Sixteenth-Seed Point Boro Upsets Top-Seeded CBA In SCT 2nd Round

Photo above: Stars of the game, Paul Franceschini and Ryan Sansone

LINCROFT – Senior right-hander Ryan Sansone tossed 3 2/3 no-hit innings of scoreless relief and junior left fielder Paul Franceschini tripled and scored the winning run in the sixth inning helping sixteenth-seeded Point Pleasant Boro stage a stunning 4-3 upset of No. 1 seed Christian Brothers Academy in the second round of the Shore Conference Tournament Wednesday in Lincroft.

Sansone entered the game in relief of Dylan Kleinfeldt with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fourth with Point Boro clinging to a 3-2 lead.

“Ryan’s a senior in our program and has struggled a little bit with an up-and-down season, but it’s just great to see a kid like Ryan keep battling and come through in such a big spot,” said Point Boro head coach Dave Drew. “He gave us some great innings today.”

Facing Colts leadoff batter Mason Wolf, Sansone got what he needed inducing Wolf to hit into what looked like an inning-ending double play ball to third but on the 5-4-3 relay throw Wolf just beat the throw to first by a fraction of a second on a call that could've gone either way.

Braedin Hunt scored on the play to tie the game at 3-3 but Sansone got out of the inning retiring the next batter, junior Connor Bakash, on a fly ball to left field. He then retired the side in order in the fifth inning and did not allow another run the rest of the way.

“It always feels great whenever my name gets called and I get a chance to go out on that mound and contribute to a great team win like this,” Sansone said. “I was working off pure adrenalin and what my team was feeding me and I took it from there.

“Oh my God, this win is huge,” added an elated Sansone. “This shows everybody how we believe in ourselves. We believe we can compete with anybody and we’re not afraid of anybody. We’re willing to take on anybody and grind and play to win.”

Franceschini gave the lead back to Point Boro drilling a triple into the right-centerfield gap with one out in the top of the sixth. He came around to score the winning run one batter later on a two-out wild pitch by Colts reliever Blasie Venancio, who came in for lefty starter Joe Escandon to start the fifth, giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead.

“I knew he was throwing the fast ball on a 2-1 count,” Franceschini said. “They were working me away all day so I sat on it and punched into the gap. It’s a great feeling.”

In the bottom half of the sixth Sansone got two quick outs before walking the next two batters putting a runner in scoring position but he got Wolfe to hit a tapper back to the mound for a 1-3 ground out to end the inning.

Venancio, who allowed just one baserunner (Franceschini’s triple) in three innings of relief, retired the side in order in the top of the seventh setting the stage for the dramatic bottom half of the seventh.

With the Panthers still hanging onto a 4-3 lead, Sansone let his nerves get the better of him before he settled down to close the door on the Colts.

He walked pinch hitter Eddie Dudek leading off the bottom of the seventh and gave slugger Nick Hohenstein a free pass putting runners on first and second with no outs. Peter Morreale entered the game to run for Hohenstein.

Senior third baseman Andrea Dalatri then moved the runners over with a perfect sacrifice bunt and the Colts were in business with two runners in scoring position with only one out.

Sansone then got John Dudeck on a pop up to senior first baseman Andrew Laspina for the second out before walking Hunt to load the bases.

Drew then took a trip to the mound to have a chat with Sansone before making a move.

“We definitely had Sammy Collins warmed up and were thinking about bringing him in,” said Drew. “You never want to look past today but we have a state game tomorrow so we decided to leave Sammy out in the field and stick with Ryan and he came through for us.”

Senior designated hitter Matt Fitzsimmons came to the plate with a chance to be a hero but Sansone got him on a pop-up to Collins at shortstop for the final out of the game in one of the biggest upsets in Shore Conference Tournament history.

“I always have the same confidence in myself. If I walk somebody I try to put it out of my mind and can’t let it affect the way I’m going to pitch to the next guy,” Sansone said. “I might’ve got a little nervous and maybe lost a little confidence there. I just needed to stop worrying so much about putting the curve on the corners. I needed to pitch low and make them swing and see if I could get some weak contact and get a ground ball or a weak pop up and thankfully that’s what happened. It was a whole team effort.”

“It’s a great win,” said Drew. “CBA’s a great team and I give them a lot of credit. They certainly deserved the No. 1 seed, but I think we just had enough today.”

Franceschini, who went 2-for-3 with a triple, RBI and a run scored, staked the Panthers out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

“Paul has been great, he works so hard on all aspects of his game,” Drew said of his left fielder. “To see him have a game like he had is just an awesome job.”

Collins, who finished 2-for-3 with a run, led off the game with a sharp single to right field and stole second with one out. Rising sophomore Andrew Guzzi then struck out for the second out but Franceschini lined an RBI single into center scoring Collins for a quick 1-0 lead.

“That run was big for us coming into a big game like this and taking a lead in the first inning,” Franceschini said. “It kind of set the team morale on a high note to bring us through the rest of the game.”

However, the Colts answered with two of runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 2-1 lead after one.

Starting pitcher Christian Aurin got two quick outs before losing his control and walking the next two batters and hitting the third to load the bases. Hunt then brought two runs home with a line-drive single into left field scoring Hohenstein and Dalatri.

Drew gave the quick hook to Aurin following Hunt’s hit bringing in Kleinfeldt who walked Fitzsimmons to load the bases but got junior Tommy DiTullio on a fly ball to left for the third out.

For the game, the Colts stranded seven runners in scoring position.

Trailing 2-1, Point Boro took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth. With one out Cole Young was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second before sophomore Nick Zbikowski dropped a single into shallow right with Young scoring to tie the game at two.

With two outs Zbikowski advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Cole Weingarten’s line-drive RBI single to right for the one-run lead. Catcher Trent LiVolsi threw out Weingarten trying to take an extra base on the throw home for the third out.

The Panthers will now play the winner of Friday’s second-round game between No. 8 seed Toms River North and No. 24 Point Beach in the SCT quarterfinals. They also play division rival Barnegat today in a NJSIAA South Jersey Group II quarterfinal game.

As the fifth-seed, the Panthers beat twelfth-seeded Oakcrest 7-4 to advance while the thirteenth-seeded Bengals upset No. 4 seed Sterling 4-2 to advance. Point Boro beat Barnegat twice this season as B South foes so this marks the third meeting this season between the two clubs.

“We have such a young team. Ryan is a senior along with our first baseman an third baseman but everyone else is sophomores and juniors,” Drew said. “We’ve been saying it all year that we have a very talented group and we don’t want to wait till next year to get big games like this and today they showed what they’re capable of.

“We got Sammy Collins coming on the mound and we’re excited he’s on the mound,” Drew said about their game versus Barnegat on Thursday. “We’re happy to have them at home and we certainly know how hard it is to beat a team three times in one year. Barnegat (8-15, 6-8) is a good team and despite their record they’re capable of winning big games too. Tomorrow’s just another great opportunity for us. ”

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