|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
South
Plainfield (18-10) |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
|
Colonia
(23-5) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
HBP |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
4 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
.750 |
.750 |
|
|
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
|
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
|
4 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
.500 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
|
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.250 |
|
|
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
|
3 |
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 |
|
|
Totals: |
31 |
5 |
9 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
.290 |
.290 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
ERA |
|
|
Kevin Penny (WP) |
91 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
25 |
0.2 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
42.00 |
|
|
10 |
0.1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
|
Totals: |
126 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
0 |
4.00 |
South Plainfield survives Colonia’s last-out rally in North 2, Group 3 baseball final
Host Colonia was scoreless and trailing by five runs with a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, but then pieced together a pair of doubles and three walks to whittle the deficit to one.
Left-hander Kevin Penny, who had baffled Colonia hitters for six innings of two-hit ball, could only watch as the top-seeded Patriots put the tying run on third base with the bases loaded.
“It was free cruising, then all of a sudden you hit a bump in the road,” said Penny, who struck out five and walked three before being lifted to start the final inning. “But when we hit a bump, we usually find a way.”
They did again with the game on the line when senior Mike Castagna retired Jayce Rodriguez on a ground ball to first to give third-seeded South Plainfield the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 title with a 5-4 victory.
The Tigers (18-10) won their first sectional championship since 2015 and advanced to the Group 3 semifinals Monday. They will travel to face North 1 champion Morris Knolls, which won a third straight title with a 5-4 win over Ramapo, No. 8 in the NJ.com Top 20.
That outcome seemed pretty certain through much of the game, as Penny used an outstading fastball-curve combination to keep hitters off-balance. He had a perfect game through three innings.
“It was a lot of fastballs away and curveballs inside,” said Penny, who also allowed just one hit over six innings in the semifinal victory over Cranford. “It seemed like whenever they were looking outside and I threw a curveball in it got weak contact, like on the double play (with two on in the fifth).
“It was a lot of weak contact. Mixed in some changeups. I was looking for weak contact and got a lot of it.”
When Colonia (23-5), which was searching for its first title, did make contact early, the South Plainfield defense was there.
Jake Gotti drilled a deep shot in the second that center fielder Dom Massaro ran down at the wall, then shortstop Dan Kapsch made a diving stop of a ground ball scorched by Colin Kroner in the third.
Meanwhile, South Plainfield was taking advantage of various defensive issues to score three unearned runs.
Lorenzo Fuscoletti singled and eventually came home when an outfielder missed a cut-off man in the second.
The lead doubled in the third when lead-off hitter Nick Irizarry (3-for-4 with two runs) singled, recorded his 35th stolen base of the season and came home on Aiden McCarthy’s double.
The lead doubled again to 4-0 in the fifth when Irizarry singled, stole again and scored on an outfield misplay of a fly ball by Massaro, who went to third on the play and then scored on a ground out by Kapsch.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes,” said Colonia coach Mike Scialfo, whose program made its first sectional final appearance since 2018. “We picked a bad bad to have a bad day.”
A three-base outfield error and wild pitch made it 5-0 against tough-luck Colonia starter Kroner, who allowed just two earned runs, striking out nine and walking one.
He allowed nine hits, but stranded six runners, even escaping a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third to limit the damage to one run.
Colonia mounted its first serious threat in the sixth when Dylan Cheria’s single and Kroner’s walk loaded the bases with two out. But Penny got his fifth strikeout to get out of it.
Jayden Jimenez, who had six saves this season, came in to start the seventh and retired two of the first three batters, but then trouble began.
Harvatt walked, then he and Tyler Chiola scored on a double by nine-hole hitter Joe Massimino, who promptly came home when Cory Pascarella doubled to make it 5-3.
But Castagna induced a grounder to first from Rodriguez to end it.
South Plainfield coach Scott Gleichenhaus saw his team let a late-inning lead get away in the final innings of last year’s sectional final, when Randolph scored seven times over the sixth and seventh to earn an 8-3 victory.
“We always preach 21 outs,” Gleichenhaus said. “Whether it’s six outs to go or two or one, you still have to make your pitches. When you get behind (in the count) and you have to get the ball over the plate, they’re waiting, knowing you have to throw strikes.
