Offensive fireworks help St. Joseph (Met.) top South Plainfield
By Brian Bobal | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Dennis McCaffery won 511 games over a 25-year career with Cranford and took over at St. Joseph (Met.) prior to the start of the 2025 season.
After losing the first two games, he’s now on the board with his new squad.
From top to bottom, every player had at least one hit and St. Joseph slugged a pair of home runs in a 14-7 win over South Plainfield in South Plainfield on Friday.
“I’m happy for the kids,” McCaffery said. “It’s never about me. I’m happy that the kids are able to get (the win). It starts on the mound. Richie Zangara threw a good game, was able to throw strikes and command both sides of the plate, and he did a very good job out there.”
Zangara set the tone by allowing just five baserunners across the first four innings. South Plainfield got to him in the fifth inning but by that point, St. Joseph was well on its way to victory.
The senior’s final line checked in at 5 2/3 innings pitched, four runs and four strikeouts.
The offense got its spark in the third inning. Trailing 1-0, a leadoff single from Bobby Christensen, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and three runs, and Joseph Barca got on board after getting hit by a pitch to set the table for JP Zayle.
He crushed a monstrous three-run homer to left field, his second in three games this season.
The senior hit .296 a season ago with 21 hits, none of which went over the fence.
“(I’m) playing looser,” he said. Last year, (I was) trying to muscle a lot of things, trying to do too much. This year, just let the bat and hands work and good things happen.”
“JP’s a gamer,” added McCaffery. “He works very hard and he’s someone that is a pleasure to coach and he’s a hard-working kid.”
Barca then supplied a big bop in the fourth inning with a two-run double and the team took over in the fifth.
Matthew Ferber got the run started with a solo homer and he stepped up again later in the inning and delivered a two-run double to make it 13-1. Seven different players had a hit in the inning.
South Plainfield was down to its final out in the bottom of the fifth, but Dan Kapsch stepped up to deliver a bases-clearing triple. He had a pair of hits and four total RBIs in the loss.
From Christensen as the leadoff hitter to Logan Ring, who hit sixth, the top six hitters went a combined 14-for-26 with 11 runs and 12 RBIs.
“We have a very deep lineup,” Zayle said. “Everybody can hit, one through five, one through six, one through nine. Everybody can swing the bat and you saw that today. 14 runs, that’s the way to go.”
Through three games, the St. Joseph (1-2) offense is averaging 8.3 runs per game. These two are set for a rematch on Monday.
Dennis McCaffery won 511 games over a 25-year career with Cranford and took over at St. Joseph (Met.) prior to the start of the 2025 season.
After losing the first two games, he’s now on the board with his new squad.
From top to bottom, every player had at least one hit and St. Joseph slugged a pair of home runs in a 14-7 win over South Plainfield in South Plainfield on Friday.
“I’m happy for the kids,” McCaffery said. “It’s never about me. I’m happy that the kids are able to get (the win). It starts on the mound. Richie Zangara threw a good game, was able to throw strikes and command both sides of the plate, and he did a very good job out there.”
Zangara set the tone by allowing just five baserunners across the first four innings. South Plainfield got to him in the fifth inning but by that point, St. Joseph was well on its way to victory.
The senior’s final line checked in at 5 2/3 innings pitched, four runs and four strikeouts.
The offense got its spark in the third inning. Trailing 1-0, a leadoff single from Bobby Christensen, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and three runs, and Joseph Barca got on board after getting hit by a pitch to set the table for JP Zayle.
He crushed a monstrous three-run homer to left field, his second in three games this season.
The senior hit .296 a season ago with 21 hits, none of which went over the fence.
“(I’m) playing looser,” he said. Last year, (I was) trying to muscle a lot of things, trying to do too much. This year, just let the bat and hands work and good things happen.”
“JP’s a gamer,” added McCaffery. “He works very hard and he’s someone that is a pleasure to coach and he’s a hard-working kid.”
Barca then supplied a big bop in the fourth inning with a two-run double and the team took over in the fifth.
Matthew Ferber got the run started with a solo homer and he stepped up again later in the inning and delivered a two-run double to make it 13-1. Seven different players had a hit in the inning.
South Plainfield was down to its final out in the bottom of the fifth, but Dan Kapsch stepped up to deliver a bases-clearing triple. He had a pair of hits and four total RBIs in the loss.
From Christensen as the leadoff hitter to Logan Ring, who hit sixth, the top six hitters went a combined 14-for-26 with 11 runs and 12 RBIs.
“We have a very deep lineup,” Zayle said. “Everybody can hit, one through five, one through six, one through nine. Everybody can swing the bat and you saw that today. 14 runs, that’s the way to go.”
Through three games, the St. Joseph (1-2) offense is averaging 8.3 runs per game. These two are set for a rematch on Monday.
