He jumped on a pitch in the top of the third inning and sent it all the way to the wall in right-center.
Fry, his teammates and a packed crowd at Memorial Field in Cranford erupted, as Cranford was about to take a 6-1 lead on the reigning sectional champs.
The umpires got together and halted the celebration by saying a fan had reached over the wall to catch the ball.
Instead of a three-run homer, it was ruled an RBI double.
“It was a good piece,” Fry said. “I couldn’t really tell with everyone standing in right field, but it was an awesome swing. Would have been awesome for it to go out.”
That call only temporarily delayed the festivities.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with his team holding a 7-5 lead, Fry picked out another pitch and drove another deep shot to left. This time, there was no doubt and, naturally, it was a three-run homer.
The roar was twice as loud.
“To be able to do it and actually prove that it went out, it’s awesome,” he said. “Just doing everything with these boys is just an amazing feeling.”
That was the exclamation point that powered third-seeded Cranford to a 10-5 win over fourth-seeded South Plainfield in the North Jersey 2, Group 3 final.
This is Cranford’s 16th sectional title and first since 2022.
“I couldn’t be happier considering where we came from last year to this year,” said Cranford head coach Ryan Matlosz. “They just improved so much from top to bottom, whether it’s the top all the way to the bottom, our pitching staff. The improvement from last year is just so tremendous. It’s a testament to these kids, how hard they worked.”
That homer also capped a day in which Fry got on base all five times he came to the plate. He went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, three runs, two stolen bases and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Defensively, he had six assists.
“That’s something I like to prioritize because that’s how you get on the field playing defense,” Fry said. “As much as hitting matters, I think playing better defense is definitely a key tool when it comes to playing baseball. It’s definitely fun.”
Patrick Bendert had a big two-run homer of his own in the fifth that turned a one-run lead into a 7-4 advantage.
Those two, Michael Tripodi and Adam Kielczynski, the top four hitters in Cranford’s lineup, combined for seven runs, seven RBIs, seven hits and were hit by a pitch four times.
“It’s awesome. Once I get things going, they’re right behind me doing the same thing and keeping everything going, especially the rest of the team,” Fry said. “We’re starting to heat up. Everyone’s starting to heat up, one to nine. It’s just awesome to see everyone doing their thing and just get out here and play their game.”
South Plainfield jumped ahead, 1-0, in the first inning when Andrew Bena knocked in Dom Massaro. Cranford responded with three runs in the bottom half of the frame to take the lead for good.
It was a trend that continued all game.
South Plainfield cut into the deficit with a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth inning but Cranford took momentum right back every time with runs in the bottom of each frame.
Cranford will face Old Tappan in the Group 3 semifinals on Monday.
A win sends the team to its second state final in four years.
“We’ll celebrate a little bit, but after tonight it’s back to work for our next game,” Fry said.
“I don’t want it to end,” added Matlosz. “I don’t think they want to end either. Anytime a season ends, you’re not together anymore, that’s the last day. So I keep telling them, let’s play one more game.”
Star senior had potential homer stolen, so he hit a bigger one to punctuate sectional title - nj.com
South Plainfield baseball battles, falls in North 2 Group 3 final
CRANFORD — Things could hardly have started better for South Plainfield as it began the defense of its NJSIAA North 2 Group 3 baseball title on Friday, June 5.
Dom Massaro drilled the game’s first pitch for a double to right center and scored two batters later for an early advantage.
But Cranford answered with three runs in the bottom of the first and never relinquished the lead before two late home runs provided the Cougars with a 10-5 cushion and their 16th sectional crown.
The No. 4-seeded Tigers (17-12) rallied for runs on three occasions after ceding the lead but could never gain any traction as third-seeded Cranford matched or bettered each and every one of those rallies.
“That’s why we were hoping to be able to shut it down right where it was, keep getting closer and closer and then actually taking the lead and winning the game,” South Plainfield coach Scott Gleichenhaus reasoned. “But it didn’t happen.”
South Plainfield was thrilled with its 1-0 lead but could have had more had Cranford left-fielder Quinn Smith not made a diving, over-the-shoulder catch of Chris Loniewski’s two-out shot to left center.
