Kevin Penny earned a win on the mound by striking out five and walking four while giving up four hits and no runs in South Plainfield’s 1-0 win over Woodbridge, in Woodbridge.
The game was scoreless until the Tigers (8-3) got on the board in the fifth inning when Penny drove Chris Loniewski home.
Ryan Leach and Kevin Arroyo combined to throw a three-hitter for the Barons (8-2). Leach gave up two hits while striking out five and walking eight while Arroyo struck out two while giving up one hit and no walks in two innings.
Nick Lukachyk recorded a pair of hits for Woodbridge.
Penny leads South Plainfield to road shutout win over Woodbridge (PHOTOS) - Baseball recap - nj.com
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
South Plainfield (8-3) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
Woodbridge (8-2) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
LP: Ryan Leach
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
HBP |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
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 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.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 |
0 |
.500 |
.500 |
|
|
Totals: |
22 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
.136 |
.136 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
ERA |
|
|
Kevin Penny (WP) |
90 |
6.1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
0.00 |
|
13 |
0.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
|
Totals: |
103 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
0.00 |
South Plainfield 1, Woodbridge 0: Kevin Penny came through in the key GMC Red Division game.
The senior lefthander threw 6 1/3 innings shoutout innings with five strikeouts, dancing around four walks, four hits and a hit batter. He also drove in Chris Loniewski (single, BB) in the top of the fifth.
The Tigers (8-3 overall, 6-3 Red Division) swept Woodbridge (8-2 overall and in division) in the series to remain in the pennant hunt. Jayden Jimenez got the final two outs. Dom Massaro and Nick Irizarry each singled in the win.
Ryan Leach allowed a run in five innings for Woodbridge with five strikeouts and just two hits along with eight walks. Nick Lukachyk went 2-for-3 with a double.
NJ Baseball April roundup for GMC and area Skyland and Union teams
No. 3 South Plainfield squeaks past No. 4 Woodbridge, 1-0, to sweep of first-place Barrons
Heading into the opener of their home-and-home series Saturday morning, South Plainfield knew it would have its hands full with Woodbridge, which came in to the two-game set with an 8-0 record.
By the time it was all over early Tuesday afternoon, the Tigers had swept the Barrons, capping it with a 1-0 road victory heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
In a tight game with few hits, the lone South Plainfield run came without virtue of a hit at all.
That came after a fourth inning in which – via two walks and a sac bunt that ended up an infield hit – the Tigers left the bases loaded after Woodbridge starter Ryan Leach buckled down and got two strikeouts and a ground out to second to escape unscathed.
Not so in the fifth, however, though it could have been worse. After the leadoff hitter struck out, Chris Loniewski, Dom Massaro and Dan Kapsch all walked back-to-back-to-back to load the bases. Another walk to Kevin Penny drove in a run, but an unassisted double play ended it. Nick Irizzary lined out hard to first, and Xavier Diaz just had to reach right behind him to tag Penny, just a few feet off the bag.
Woodbridge, meanwhile, had trouble getting anything going against Penny, the South Plainfield starter. They had managed just two hits heading into the seventh, down 1-0, but nearly rallied.
After a pop up by their leadoff man, Nick Lukachyk doubled, with Jack Kobylakiewicz pinch running for him, the tying run in scoring position. And when Bryant Periera followed with a single, that was the end of Penny’s day, bringing in closer Jayden Jiminez.
He got Derek Anderson to ground to second, moving Periera to second, and after a walk to Gavin Slicer to load the bases, Diaz hit a 1-2 pitch to second, with Irizzary throwing to Kapsch covering the bag for a 4-6 force play to end the game.
Penny improved to 2-0 with the win, throwing 6 1/3, allowing four hits and no runs, striking out five. South Plainfield upped its record to 8-3, 6-3 in the GMC Red, 1.5 games behind first place Woodbridge, and – for the moment – a half game ahead of third place Old Bridge, which visits Monroe this afternoon.
Jimenez got the save, his fourth.
Woodbridge, which started the season 8-0, drops to 8-2, all in the Red. Leach took the loss, falling to 2-1, allowing just two hits and one earned run, but he allowed eight walks along with five Ks.
Click below for postgame reaction with South Plainfield pitchers Kevin Penny, Jayden Jiminez and head coach Scott Gleichenhaus.
TAPinto South Plainfield
South Plainfield Wins 1-0 Duel Over Woodbridge
WOODBRIDGE, NJ -- Kevin Penny took a shutout into the seventh inning and Jayden Jimenez escaped a bases-loaded jam for the save as South Plainfield held on for a 1-0 baseball victory over Woodbridge on Tuesday morning.
South Plainfield completed a sweep of the two-game Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division series against Woodbridge, which was undefeated before losing to the Tigers, 7-3, Saturday in South Plainfield.
Penny, a senior left-hander, matched up in a duel with Woodbridge senior right-hander Ryan Leach. The teams matched zeroes until the top of the fifth inning, when Leach walked the bases loaded with one out, then Penny drew a walk on a 3-2 fastball from Leach to force in what turned out to be the game's only run.
