BRACKET
Kevin Penny doubled and drove in two runs for first-seeded South Plainfield, No. 13 in the NJ.com Top 20, in its 5-1 victory over fifth-seeded Colonia in the semifinal round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 tournament in South Plainfield.
Brandon Bickunas drove in a run and scored a run for South Plainfield (22-5-1). Aiden McCarthy scored two runs.
Matt Fasulo and Cory Pascarella each had two hits for Colonia (19-7) and Pascarella drove in a run.
Tied at 1-1 after two innings, South Plainfield scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth and sixth innings to take the lead.
South Plainfield advances to the final round for the first time since 2017 when it lost to Gov. Livingston in the Central Jersey, Group 2 tournament.
South Plainfield will play second-seeded Randolph in the final round on Monday.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
Colonia (19-7) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
|
South Plainfield (22-5-1) |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
HBP |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.500 |
.500 |
|
|
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1.000 |
1.000 |
|
|
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
1.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.667 |
1.000 |
|
|
Totals: |
20 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
0 |
6 |
.300 |
.400 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
ERA |
|
|
Mike Castagna
(WP) |
93 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1.00 |
|
Totals: |
93 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1.00 |
TAPintoSouth Plainfield
Your Neighborhood News Online
South Plainfield Defeats Colonia, 5-1, in Sectional Semifinal
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ -- Mike Castagna pitched a complete game and Kevin Penny had two hits and two runs batted in out of the No. 9 spot in order to lead South Plainfield to a 5-1 victory over Colonia in the semifinal round of the Section 2, Group 3 baseball tournament on Friday afternoon.
South Plainfield, the top seed, will host second-seeded Randolph in the sectional final on Monday.
The Tigers wreaked havoc on the basepaths in the middle innings, stealing seven bases in the fourth and fifth innings combined.
Colonia (19-7), the most improved team in Middlesex County in 2024, came into the game having allowed a total of 38 runs in 25 games this season. That's not earned runs, that's all runs. Sophomore right-hander Colin Kroner, one of the cornerstones of that crack Patriot pitching staff, got the start on Friday.
Kroner was locked in a tight duel with Castagna for three-and-a-half innings, but the entire tenor of the game changed in the bottom of the fourth, when leadoff batter Zack Robinson -- South Plainfield's leading hitter -- smoked a line drive right back at Kroner, who got his arms up in front of his face in time to avoid potential serious injury. But the Colonia pitcher still took a solid blow to his upper body, and had to come out of the game with no outs in the fourth inning.
Right-hander Anthony Singh, another standout member of Colonia's mound corps this season, was pressed into emergency relief service without any warmup prep in the bullpen. South Plainfield proceeded to steal five bases in the fourth inning. The Tigers drew two walks, and scored a pair of runs on an overthrow past third base on a steal attempt, and on a passed ball, to take a 3-1 lead.
Colonia had a 1-0 lead after the top of the second, when Matt Fasulo and Cory Pascarella hit back-to-back doubles to deep center field with one out. Fasulo and Pascarella each finished with two hits in the game.
South Plainfield (22-5-1) tied the game, 1-1, in the bottom of the second on a two-out, RBI double to left-center by Brandon Bickunas.
Kroner ended up allowing two runs -- one earned -- in three-plus innings, with three strikeouts and one walk. Kroner finished the season with a 78-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 49 innings pitched. He and Pascarella, a junior, will form the cornerstone of pitching staff that could help Colonia contend for county and state championships in 2025.
Castagna, who expertly induced plenty of weak contact on groundballs to his infielders -- South Plainfield second baseman Dan Kapsch had nine chances in the game, with seven assists -- scattered six hits, struck out three and walked two in his route-going performance.
South Plainfield scored two more runs in the sixth inning on Penny's two-out, two-run double. In addition to Penny, Nick Irizarry also had two hits for the Tigers, who will be appearing in the sectional championship game just a couple of weeks after playing in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship game.
Top-seeds Bridgewater-Raritan, South Plainfield will join Monroe in sectional finals Monday
The Somerset County Tournament champion Panthers will host seventh-seed Hunterdon Central Monday at four, while GMC Red Champion South Plainfield will host second-seed Randolph in a 2 pm game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Monroe – the fifth-seed in Central Jersey Group 4 – will play at third-seed Jackson Memorial Monday afternoon as well.
Tigers will play for first title since 2015…
South Plainfield (22-5-1) will be playing for a sectional title for the first time in nine years. In 2015, they went 24-8, falling in the quarterfinals of the GMC Tournament, but wound up winning the state Group 3 title. They beat Cranford 4-2 to win the North 2, Group 3 section, then topped Northern Burlington for the state Group 3 crown.
On Friday, they fell behind Colonia 1-0 in the second, but scored five unanswered runs to win 5-1, tying the game in the bottom of the second, then getting two more each in the fourth and sixth innings, while starter Mike Castagna gave up just six hits in a complete-game effort for the win.
Listen to South Plainfield head coach Scott Gleichenhaus talk about the Tigers’ win over Colonia.
https://cjsportsradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/5-31-24-SCOTT-GLICK-for-web.mp3