“I knew we had guys that could bang the ball around and we just hoped that we scored more runs than they did,” Gleichenhaus offered. “And we got the pitching and defense that was the formula for our success all year. It just got away from us.”
The Tigers were aggressive at the plate to start the game, only seeing seven pitches in the first inning.
“Guys jumping on fastballs or whatever,” Gleichenhaus noted. “I trust our guys to make the right decisions in the box and they swung the bat well. The kid made a great play out in left-center in that first inning but the game was in reach.”
But things couldn’t have started worse for South Plainfield, either, as southpaw Andrew Bena hit the first two batters he faced and both came around to score. Brayden Fry scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam Kielczynski and Patrick Bendert scored on David Rosa’s single, before the Cougars tacked on a third run on a bases-loaded walk to Evan Ketschke.
“He’s a sophomore, a 15-year-old kid, it has to be the biggest game he’s ever pitched in his life,” Gleichenhaus said about Bena, who also walked two and struck out two in requiring 43 pitches to escape the first inning. “I’m sure there were some nerves in there but it’s a learning experience, everybody goes through it at some point. I’m glad that he stuck it out and got through.”
The Tigers became more selective at the plate in the second, filling the bases with three consecutive walks after two outs, but failed to capitalize.
South Plainfield managed to stay in the hunt as Cranford stranded 10 runners over the first four frames, leaving the bases loaded twice, 12 for the game. But the Tigers always appeared to be one hit away from climbing back into the fray.
“We had a couple of opportunities, the right guys at the plate,” Gleichenhaus lamented. “We didn’t get a couple of clutch hits in some key spots and combine that with making a couple of bad pitches was the difference.”
Fry, who went 4-for-4 and saved his best for last, doubled in a run in the third to expand Cranford’s lead to 4-1. That blast appeared to clear the fence but umpires conferred and ruled it a ground-rule double due to fan interference.
The Tigers scratched out a run in the fourth as Anthony Cicenia singled and scored on Joe Stanzione’s double, but Cranford responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning after Jayden Jimenez, in relief of Bena, plunked the first two batters he faced as well.
Bena, who powered three shots to the right-field fence, doubled home Aiden McCarthy (3-for-4) and scored on a wild pitch to whittle the gap to 5-4 in the fifth.
That’s when Cranford began playing long-ball. Bendert laced a two-run shot to left in the sixth and Fry added a three-run drive to the same area in the seventh, nullifying McCarthy’s run-scoring double in the sixth.
South Plainfield’s resilience and fortitude were on display Friday, as evidenced by its three, consecutive rallies to try and scramble back into the contest. The Tigers' strong season included upsetting the section's No. 1 seed Chatham 4-2 in the semifinals.
“I couldn’t be any prouder of these guys, these guys put together a great season so it’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Gleichenhaus declared. “Our goal was this game, keeping the sectional final trophy in South Plainfield, but that’s baseball.”
NJ Baseball South Plainfield baseball falls in North 2 Group 3 final
North 2, Group 3 Final – (3) Cranford 10, (4) South Plainfield 5: Two days after going on the road and knocking off top-seed Chatham in the North 2, Group 3 semifinals, the Tigers’ season came to an end with a 10-5 loss at Cranford.
South Plainfield (17-12) got on the board in the top of the first, taking a 1-0 lead on a groundout by starting pitcher Andrew Bena, driving in Dom Masaro, who had doubled to lead off the game.
But Cranford got the lead back in the bottom of the inning. After the first two batters were hit by a pitch, and Michael Tripodi singled to load the bases, a sac fly from Adam Kielczynski scored one. A walk reloaded the bases, and a single by David Rosa made it 2-1, then a Evan Ketschke walked to bring in another, making it 3-1.
The Cougars added one in the third, on a sac fly by Brayden Fry with the bases loaded to make it 4-1, and that would be all for Bena. But South Plainfield tacked one in the top of the fourth on a double by Joe Stanzione to keep it a two-run game, 4-2. But Cranford again got the first two hitters in the home half of the inning on base the painful way, then got a walk to load the bases. Following a strikeout, Ketschke picked up his second RBI of the day on a double to right to make it 5-2.
