 0.

Top 3rd

Voorhees was in control in his second full inning of work. He struck out Weinkofsky and Biserta, with Weinkofsky reaching on a wild pitch on strike three. Umstead did a nice job of damage control in the first inning and has been effective since.

Bottom 3rd

Pitcher's can only work three innings, so Ranaudo will pitch his last frame in the third. Umstead helps gets to Ranaudo with a long triple off the base of the wall in center to score Wes Fertig, who reached on his second walk of the game. That turns out to be the only hit given up by Ranaudo, but it was a loud one. The righty leaves with a 3-1 lead, after allowing three walks, a HBP, a long triple, and three strikeouts.
After 3rd: Shore 3, SOL 1.

Top 4th

New pitcher Matt Quinn threw from a few different arm angles, topped out at 87 mph, and mowed down the bottom of the oreder with three strikeouts.

Bottom 4th

Kyle Slate is on the mound in relief of Ranaudo, and works trough an easy seven-pitch inning. He broke out one 89-mph fastball to go with mostly soft stuff to set up the hitters. Then again, there's only so much you can show in seven pitches.
After 4th: Shore 3, SOL 1.

Top 5th

An two-base error on the shortstop sets up a sac fly for Weinkofsky to make it 4-1. The Shore team really hasn't crushed SOL's pitching, but they aren't having much trouble scoring.

Bottom 5th

Slate racks up two strikeouts and works around two singles to get out of the fifth. Slate mixed in his breaking ball a bit more (looks like a slider from here), and he got some ugly swings. This Ranaudo-Slate 1-2 punch is looking very tough right now.
After 5th: Shore 4, SOL 1.

Top 6th

New SOL pitcher Zach Huff gets two striekouts looking and induces a groundout for a tidy, 1-2-3 inning.

Bottom 6th

Slate toes the rubber for his last inning, and gets into a first-and-second, one-out jam and falls behind 3-1 to John Jefferson. Slate gets him to chase on 3-1 and gets a fly-out to centerfield. pich-hitter Kevin Smeraglio grounds into a fielder's choice to end the threat.
After 6th: Shore 4, SOL 1.

Top 7th

The Shore loads the bases for A.J. Miller who rips a single between second and first for two RBI. Huff gets a strikeout and a flyout to strand runners at second and third, but the Shore gets two insurance runs.

Bottom 7th

Mark Zecchino comes on in relief of Slate for the seventh inning. If all goes well for the Shore, this should be the last pitching change for manager John Muslof. Zecchino puts two runners on via a walk and HBP with one out, and Pat Dameron makes him pay with an RBI single to left field. Chris Bresnahan cut off the throw to the plate and caught the baserunner straying off second base for the second out. Zecchino rolled up a groundball in front of the plate to end the inning.
After 7th: Shore 6, SOL 2.

Top 8th

SOL pitcher Jim Hughes retires the Shore in order in his first inning of work. Jamie Rosenkrantz hit the ball hard and sent the centerfielder a few steps back, but did not come up with a hit.

Bottom 8th

Zecchino settles down and has a 1-2-3 eighth inning, capping it by paiting the black for a strikeout.
After 8th: Shore 6, SOL 2.

Top 9th

The Shore goes 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. It seems they want to hurry and get Zecchino on the mound so they can beat the rush hour traffic. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this.

Bottom 9th

Zecchino finishes the job with three outs in play to end the game. The Shore will move on to the semifinals at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. Check out tomorrow's APP for the game story with quotes from the players and what-not.

Final Score: Shore 6, SOL 2.

More Than a Feeling?

(Note: Much like the Sopranos final episode, I decided to reference a cheesy 1970s power ballad to wrap up the season, as you can see by the title. I wasn't a big fan of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" being my last audible memory of the Sopranos, but if it's good enough for David Chase, it's certainly good enough for me.)

The APP's All-Shore issue comes out Saturday, but a couple stories and some athlete capsules don't seem like enough to put a bow on this season. Nationals are under way as we speak, but for all intents and puroses, the 2007 High School season is in the books.

I'll be honest. I don't know if this was a great season. There were some broken records, some great races, some surprises, and the kids were a pleasure to cover. But this was the first season I've ever covered track on a daily basis, so I have no season to measure it against.