“It was nerve-wracking, going from a five-run lead and having the winning run right there. And knowing our history. We had a 3-1 lead get away from us last year (in the final).”
Colonia settled for a school record for victories in a memorable season that nearly had an unforgettable comeback for its first title.
“I’m just sad for my guys,” Scialfo said. “Worked our tails off all year to get here. Constant people underestimating us, saying we don’t belong and we don’t play a tough enough schedule. But I’m proud of my guys for everything they accomplished. They worked hard until the end.”
South Plainfield survives Colonia’s last-out rally in North 2, Group 3 baseball final - nj.com
South Plainfield baseball captures elusive postseason title ― then goes to prom
MyCentralJersey.com
WOODBRIDGE ― Kevin Penny’s gem seemed like a thousand years away in a drama-filled seventh inning.
The South Plainfield lefty threw six shutout frames in Thursday’s NJSIAA North 2 Group 3 final as the Tigers built a nice lead.
Not so fast. Colonia rallied with four runs to cut the deficit to one.
Mike Castagna, the second pitcher of the inning, barely had time to warm up as he took the mound. The senior allowed a walk to load the bases and then induced a groundout to first and the Tigers celebration was on.
South Plainfield defeated Colonia 5-4 to win its first sectional title since 2015. The Tigers will next play Monday, June 9 in the state Group 3 semifinal at Morris Knolls, which won North 1 Group 3.
“No one in our section wanted it more than us,” senior Dom Massaro said. “We work day-in, day-out. We have the chemistry. We’ve been playing with each other since we were little and we know this is our last year going out together, so we had to go out with a bang.”
South Plainfield (18-10) fell in last year’s sectional final to Randolph. While they graduated some firepower, a strong nucleus returned, and others stepped up to put together a memorable postseason run.
Penny was magnificent, allowing two hits and three walks. He said he had command and location with his curveball. His changeup kicked in later in the game and it led to weak contact. Veteran Steve Studlack was behind the plate at catcher.
The senior didn’t allow a base runner until he walked Cory Pascarella to lead off the fourth. Colonia’s first hit came in the fifth on Jayce Rodriguez’s lead-off single. Jake Gotti then hit a soft liner to Penny, who threw to first for the double play.
Penny, a veteran big-game pitcher, worked out of a bases-loaded pickle with two outs via a looking strikeout.
“He shoved today,” Massaro said. “He likes the pressure. He likes pressure on him, so that’s what’s good about him.”
The third-seeded Tigers opened a methodical lead against Colonia’s Colin Kroner with runs in the second and third and two more in the fifth, as well as a key insurance run in the seventh via a three-base error and a wild pitch.
Leadoff hitter Nick Irizarry was 3-for-4 and scored twice and Dan Kapsch was 2-for-4 with an RBI ground out and scored twice.
Lorenzo Fuscoletti singled, and his sac bunt moved over Kapsch in the second. Chris Loniewski’s double fell in before the right fielder to score South Plainfield’s first run. Aiden McCarthy singled in Irizarry, who stole second, an inning later.
The Tigers also displayed their usual strong defense. Massaro covered a lot of ground in center to chase down the final out in the second. In the fourth, Kapsch made a nice snag to his left at shortstop to get the force at second.
Colonia (23-5) rallied in the seventh off closer Jayden Jimenez, who had been sensational all season. No. 9 hitter Joseph Massimino laced a deep double that scored Jake Gotti and Jake Harvatt, who had both walked.
Pascarella followed with a long RBI-double to center to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Dylan Chiera walked and Colon Kroner hit an RBI single. Enter Castagna, who walked Matt Fasulo to load the bases. As it got noisy, the cool Castagna got Rodriguez to ground out to end the game.
Castagna’s mindset was simple.
“I just blanked my mind,” he said. “Don’t listen to any one of them chirping, or them saying anything. Just throw the ball with break. My guys will make the play.”
“Thank heavens for Mike Castagna,” Gleichenhaus said with a smile as the pitcher walked by during a post-game interview. “I’m glad he’s a Tiger. I’m glad he’s on our team.”
After the last out, Penny bolted out of the dugout along with his teammates to rush the mound. One problem ― he hit his face against the fence on the inward angle, causing a scratch on his left cheek. The post-game dog pile didn’t help.