But the Tigers still wouldn’t go away. In the top of the fifth, Aiden McCarthy singled to lead off the inning, and Bena doubled to cut it to 5-3. After stealing third, Bena scored on a passed ball with Chris Loniewksi at the plate to make it 5-4. A sac bunt got him to second, but two groundouts ended the inning.
Cranford answered in the second, getting a two-run homer from Patrick Bendert – his sixth of the year – after a leadoff single by Fry, making it 7-4.
And yet, the Tigers still weren’t done, cutting it to 7-5 on a two-out double by Aiden McCarthy, but as Massaro scored, he tried to get to third and was thrown out to end the inning. But Cranford put the game out of reach in the bottom of the sixth, when – after two singles to lead the inning, and a fielder’s choice – Fry hit his tenth homer of the season, clearing the fence in left field to make it 10-5, with South Plainfield going out 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.
Bena took the loss to drop to 4-3, while Patrick Berry got the win in relief to improve to 3-0. Cranford, now 22-9, will visit Old Tappan on Monday. The top-seed in North 1, Group 3, they beat second-seed Ramapo at home Friday, 9-4, to win the sectional title.
TAPinto South Plainfield
Cranford Wins Sectional Championship, 10-5, over South Plainfield
CRANFORD, NJ — Cranford always had an answer.
Every time South Plainfield would score a run, or two, in the top half of an inning, Cranford would counter with at least that many runs in the bottom of the same inning.
Often, the Cougars' response came from senior shortstop Brayden Fry, who went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and reached base five times in third-seeded Cranford's 10-5 victory over fourth-seeded South Plainfield in the NJSIAA North 2, Group 3 championship on Friday.
Cranford last won a sectional championship in 2022. The three seasons prior to this one, the Cougars lost to North Hunterdon, South Plainfield and South Plainfield again in the sectional tournament, making 2026 a revenge tour of sorts for Cranford.
South Plainfield (17-12) was the defending champion in North 2, Group 3. The Tigers started fast on Friday, with their standout center fielder Dom Massaro leading off the game with a double to center that eluded a diving attempt by Cranford's Evan Ketschke. A grounder to the right side by Aiden McCarthy and run-scoring groundout by Andrew Bena got Massaro around for the first run of the game, but Cranford left fielder Quinn Smith robbed Chris Loniewski with a spectacular diving catch in the alley to end the half inning.
Cranford (21-9) then sent nine batters to the plate and scored three runs in the bottom of the first. South Plainfield spent the rest of the game trying to climb back into it but never quite got there. Two hit batsmen and Michael Tripodi's single up the middle loaded the bases for Cranford with none out. A sacrifice fly by Adam Kielczynski, an RBI single by David Rosa and a bases-loaded walk to Ketschke gave the Cougars a 3-1 lead.
South Plainfield loaded the bases with two out in the second but did not score. Cranford also had a scoring threat go for naught in the bottom of the second, and, in the third, South Plainfield narrowly missed scoring at least a couple of runs. Aiden McCarthy, who went 3-for-4 in the final game of his career, reached on an infield single, and Bena hit a flyball that right fielder Christian Pereira caught with his back pressing against the fence. Then, Loniewski hit a grounder that second baseman Tripodi turned into an inning-ending double play with Fry making the perfect relay on to Kielcynski.
“We had a couple of opportunities, the right guys at the plate,” Gleichenhaus said. “We didn’t get a couple of clutch hits in some key spots and combine that with making a couple of bad pitches was the difference.”
In the bottom of the third, after Loniewski — who had a superb defensive game behind the plate — picked off a runner, Smith walked, Pereira singled and Fry drilled a long fly to right-center that appeared to have cleared the fence for a home run. He even rounded the bases and was greeted at home plate by his teammates before the base umpire overturned the homer and ruled in a ground-rule double for one RBI and a 4-1 Cranford lead. A reliable witness (a varsity coach in another sport) beyond the right-field fence said that the ball was actually a home run that was caught by a South Plainfield spectator just beyond the wall before the spectator quickly returned the ball back into the field of play, prompting the umpire to rule it a double.
