Local baseball teams ready for postseason BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer For one of the few times in recent memory, both Brick Township High School baseball teams qualified for the NJSIAA and Shore Conference tournaments, each with a pair of victories last week. Brick Township got back into the state tournament after having a string of six successive years of qualifying snapped last year. It beat Howell, 3-0, early in the week to clinch a state tournament berth, and beat Monsignor Donovan, 8-3, to clinch a Shore Conference Tournament berth at 10-7. Brick Township lost on Friday to Toms River North, 4-2. The Green Dragons needed to win the second game for the Shore Conference berth because that conference has a Monday cutoff date (the NJSIAA's was last Friday) and the they had a game scheduled on Monday at home against Point Pleasant Borough in their regular season finale. Brick Memorial qualified for the second-straight season with victories over Point Pleasant Borough, 11-5, on Monday, and Jackson, 6-2, on Tuesday to go to 11-8 with three regular season games on the first three days of the week. Both teams were expected to play opening-round Shore Conference Tournament games on Monday (weather permitting) this week and state tournament games next Monday. Seeds and pairings for both tournaments were announced early in the week after press deadline, but both teams are expected to play on the road for the first round of both tournaments. "It feels real good," said Brick Township outfielder and pitcher Bill Winters, who is the team captain, on making the post-season. "We started off real hot and then we all got into a slump, and now the team has pulled together. We're [still] slumping with our bats but I'm confident we can pull it together." Brick Township coach Jason Groschel said the team's chilly hitting "is not a concern. At this time, you see everybody's No. 1 and No. 2 pitchers. You see a lot of tight games because you see everybody's best pitchers." But Brick Township's pitching likewise is poised for a strong showing in the post-season. Mike Murano, coming off a complete-game, two-hit victory over Southern, allowed only a ground single in the second inning against Howell to even his record at 3-3. Relying primarily on a crisp fastball, the senior right-hander struck out 12 and walked three. Brick Township likewise had a quiet day at the plate with only four hits, but one of them was a run-scoring single by John Vitale. Tall junior left-hander F.J. Lucchetti also had a solid day on the mound Wednesday at Brick against Monsignor Donovan with a four-hitter, spiced by 10 strikeouts and five walks, and got some unexpected hitting support from Ray Johnson. Batting in the No. 9 spot, the sophomore first baseman belted a three-run home run in the second inning to stake the Green Dragons to a 3-0 lead. "We've been struggling a little with the bats so we gave him the opportunity," said Groschel. "That was a line shot that never got more than 20 feet off the ground but nobody thought it would get out of here. We thought it would go off the fence in right field." Vitale again came through with a run-scoring single and had two hits and Dan Gallagher lined a run-scoring double as Brick Township rolled to a 6-0 lead before Monsignor Donovan tightened it to 6-3. Leadoff hitter Dan Rafanelli collected three hits. Winters threw a complete game six-hitter against Toms River North, striking out four and walking two. Errors led to three Toms River North runs in the first inning after Rafanelli and Lucchetti smashed back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 Brick Township lead in the top of the inning. Winters believes in the old adage of hitting being contagious, that once some Green Dragons break out, other players will follow. "Absolutely," said Winters. "It's a real big boost when the first few guys get on and then others follow. But even though we're looking at our hitting, we can't let up on any other part in the tournaments."