“Something hit me in the face in the celebration,” Penny said. “Don’t know what it was. Don’t really care.”
He held ice against his face afterward and joked that he hopes he’ll look good for the prom pictures that evening.
A little flesh wound wasn’t going to ruin a memorable day that no South Plainfield fan will forget.
“This is awesome,” Penny said of winning the sectional title. “We’re going to go to prom after this. We’re going to go celebrate ― we’re going to have a great night tonight.”
NJ Baseball: South Plainfield tops Colonia to win North 2 Group 3
TAPinto South Plainfield
By Guy Kipp
COLONIA, NJ -- After Kevin Penny pitched six brilliant innings in oppressive heat, third-seeded South Plainfield had to sweat out a menacing seventh-inning rally by top-seeded Colonia before hanging on for a 5-4 victory for the NJSIAA North 2, Group 3 baseball championship on Thursday afternoon.
The victory sends South Plainfield (18-10) to the overall state Group 3 semifinals against Morris Knolls on Monday in Denville. The Tigers last won a sectional crown 10 years ago.
Penny, who allowed two hits and three walks and struck out five in six innings, enjoyed a level of defensive support that Colonia starter, junior right-hander Colin Kroner, did not receive. Junior center fielder Dom Massaro ended the first inning with a very good catch in left-center field, then ended the bottom of the second inning with a nearly impossible catch, robbing Jake Gotti of extra bases by running down a long drive at full speed in deep left-center.
"Dom in center field ... awesome. If you saw the catch in the Cranford game (in the sectional quarterfinal), you would say this is the greatest center fielder I've ever seen," South Plainfield head coach Scott Gleichenhaus said of Massaro. "He makes that catch here today, it was huge. He's the guy you want out there. He's a heck of a player."
Kroner, a Division 1 Seton Hall University commit, had thrown 36 pitches in relief two days earlier in Colonia's 10-inning, 1-0 semifinal victory over North Hunterdon. Despite coming back on short rest, Kroner pitched a strong game, striking out nine and walking one in seven innings. Only one of the five runs against Kroner was earned.
"I thought Colin pitched pretty well. I don't think our defense helped him too much," Colonia head coach Mike Scialfo said. “We made a couple of errors on routine plays and forced him to throw more pitches that he otherwise would not have had to throw. He still had nine strikeouts, and if our defense was a little bit better, we might be having a different conversation here. He is just a gamer, he always wants the ball. His body responds well after he throws, too.”
Senior second baseman Nick Irizarry, recently elevated to leadoff in the Tigers' batting order, went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases. South Plainfield had taken a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Dan Kapsch led off with a single through the hole into left, took second on Lorenzo Fuscoletti's sacrifice bunt, then scored when Chris Loniewski's single was misplayed in the outfield.
In the second inning, Irizarry used his speed to beat out an infield grounder for a one-out single, used that speed again to steal his 37th base of the season, then scored on Aiden McCarthy's RBI single that eluded a diving attempt by Colonia right fielder Joe Massimino.
"Nick Irizarry is one of the greatest high school players I've ever had the pleasure of watching, coaching, just being around," Gleichenhaus said of Irizarry. "He is an MVP type player. He's awesome. We switched some things around. We lost some hammers in Zack Robinson and Jay Alvarez (Class of 2024 players), and we knew there was gonna be a hole in our lineup. Nicky's a guy that puts the ball in play. He is a contact guy. We put Nicky back in the leadoff spot where I think he's most comfortable. He's a dominant force. I think he's the best leadoff hitter in the county, the best second baseman in the county, possibly the state, and you saw what he did here. The guy gets in first, and it's an automatic double or triple."
Massaro and Kapsch each followed McCarthy's hit with singles to load the bases with one out, but Kroner got a called strike three on a 2-2 slider, then got a groundball for an inning-ending force play at third.
Irizarry was the igniter again in the top of the fifth, leading off the inning with a line single to right, stealing his 38th base of the year, then scoring when Massaro's line drive was dropped in the outfield. Massaro, who's just about as fast as Irizarry, took three bases on the misplay, then scored on Kapsch's groundout.