Joe Stanzione's RBI double to left field in the top of the fourth cut South Plainfield's deficit to 4-2, but the Tigers left two more runners on base. Ketschke got that run back for Cranford with an RBI double to right field (another ground-rule double) in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 5-2.
South Plainfield posed a more serious threat to Cranford by scoring two runs in the top of the fifth on an RBI double to right-center by Bena (who had four good at-bats on Friday) and a passed ball that allowed Bena to score, cutting Cranford's lead to 5-4.
But South Plainfield wasn't able to navigate the top of Cranford's batting order all day, and in the bottom of the fifth, Fry led off with a single through the middle.
Patrick Bendert then launched a mammoth home run onto the berm well beyond the fence in left-center field to give Cranford a 7-4 lead. Bendert had hit the ball on the barrel and flied out to Massaro in deep center field in each of his previous two at-bats.
Massaro, who was 2-for-4 in the final game of his record-breaking career at South Plainfield, hit a bullet single to left field with two out and none on in the sixth. He stole second, and scored on McCarthy's double to the gap in left-center. But Cranford's defense again came up with an enormous play, with Ketschke relaying the ball back in to Fry, who relayed a strike to third baseman Bendert to get McCarthy for the third out — on a play in which McCarthy was initially called safe before the three umpires convened and changed the call.
That was essentially the Tigers' last gasp. Ketschke led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left, Smith beat out a sacrifice bunt attempt to the right side and then South Plainfield got a force play at third for the first out. But that brought up Fry, who, after having a home run taken away from him in the third inning, reached out and almost one-handed a long fly into a tailwind for a three-run home run to left field. It was Fry's 10th home run of the season, the 20th of his career, and it gave Cranford a back-breaking 10-5 lead.
The top three batters in Cranford's order were on base a combined total of 11 times, scored six runs and had six RBI on Friday. Cranford has scored 50 runs in four state tournament games. South Plainfield, coming into Friday's game, had allowed two runs in its three previous state tournament games.
Cranford right-hander Patrick Berry made just his second start of the season on the mound and got the Cougars to the fifth inning before Pereira came in from right field to finish up.
When Cranford plays at Old Tappan on Monday in the state Group 3 semifinals, with a trip to Rutgers University for the state finals at stake, the Cougars will have ace Gabe Arato (7-3) back on the mound.
South Plainfield was vying for its second consecutive title with a team that had lost a lot of major contributors to the 2025 championship.
"I couldn't be more proud of this group," Gleichenhaus said. "We got to the semifinals in the county tournament (Greater Middlesex Conference) and lost by a run, and we got to the sectional final with this team. We just didn't get the timely hits today and we made a few mistakes. This has still been a great group."
SOUTH PLAINFIELD (17-12) 100 121 0 -- 5 9 0
CRANFORD (21-9) 301 123 x -- 10 11 0
WP-Berry
SV-Pereira
LP-Bena
HR-Fry (10), Bendert (6)
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R |
H |
E |
|
|
South
Plainfield (17-12) |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
9 |
0 |
|
Cranford
(21-9) |
3 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
X |
10 |
11 |
0 |
WP: Patrick Berry LP: Andrew Bena
South Plainfield Batting
|
AB |
R |
H |
RBI |
1B |
2B |
BB |
HBP |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
|
|
Dom Massaro #6 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
.500 |
.750 |
|
Aiden McCarthy #12 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.750 |
1.000 |
|
Andrew Bena #19 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.250 |
.500 |
|
Chris Loniewski #15 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
Anthony Cicenia #11 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.333 |
.333 |
|
Ed Budzinski #3 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
1.000 |
|
|
Andrew Burns #7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.000 |
.000 |
|
Gabriel Garcia #16 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
.500 |
.500 |
|
Totals: |
26 |
5 |
9 |
4 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
.346 |
.500 |
South Plainfield Pitching
|
W |
L |
PIT |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
K |
HB |
PO |
ERA |
|
|
Andrew Bena #19 (LP) |
0 |
1 |
82 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
Jayden Jimenez #23 |
0 |
0 |
30 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
7.00 |
|
0 |
0 |
45 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
17.50 |
|
|
Totals: |
0 |
1 |
157 |
6 |
11 |
10 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
5 |
0 |
7.00 |
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