CorrespondentSOUTH PLAINFIELD — Defending North 2 Group 3 baseball champion South Plainfield is a No. 4 seed in this year’s section but is playing like a team intent on a repeat title. The Tigers have made the final four and now are two wins away.
They scored their second tournament shutout with a 7-0 win over No. 5 North Plainfield in a quarterfinal on Friday, May 29. South Plainfield (16-11) will play at top seed Chatham (20-6) on Wednesday, June 3, in a section semifinal.
The Tigers got to the semis on the strength of 6-foot-5 sophomore lefty Andrew Bena, a four-run second inning and outstanding defense.
Bena (4-2) threw six shutout innings for the win. He followed senior ace Aiden McCarthy’s complete-game three-hit shutout against John F. Kennedy in a 5-0 first round win on Wednesday, May 27.
“As long as (Bena) is around the zone throwing strikes, he is tough on hitters," Tigers coach Scott Gleichenhaus said. "He has been doing it for us all year,”
Bena allowed three hits and three walks and struck out 10 before senior righty Jaden Jimenez threw a scoreless seventh inning.
“(Bena) got ahead early in the count, his fastball was moving and he threw his breaking ball inside and out,” North Plainfield coach Ben Donaghy said. “You have to tip your hat to the kid. He was excellent.”
South Plainfield was also outstanding on defense as it turned two double plays. One in the third where centerfielder Dom Massaro dove to make a terrific catch off Jake Zotollo’s line drive, then threw to second baseman Gabe Garcia who threw to first baseman McCarthy to double off Mark Fultz, who’d singled.
“He has been one of the best center fielders in the county since his freshman year,” Gleichenhaus said. “He does that all the time and that is why we are a tough out. Our outfielders can get it, and our infield is solid as they were today.”
The Tigers scored four runs in the second inning to get going. Second baseman Joe Stanzione, hitting ninth in the order, slapped an opposite field bases-clearing double to left. That was followed by McCarthy’s RBI hit that made it 4-0.
McCarthy was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Stanzione went 2-for-2 with three runs scored, the three-run double and a walk.
North Plainfield senior Bennie Sokolowski has been outstanding throughout the season on the mound for the Canucks. He played shortstop Friday and had had two of the team’s hits and also walked.
He struck out nine and allowed two hits in North Plainfield’s 2-1 victory over 12th-seeded Matawan in the first round. The playoff victory was the Canucks’ first since 2011. The Canucks finished with an 18-9 record, the most wins since the 1996 team won the Central 2 title and finished 20-5.
North and South Plainfield met regularly in the early 2000s, usually in the defunct Greater North Plainfield Tournament. The quarterfinal game was believed to be the first between the two teams since then.
NJ Baseball South Plainfield tops North Plainfield in North 2 Group 3