"I was moved to leadoff five or six games ago," said Irizarry, whose batting average is close to .400. "When you have guys protecting you like Bull (McCarthy), Dom, Dan, if you fail, they will pick you up. I've learned so much from those guys, guys last year like Zack, Rez (Alvarez), we lost them (but) I learned so much from them, and that's why we're here now.
Against Kroner, his speed, he mixes up very well, he locates very well. I went up there with the right approach, and I just played 'me'."
Penny, who allowed one hit in six innings in South Plainfield's 5-2 win over Cranford in the quarterfinals last Thursday, retired the first nine Patriots he faced, and did not allow a hit until Jayce Rodriguez led off the bottom of the fifth with a sharp single to left. But Penny quickly erased Rodriguez when the next batter hit a soft, short popup that Penny came off the mound to grab in the air, then threw to first to double off Rodriguez.
"The first three innings, I knew I was perfect," said Penny, who has allowed two earned runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts. "Obviously, it gets in your head a little bit. My curveball, the command and the stuff were really good. I felt like I started to get my change-up at the end there, and I got a couple of weak outs. But I started cruising, and then I caught a little trouble in the sixth inning. That's when I emptied out the tank there. It's really, really hot out today. It's ridiculously hot."
Colonia loaded the bases with two out in the bottom of the sixth against Penny, but the southpaw escaped unscathed by getting a called strike three with a 2-2 fastball on the inside corner to Colonia's cleanup hitter.
"When tournament time comes around, it's another level of locked-in on the mound," Penny said. "I'm just glad I came out here today and kept it going. I know these guys (Colonia), they throw really good pitchers out there, and I was just happy I could go out and compete with one of those guys."
"That's three years of experience waiting for this moment and rising to the occasion," Gleichenhaus said of Penny. "He wanted it more than anybody. He was determined from the beginning of the season that he was gonna be the guy. He wanted to be the guy on the mound in a big game, and he was, and he delivered. He did everything we asked him to do."
South Plainfield added another unearned run in the top of the seventh to take a 5-0 lead on a three-base error in the outfield and a two-out wild pitch.
Colonia mounted a four-run rally against two Tiger relievers in the bottom of the seventh, and had the potential winning run on second base when the game ended. With two out and two on, trailing, 5-0, Colonia threw two bolts of lightning at South Plainfield to suddenly close the deficit to two runs. Massimino slugged a two-run double to deep left field, then Cory Pascarella delivered Massimino with a mammoth double to deep center. A walk, a single by Kroner and a bases-loaded walk to Matt Fasulo made the score 5-4 with the bases loaded and two out.
But Mike Castagna got a groundball to first baseman McCarthy for an unassisted putout to end the contest.
"Guys were relaxed, guys were loose (at the start of the game). You saw how it got a little tight there at the end," Gleichenhaus said. "One of our most reliable guys coming in, his hand was sweating and he couldn't get a grip on the ball, and, the next thing you know, it's a one-run game. We bring Castagna in – another guy who's been great for us all year – to get the job done, and he did. I'm just grateful to have competitors, because that's what these guys are."
"I just told them they had absolutely nothing to hand their heads about," Scialfo said about his post-game address to the Patriots, "and that this loss hurts me just as badly as it does them, but I wouldn't trade any one of them literally for anyone else. I told them I loved them, that it's gonna hurt them for awhile, but one day we'll look back on what we did accomplish this year. This team set a school record for wins."
Redemption! South Plainfield hangs on, defeats Colonia 5-4 in North 2, Group 3 championship
South Plainfield’s 2024 and 2025 seasons have one thing in common, and one big difference. The similarity? The Tigers defeated Colonia both years in the North 2 Group 3 tournament. The difference?
South Plainfield took home the hardware this year.
It took some more effort to close out the game than it seemed at first, but the Tigers survived the Patriots’ seventh inning rally to win 5-4 and clinch the sectional title.
It came with plenty of small-ball, using the team’s speed and contact ability to move runners over and get into scoring position.
With southpaw Kevin Penny taking the mound for South Plainfield and righty Colin Kroner on the bump for Colonia, it was a battle of standout arms, but Penny came away victorious.