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
St. Joseph (Met.) (1-2) |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
14 |
18 |
1 |
|
South Plainfield (2-1) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
2 |
LP: Ryan Balent
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
HBP |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.667 |
1.000 |
|
|
4 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
|
3 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.667 |
1.000 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
.500 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
.500 |
1.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
Totals: |
26 |
6 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
0 |
.269 |
.385 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
ERA |
|
|
Ryan Balent (LP) |
76 |
5.1 |
9 |
7 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
9.19 |
|
30 |
0.2 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
63.00 |
|
|
28 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3.50 |
|
|
Totals: |
134 |
8 |
18 |
14 |
14 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
12.25 |
St. Joseph powers up, gets first win fueled by 18 hits
St. Joseph's Matthew Ferber (33) is tagged out at home by Stephen Studlack (30) of South Plainfield
MyCentralJersey.com
SOUTH PLAINFIELD – Sluggers want to mash homers, right?
That’s just a natural inclination for power hitters. But JP Zayle discovered muscling up for highlight-film shots doesn’t quite work.
“No, believe it or not,” the St. Joseph senior said. “You got to be as smooth as you can. Last year there were a couple times I tried to hit a home run and they don’t come. You need to let them come to you.”
Friday, the 6-foot, 225-pounder belted his second home run of the season in St. Joseph’s 14-7 win over South Plainfield in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division game. His approach has been mirroring the rest of the Falcons’ mindset.
“A big word for our team this year has been loose,” he said. “Loose, not lazy. So, staying loose, playing with energy, playing with fire.”
That passion was on display as St. Joseph cranked out a 13-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth against South Plainfield, No. 2 in the Home News Tribune preseason GMC Top 10. The Tigers (2-1), fresh off a sweep of Edison, rallied as Dan Kapsch went 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a walk and Dom Massaro (2-for-3) doubled, walked and had an RBI.
Right fielder Kevin Penny threw out a runner trying to score on a sac fly with a perfect toss to catcher Steve Studlack as South Plainfield got out of a bases loaded, no-out jam.
No. 10 St. Joseph (1-2), though, held on for Dennis McCaffery’s first win as the Falcons skipper. McCaffery retired at the end of last year after coaching Cranford to 511 wins in 25 seasons. He’s a member of the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Union County Baseball Association Hall of Fame.
He returned to the dugout after Mike Murray Jr. stepped down after nine seasons at St. Joseph. Friday, he was thrilled the team got the win with the hope it’s the first of many for the Metuchen school.
“I’m happy for the kids,” McCaffery said. "It’s never about me. It starts on the mound. Richie Zangara threw a good game. He was able to throw strikes and command both sides of the plate and he did a very good job.”
The senior righthander allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings and Luke Palermo finished up on the mound. The pitchers just had to keep the Falcons in the game and the offense did the rest.
St. Joseph had 11 runs and 10 hits in the opening two-game series against Woodbridge. That hot hitting continued Friday with 18 hits. The No. 3 hitter Zayle crushed a 1-2 pitch over the 378-foot sign in left center field for a three-run blast and a 3-1 Falcons lead in the second. He also had a blast on opening day after having no dingers in 2024.
Friday, Zayle had plenty of company. Leadoff hitter Bobby Christensen went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and No. 9 hitter Zach Penley was 2-for-4 with an RBI. In between, the hits kept on coming.
From the No. 2 spot, Joseph Barca doubled twice with two RBIs followed by clean-up hitter Palermo (2-for-5, double, 2 RBIs), Matthew Ferber (3-for-5, 3 RBIs, solo home run to left field) and Logan Ring (3-for-5), while Owen Krulikowski and Luke Baranauskas had a hit apiece.
“It honestly feels like we have a three or four hitter every spot,” Zayle said. “We’ve seen it in practice. We’ve seen it in every game, every kid can hit, which is awesome.”
St. Joseph had a rare down spring last year with many varsity newcomers in its typical brutal slate. Now, that seasoning should pay off.
“So now, you see everybody kind of playing more loose,” Zayle said. “We have a lot of returning guys. Every single guy with the exception of maybe three or four guys were on the team last year, so nobody’s stressing. Nobody’s nervous. Everybody’s been here before. … Experience is a big factor, especially in high school sports and especially in high school baseball and I keep going back to the word loose – everybody’s playing loose.”
Zayle certainly is not stressing and noted the team has no egos. Case in point: Zayle saw time last season at first and third base He seamlessly moved over to second base this season to help fill a void.
Another example: Zayle bunted in his last at-bat. Whatever it takes, he’ll do it. And if it means hitting a home run, so be it.
“Last year tried to muscle a lot of things, tried to do too much,” Zayle said. “This year just let the bat and hands work and good things happen. … Coach McCaffrey runs an awesome offense. It works. It’s a system. Nobody on this team is chasing stats. We’re chasing wins.”
Don't mess with the Bull
South Plainfield's Undefeated Season over After Three Games
Baseball Recap: South Plainfield Tigers vs. St. Joseph Falcons
South Plainfield managed to slip by St. Joseph the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Tigers lost 14-7 to the Falcons on Friday. The loss put an end to the Tigers' undefeated start to the season.
Having lost for the first time this season, South Plainfield fell to 2-1. As for St. Joseph, their victory (their first of the season) made their record 1-2.
While South Plainfield had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:00 p.m. on Monday.
Baseball Recap: South Plainfield's Undefeated Season over After Three Games