All I know is that this season felt special. For a two-month span leading up to the Meet of Champs, Manny Mayers looked invincible, even drawing praise from his coach Skip Edwards as one of the best athletes he's ever seen. Then again, that's what a coach should say when he has an athlete of Mayers' caliber. Was Mayers realy that good? It's hard for me to say, but if you'll recall, I wrote this of Mayers after watching him run what was essentially a throw-away race for him at the Husky Relays:

The most impressive athlete at Matawan was indeed Manny Mayers. He didn't perform at his highest level, but I have watched enough sports to know a true talent when I see one. Everything he did was effortless - especially the 3 x 400 hurdles when it actually looked as though he could have backpedaled to victory - and making your sport look easy is the sign of a good prospect.

Manny Mayers a good prospect? Ya think? I didn't exactly discover the wheel with my scouting report, but his effortlessness turned out to be a sign of his potential. He lost just one event leading up to the MOC (the Group III triple jump) and rose to every challenge in doing so. It seemed pretty impressive. But Mayers looked like a different person at the MOC, and it wasn't just the red one-piece he sported in favor of his traditional blue Lakewood threads. Mayers got a win in the 400 hurdles, but the 52.44 time was a step back from the 51.98 he ran five days earlier. His 110 hurdles time and triple jump were also both regressions from his previous performances at the Group III meet.

Maybe it was the random drug test he had to take after his 400 hurdles win, maybe the stumble at the end of the race rattled him a bit, or maybe he just didn't have it (which is what he would tell you). Had Mayers beat Trenton's Tykeen Fulton and Mike Cuppari of Hanover Park in the 110 hurdles and finished top three in the triple jump, he would have cemented himself, without a shadow of a doubt, as one of the best Shore athletes ever. Now, it's debatable where Mayers ranks among the Shore's all-time best. But it sure feels like Mayers had an especially great season.

Robby Andrews of Manalapan may have established himself as the heir to the Shore Conference distance throne. That's all well and good for Andrews, but even better from a spectators' standpoint than Andrews' promise was the style Andrews established in his races. The sophomore lets his top speed do the talking late in the race, using his final kick to get himself to the front of the pack.

Andrews and Brick Memorial's Andrew Brodeur are the two best at this in the conference, and their styles made for some great races. In both his Central Jersey Group IV and Group IV 800 wins, Andrews moved from the back of the pack to the front in the final lap. He tried to do the same at the MOC, but came in fourth despite a personal best 1:52.56. Brodeur did the same in winning the Ocean County 3,200 and during his third-place finish in the CJ IV 1,600.

If I listed the 10 best races this year, Robby Andrews would have been involved in at least three of them. I don't know if Andrews is going to be able to continue winning races in the same fashion and become an NJ distance star. But when I watch him, it feels like I'm watching the future.

There were some great team performances in the Shore Conference this year: Colts Neck's win over CBA, Monmouth's dominance at the bog meets, Rumson's win over Shore, etc. But for some reason, there was a different feel to a Toms River North win. Whether it was the Toms River tri-meet, the double victory over Jackson and Southern, or the Ocean County Championship meet, there was a camaraderie about the Mariners that stood out above the rest of the teams. The way Rick Villanova nailed his pole vaults on a bum shoulder to give his team the deciding points against Toms River East, the way A.J. Gilman ran the sprinters' gauntlet at the Ocean County meet, and the way the entire team rallied around its coaching staff to have its best season in 15 years had a special feel to it.

Then there was Craig Forys. The first time I saw Forys was in his attempt at the 3,000 meter record at the Sam Howell Invitational at Princeton University. It was a cold day, and I remember because I walked from my house to the track (and ran home). I was going to stick around for what turned out to be a record-breaking performance by Ashley Higginson, but my fellow APP track colleague Josh Newman, aka Jose Newman, was there so I had no obligation to bear the elements.

Forys did not break the record that day, and despite his time (14.28.95, the third-best in state history), I didn't feel like I was watching anything special. Then again, it didn't feel like I had any fingers at the time either. But even if he broke the record, there was an evident lack of excitement surrounding the event (no disrespect to Mr. Howell) from Forys' standpoint. Maybe Forys felt it too.