After a quiet first inning that saw both teams go down in order, the Tigers struck first in the second inning. Shortstop Dan Kapsch singled, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from DH Lorenzo Fuscoletti. Third baseman Chris Loniewski laced an RBI double to score the game’s first run. Kroner recovered, however, retiring the next two batters to end the inning.
Penny kept up his strong start, retiring the Patriots’ first nine batters through three innings, giving his offense some breathing room. They took it in the top of the third, adding another run to the ledger with four consecutive singles from the lineup’s top four hitters. First baseman Aiden McCarthy singled in second baseman and leadoff batter Nick Irizarry to take a 2-0 lead.
But again, Kroner remained composed and escaped without any further damage. He struck out Fuscoletti looking and induced a groundout from Loniewski to end the inning with three runners stranded.
Colonia finally got a baserunner on to start the fourth inning with a leadoff walk from left fielder Cory Pascarella, but he never got past first base. A fielder’s choice and two flyouts later, Penny remained dominant.
Kroner brought the Patriots some more momentum by striking out the side, but the offense was unable to put together a rally.
In the ensuing top of the fifth inning, the Tigers’ offense woke back up. Irizarry singled to lead off – one of his three singles in the game – and stole second. After a swinging strikeout by McCarthy, Kroner got what looked like a routine fly ball from centerfielder Dom Massaro, but it bounced off Pascarella’s glove. Irizarry scored and Massaro advanced to third, and was driven in one batter later by Kapsch on an RBI groundout, giving South Plainfield a 4-0 lead.
Designated hitter Jayce Rodriguez finally notched the first hit off Penny with a ground-ball single to lead off the bottom of the fifth, but that baserunner was quickly erased by a flare shot to Penny, and a heads-up throw to first to double off Rodriguez. First baseman Tyler Chiola popped out to Irizarry to end the inning. Kroner allowed two baserunners in the sixth inning but they did not score.
With six outs left in their season, the Patriots loaded the bases – in large part due to a two-out single from third baseman Dylan Chiera and a walk by Kroner – but shortstop Matt Fasulo struck out looking on an inside fastball.
Penny was mobbed by his dugout, with the Tigers sitting three outs away from a sectional title.
Kroner remained in the game for the seventh inning, getting a flyout for the first out. Kapsch sent another fly ball to centerfield, but that one also bounced off the glove of centerfielder Nick Minue, putting Kapsch at third base. On the ensuing at-bat, he came around to score off a wild pitch to Fuscoletti. Kroner got two more flyouts, but South Plainfield notched yet another key insurance run.
Colonia – with three outs remaining in its season – put up one last gasp.
Tigers head coach Scott Gleichenhaus made a pitching change, swapping Kevin Penny for star reliever Jay Jimenez in the hot and humid conditions.
Jimenez did not have his best stuff, however, and the Patriots took advantage. Rodriguez led off with a groundout, but second baseman Jake Gotti walked to start off the rally. Chiola reached on a fielder’s choice, beating out a double-play ball. Catcher Jake Harvatt walked on a full count, and right fielder Joseph Massimino laced a single down the third base line to score Colonia’s first two runs.
With the lineup card flipped over, Pascarella hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-3, still with two outs. Chiera walked to put two runners on, and Kroner singled to load the bases. Fasulo got his redemption, drawing a bases-loaded walk to draw Colonia within a single run, and the game-winning run on second base.
Gleichenhaus made another change.
Pitcher Mike Castagna entered, looking for a save in as high-pressure a situation as a pitcher can walk into. With Rodriguez up for the second time in the inning, Castagna induced another groundout to McCarthy, stepping on the bag and winning the sectional title.
Kroner was given the loss, allowing five runs (three earned) in seven innings with nine hits, one walk, and nine strikeouts. He also had a solid day at the plate, reaching twice in the sixth and seventh innings with a walk and a single.
Colonia’s season ends at a strong 23-5 mark.
Penny earned the win in six shutout innings, allowing just two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Jimenez went two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs (all earned) on three hits and four walks. Castagna got the final out and recorded the save.
South Plainfield moves on to the Group 3 state tournament, where it will face North 1 Group 3 champion Morris Knolls, who upset top-seeded Ramapo in Thursday’s title game.
Click below for postgame reaction from South Plainfield pitcher Kevin Penny and head coach Scott Gleichenhaus.
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