But, for a game in which runs were at such a premium, it seemed like both teams spent the entire game mounting threats.
The 10 a.m. start time amounted to prime time in the GMC on Tuesday for a game that attracted a lot of interest and an impressive crowd for a weekday morning.
Also on hand was a pro scout who had his radar gun trained on Leach's pitches whenever Woodbridge was in the field. The 6-foot-3 righty was almost unhittable while he was on the mound. Throwing his fastball at 89 mph, Leach allowed just two hits -- an infield single by Dom Massaro and a bunt by Nick Irizarry -- in five-plus innings. But Leach's command wasn't as good as his velocity, and he issued eight walks to go with five strikeouts before Kevin Arroyo relieved him after a leadoff walk in the sixth. Arroyo allowed one hit in two innings with no walks and two strikeouts.
The scout abandoned his post whenever Penny took the mound, but Penny, who has averaged nearly a strikeout an inning in an impressive three-year varsity career, was every bit as effective as his harder-throwing counterpart, and a little better at getting out of jams, with the help of an airtight defense and a superb effort behind the plate by catcher Steve Studlack on blocking pitches in the turf and framing for Penny.
In 6 1/3 innings, Penny allowed four hits, walked four and struck out five.
"I didn't really have my change-up (early in the game), and I kind of found it in the middle innings there," Penny said. "After the first and second, in the third and fourth it was really working well. I was getting a lot of early outs and a lot of swings and misses. Also, the fastball today, I had location on. I was looking inside-outside, and that was the key for my success."
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Woodbridge, trailing, 1-0, put its first two runners on base when Nick Lukachyk -- who was 2-for-3 -- beat out a chopper to third base for a single and Penny hit Bryant Pereira with a pitch. Derek Anderson came up and squared to bunt. His bunt was a little too strong and came back to Penny on a hop. Penny threw to third for one out, then third baseman Chris Loniewski threw back to first baseman Aidan McCarthy to get Anderson, who hadn't reached first yet, to complete the double play.
"The bunt was right back to me, and I was gonna go to second and try to get the double play, but then I heard everybody screaming 'Three, three, three,' and I saw nobody there (going to third). I don't know what happened at first, but I thank the baseball gods for that, because that was a nice reality. I got two outs out of it, so I'm not gonna complain."
But Woodbridge wasn't done threatening in the fifth. Gavin Slicner drew a walk to put runners on first and second, and Xavier Diaz hit a deep fly ball that center fielder Massaro tracked down in the gap in left-center after a long run to end the inning.
"It's good to be in these close games, because we're always locked in for these ones," Penny said. "This is a division where everybody beats up on everybody. Every game's gonna be close like this."
With one out in the top of the seventh, Lukachyk doubled inside the third-base line and Pereira grounded a single up the middle, but Woodbridge coach Mike Monaco held the Barrons' courtesy runner for Lukachyk at third. That was Penny's 90th and final pitch. Right-handed closer Jimenez came on with one out and two runners in scoring position, and a groundout to shortstop Dan Kapsch with Pereira advancing to second, then walked Slicner to load the bases for Diaz, the Barrons' No. 2 hitter.
Diaz hit a sharp one-hopper to the right side that Tigers' second baseman Irizarry fielded and threw to Kapsch for the game-ending force out at second base.
"I've been in this position before and, honestly, there's no nerves once you're on the bump," said Jimenez, who has four saves and a 1.11 earned-run average in six appearances this season. “I just made sure I had to get that slider low and away and throw ground balls.”
South Plainfield Beats Woodbridge for Their Fourth Straight Win
While South Plainfield put up some runs on Tuesday, the same can't be said for Woodbridge. The Tigers narrowly escaped with a victory as the squad sidled past the Barrons 1-0. Winning may never get old, but the Tigers sure are getting used to it with their fourth in a row.
South Plainfield saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Chris Loniewski, who went 1-for-2 with one run.
South Plainfield's win bumped their record up to 8-3. As for Woodbridge, their defeat ended a four-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 8-2.
We've got plenty of inter-league action coming up soon. South Plainfield will challenge rival South Brunswick at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Meanwhile, Woodbridge is set to square off against their familiar foe Old Bridge at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Barrons 3, the Knights 3.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Baseball Recap: South Plainfield Beats Woodbridge for Their Fourth Straight Win
The South Plainfield Tigers are taking a road trip to face off against the South Brunswick Vikings at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. South Plainfield is coming into the contest hot, having won their last four games.
South Plainfield's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Tuesday. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Woodbridge, sneaking past 1-0.
South Plainfield's win was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Chris Loniewski, who went 1-for-2 with one run.
Meanwhile, Tuesday just wasn't the day for South Brunswick's offense. They came up short against Edison on Tuesday, falling 11-0. The loss continues a trend for the Vikings in their meetings with the Eagles: they've now lost five in a row.
South Plainfield's victory bumped their record up to 8-3. As for South Brunswick, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-10.
South Plainfield skirted past South Brunswick 10-9 in their previous meeting back in May of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Tigers since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Baseball Game Preview: South Plainfield Tigers vs. South Brunswick Vikings
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