Baseball photos: Millburn vs. South Plainfield, April 20, 2024
Updated: Apr. 20, 2024, 5:15 p.m.|
Published: Apr. 20, 2024, 4:43 p.m.
By Luis Torres | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Millburn junior right-handed pitcher Alex Faust entered the game in a high-pressure moment in the top of the sixth inning.
Faust was in relief for starting pitcher Charlie Krasnove, who threw five strong innings, and things didn’t begin well for Faust as he walked the first South Plainfield batter he faced to load the bases with no outs.
Millburn was clinging to a one-run lead at that point, and Faust had to find a way to limit a potent South Plainfield lineup. The pressure was on Faust to deliver — and did he ever deliver.
Faust struck out the second batter he faced and then induced a double play to end the frame and get out of the jam without allowing a run.
Millburn tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead as Faust and Kransove combined to toss a five-hit shutout and Millburn defeated South Plainfield, 3-0, as part of the 2024 Autism Awareness Challenge at North Brunswick Community Park on Saturday.
“I walked that first batter, but you live and you learn,” Faust said, “and I got in there and got into good counts and got them to ground out and went from there.”
Faust was nails when Millburn (4-7) needed him most.
He battled a little bit of his command in his two innings of work, but made the pitches he needed to when it counted most.
“Alex is our guy,” Millburn coach Brian Chapman said. “He’s the most veteran of our guys on the pitching staff. He’s the most talented. He’s our number one. There’s no way around that. He rose to the occasion. And with the bat, too. He’s one of our best players. He’s been on the varsity since he was a freshman.
“He’s seen a lot of winning baseball and what winning baseball looks like. When you get tight against a great team like South Plainfield, you gotta put your best guy out there.”
Krasnove, a sophomore, was stellar during his five innings of work.
He was efficient and kept South Plainfield (6-3) hitters off-balanced by mixing in his breaking ball and fastball while pitching backward. He also got help from his defense, which threw out a runner on a rundown in the opening frame, and catcher Sawyer Stein threw out a runner trying to steal third base in the fourth inning.
Krasnove is one of the new pieces getting significantly more playing time this season after the graduation of a number of starters from last year’s team, including NJ.com Pitcher of the Year Steven Echavarria.
“My approach was to throw strikes and make them get out,” Krasnove said. “Once I started landing my breaking ball, I started rolling because I kept them off-balance. That’s really what I’ve been trying to work on. Mix my three pitches, fastball, curveball, change-up, and I kept them off-balance.”
Millburn opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning when Brett Ploetner scored from third base on a wild pitch.
The Millers tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, including an RBI double from Faust, to give himself more cushion to work with.
South Plainfield outfielder Dom Massaro went 1-for-3 and had a highlight reel play in the second inning, throwing out a Millburn runner at home by several feet after fielding a ball from his center field position.
In the end, Millburn’s pitching staff did enough to stymie a red-hot South Plainfield lineup.
“I can’t say enough about the job Charlie Krasnove did against a really good South Plainfield team,” Chapman said. “He kept us in it, and he wasn’t perfect and he knows that. Like I said to the kids, we’re young and trying to improve. What was good today was every time we made a mistake, we were able to counter it with something good. That’s kind of how you win baseball games.”
Baseball Game Recap: South Plainfield Tigers vs. Millburn Millers
Baseball Recap: South Plainfield Tigers vs. Millburn Millers
Saturday just wasn't the day for South Plainfield's offense. They took a 3-0 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Millburn Millers on Saturday. The defeat unfortunately continues a disappointing trend for South Plainfield in their matchups with Millburn: they've now lost six in a row.
For Millburn's part, their win was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Brett Ploetner, who went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and an RBI.
South Plainfield's loss dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Millburn, their victory bumped their record up to 4-7.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. South Plainfield will take on Woodbridge at 4:00 p.m. on Monday. South Plainfield's pitching crew has only allowed 3.2 runs per game this season, so Woodbridge's hitters will have their work cut out for them. As for Millburn, they will head out on the road to face off against Livingston at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Millburn is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
Baseball Game Recap: South Plainfield Tigers vs. Millburn Millers (maxpreps.com)
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
South Plainfield (6-3) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
2 |
|
Millburn (4-7) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
X |
3 |
7 |
0 |
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
HBP |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.333 |
.667 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Totals: |
22 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
.227 |
.273 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
ERA |
|
|
Ryan Balent (LP) |
0 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1.17 |
|
Totals: |
0 |
6 |
7 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1.17 |
The Tigers lost to Millburn 3-0 despite a a strong outing by jr RH Ryan Balent. Our record currently stands at 6-3. Next week he Tigers will run the Gauntlet: Mon @ Woodbridge Tues v Monroe Thurs @ Old Bridge Fri v Old Bridge Sat v Dayton @ TD Bank Park, Bridgewater
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