Fast forward to the Penn Relays. As the Colts Neck DMR team prepared for its race on Friday, April 27, there was a much different feeling. After a long day of rain, what was left of the crowd at Franklin Field prepared to watch the High School DMR like it did any other race. And for the first two-and-a-half legs of the event, it seemed like any other race. But once Kevin O'Dowd reached the final 400 meters of his 800 leg, a buzz started to build in the stadium. Maybe it was just because it was the last leg of the race, but watching Forys warm himself up for his leg made it seem like it was more than that.

Forys took the baton in ninth place and within the first 400 meters, the crowd took notice of him. The PA announcer kept giving the crowd his splits and implored us to watch Forys' charge toward the front of the pack. But he didn't need to say a word. The crowd could see it. In fact, they could feel it. He fell short of a complete comeback depite running a 4:04.4 split, but from that moment on, the Shore Conference Track season belonged to Craig Forys. Everyone else just had their moments.

Forys could have put up the numbers every week and been the the best runner in the state, but it's the feel of the races, and the thrill of watching the athlete that makes the performance memorable. Forys and the rest of the Shore Conference gave us plenty of those moments this year. I don't know if that makes this past season particurlaly special. But it sure feels like it.

Change of Plans

Due to technical difficulties, we'll have to settle for a brief recap of the days events, rather than the Live Blog.

It was a banner day for area hurlders Manny Mayers and Darren Cunningham, both of whom won group championships in the 110 hurdles. Cunningham won Group I in 14.70, while Mayers cruised to a 14.04 time in Group III.

George Galasso could not run down Dennie Waite in the 1600 on Friday, but Holmdel's super sophomore beat the field in the 3200 with a time of 9:20.63.

Dan Hitman won the javelin despite only completing one throw. He hit 181-5 on his first attempt and did not record a distance the rest of the way, but he made his one throw count.

After a frustrating Friday, Charles Cox stepped up for Monmouth by winning the 200 in 21.42 and holding off Antonio Abney in the 4x400 relay to secure a first-place finish for his relay team and give the Monmouth four the new Shore Conference record at 3:15.04.

Monmouth is tied with Morris Hills 45-45 after 15 events with the results of the pole vault pending, but since Morris Hills had no entrants and Brian Leung was not in the finals for Monmouth, the tie appears to be a finality.

Down in Egg Harbor Twp., Marcus Goode broke Mayers' short-lived triple jump record by jumping 46-10 3/4. Unfortunately for Goode, Trenton's Devon Bond set a state record by jumping over 50 feet, and Goode settled for second.

Update from Egg Harbor

As I said the internet here is in and out and it has been in the "out" phase for a while.

According to the aforementioned Josh Newman, aka Jose Newman, Robby Andrews won the Group IV 800. Andrews was in last after the first 400, and kicked into high gear for the last 300 to finish with a low 1:54 time. The win is an impressive one for Andrews, who is only a sophomore, since it came against Jason Apwah of Roxbury, who ran in the high 1:52 range last week.

Monroe Kearns finished 7th with a time in the 1:57s, which is really his first disappointing run of the season. Kearns has had a great run this year, winning races with strong starts, but perhaps the heat got to him coming into the final turn.

***Edit: Monroe Kearns earned a wild card berth into the MOC 800. His seed time is 1:56.69, good for 20th overall.

Group Finals LIVE

We're LIVE at South Plainfield High School for the Groups I, II, and III Championships, and as you can probably infer from the whole "Live" concept, I'm tapping into a functional wireless internet connection as we speak! I'm even using exclamation marks, and I HATE using exclamation marks!

The wireless feed was in and out yesterday, but as long as it holds up, we'll have live updates all day. With the help of my colleague Josh Newman (aka Jose Newman to some), we'll also have some updates from Egg Harbor and Group IV along with the parochials. On to the good stuff.

There have been a few qualifiers so far today, although no winners yet. Dennie Waite scratched from the 800 to rest after winning the 1600 yesterday, but Mark Degenhart finished fifth in the Group III 800 to carry the torch for Red Bank into the MOC.

Manny Mayers took fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 46-3. Mayers said yesterday that he didn't practice the triple jump all week and that he didn't know what to expect, so the fourth-place finish isn't much of a surprise. That means for the first time this year, Mayers will leave a major meet without at least a triple.

Keep it here for more updates from South Plainfield, and some from Egg Harbor (if Jose Newma n answers his phone).