Brick team runs out of steam
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff After a strong run at a state sectional title, Joe Testa and the Brick Green Dragons bowed out of the state tournament last week with a Central Jersey Group IV semifinal loss to Freehold Township.

FREEHOLD — Joe Testa has been carrying Brick Township’s baseball team on his back throughout the NJSIAA tournament.

Last Monday, the burden got a little too weighty, even for him.

Testa, headed to Jacksonville University on an academic scholarship, admitted that he was "a little tired" from three-day rests before the three state tournament starts as Freehold Township rallied back twice for a 6-5 victory.

"He’s thrown a lot of innings in a short time," said catcher Nick Mullins, who will join Testa on the Jersey Shore team in the Carpenter Cup when they begin play June 14 at the University of Pennsylvania. "We rode him through the states and he gave it everything he had."

Certainly any coach like Brick Township’s Tom Webber wants to come back with his best for every game, an opportunity his team did not have in losing in the Shore Conference quarterfinals, two days after the opening round game.

And that strategy seemed like a sure way for the Green Dragons to reach the Central Jersey section semifinals for the first time since 1980. But 11 hits and 121 pitches over a six-inning span later, it became apparent that the crafty left-hander with a 0.70 ERA coming into the game ran the tank low against a lineup that often cleverly waited deep in the count for a pitch to hit.

"They got the hits and did what they had to do," said a somber Testa. "Both teams played hard."

Brick Township ended its season at 13-10. Freehold Township, which got four earned runs, went to 18-5.

"It had been quite a while since we got to the section semifinals and it hurts to come up short. We were four outs away from winning," said a pained Webber. "I could not be prouder of the leadership that Mullins and Testa gave this team. They’re a memorable group. Joe Testa is one of the best lefties this school has ever had."

And Webber apparently had no doubts about staying with Testa in the sixth inning when Freehold Township rallied for the tying and winning runs with two out. After all, Testa gave up a run in the fifth but left the bases loaded with one of his 13 strikeouts. He finished with 13 and three walks, giving him 107 strikeouts and 27 walks in 77 innings pitched this season.

Jay Wilson lashed a two-run single in the fifth inning for a 5-3 lead, while Testa ripped a triple and a single and Bill Reynolds had three of Brick Township’s nine hits. Sean Wunderlich had two hits but was coaxed into a game-ending groundout with a runner at second base.

Designated hitter Bill Smith started the winning rally when he reached on a dropped grounder and got to second on a wild pitch before scoring the tying run on a single by Justin Feibisch. Brad Brach grounded a single through short that delivered the winning run.

Brick Township scored three runs in the top of the fourth — two on an errant throw on a ground ball hit by No. 9 batter Dom Mattliano with the bases loaded after Chris Hine and Anthony Arciniaco sandwiched walks around Wunderlich’s hit. The other came home on a balk. Freehold Township tied it with back-to-back doubles leading off the fourth and a two-run triple.

Wilson’s single put Brick Township back ahead, 5-3, when a bases-loaded walk after two strikeouts pulled Freehold Township to 5-4 in the home fifth inning. Testa hit the leadoff batter and the next two got hits, the latter off the glove of Testa working hard to make the play.

Despite the frustrating finish, the Green Dragons can define this season with the Ocean County championship and some gritty performances as many of the players prepare for the upcoming American Legion season that begins in mid-June.