Game 18: South Plainfield 4, St. Joseph's Metuchen 3

Don Hunsinger Photo Gallery for 5/7/2011 game LINK:
http://elijahquest.smugmug.com/Baseball/Baseball-2011/SPHS-varsity-vs-St-Joe-5711/16965220_DsJxHp/#1282985393_KTNqbqF

Photos Courtesy of Don Hunsinger

Dan Hansen SAFE at home.


Brandon Downes with a game saving catch.


Ryan Marcoux slides into third.

 

South Plainfield (4) at St. Joseph (Met.) (3)

The Star Ledger, May 07, 2011 10:23 p.m.

By Josh Rosenfeld

Charlie Huber appeared to be on the way to a masterpiece as he held St. Joseph hitless until a bunt single spoiled his gem after two were out in the sixth inning.
Huber then yielded four consecutive hits to start the seventh and had to be rescued by Nick DeMarco, who retired the next three batters to preserve a 4-3 victory for South Plainfield over St. Joseph yesterday in Metuchen.
Though Huber lost out on his no-hit bid, South Plainfield (11-7) continued to regain some momentum as it prepares for the state and county tournaments. South Plainfield knocked off No. 17 Monroe, 13-7, in Monroe Thursday and gets another shot at the county's top-ranked team tomorrow at home.
"We haven't played our best baseball," South Plainfield coach Anthony Guida said. "We haven't started hitting on all cylinders and this is the time to do it. I don't think two games is getting hot yet, but to win two games against Monroe and St. Joe's is definitely a good situation."
The scoreless game was breezing along at warp speed, as the first five innings took about an hour to complete while Huber and St. Joseph's Matt Woody were throwing just 111 pitches between them. South Plainfield finally broke through for two unearned runs in the top of the sixth after St. Joseph committed two errors, both runs scoring when Quinn Cochrane bounced a one-out single up the middle.
Huber (3-1) was quite aware that he was working on a no-hitter when he took the mound for the sixth inning holding a 2-0 cushion.
"I was thinking about it on the bench. I would go in after every inning and think, I still got it," Huber said. "Once I was on the mound my entire mentality was that I've got to mask this pitch."
Huber, who threw just 55 pitches over the first six innings, made a nifty play covering the bag on a grounder to first baseman A.J. Celentano for the second out in the sixth before lead-off batter Tom Antuofermo placed a perfect bunt up the third baseline for St. Joseph's first hit.
"I told him to do that," St. Joseph coach Paul Esposito said. "We needed to get something started. We hadn't had a hit until that he point and he's got some speed. It's frustrating because we waited until the last inning to have a good approach. I give the guys credit for the last inning. We put together some good at-bats and gave ourselves a chance."
South Plainfield tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh on an infield error and an RBI single by Steve Petriello, and would need every one of them.
Dom Forcella led of the bottom of the seventh with a double down the left-field line and Matt Hratko then singled him to third. Kevin Mayce and Mike Huber each followed with an RBI single, chasing Charlie Huber, and DeMarco yielded a sacrifice fly to Brandon Dolan to whittle the margin to 4-3 with Mike Huber on second and one out. DeMarco induced two grounders to send the South Plainfield players home with a little more bounce in their step than when they arrived.

http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/1502814317811251509/south-plainfield-4-at-st-joseph-met-3/

SAFE!!!!!

http://s710.photobucket.com/albums/ww110/driftwood22/2011%20SP%20Baseball%20Regular%20Season/5-7-2011%20SP%20vs%20St%20Josephs%20Metuchen/

Charlie Huber had a no-hitter going for the first 5 2/3 innings.

Quinn Cochrane had 2 big RBIs in the 6th inning.

Nick DeMarco came on in relief in the 7th and shut down St. Joes.

http://s710.photobucket.com/albums/ww110/driftwood22/2011%20SP%20Baseball%20Regular%20Season/5-7-2011%20SP%20vs%20St%20Josephs%20Metuchen/

SOUTH PLAINFIELD 4, ST. JOSEPH 3:

Winning pitcher Charlie Huber had a no-hitter spoiled with two outs in the home sixth by Tom Antuofermo's drag bunt single.
The Falcons (11-7) chased Huber with four straight hits in the seventh when they rallied for all of their runs. Reliever Nick DeMarco induced the final two batters into groundouts to record a save. Outfielder Brandon Downes' diving catch in the seventh may have saved the game.
Quinn Cochrane's two-run single gave South Plainfield a 2-0 lead in the sixth. The Tigers scored two more runs in the seventh — one on a throwing error and the other on Dan Hansen's groundout.
Stephen Petriello went 2-for-3 for the Tigers (11-7).

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110507/NJSPORTS0130/105070332/CN-BASEBALL-ROUNDUP-Matzen-leads-Ridge-upset-top-seeded-Immaculata

Coach Guida explains what's next for the TIGERS