Shore Regional reaches MCT semifinals for first time since '93

Costly errors, baserunning mistakes, and an ineffective ace had the Shore Baseball team facing elimination at the hands of Raritan in the Monmouth County Tournament. But for the Blue Devils, inability to execute early turned into perfect execution late.
Shore pushed across the winning run with a one-out, suicide squeeze by Jeff Walstein in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the Blue Devils to a 7-6 win over the Rockets to reach the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals for the first time since 1993 according to coach Jeff Karpell.
Shore (14-2) plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 6-4 lead, and gave the ball to left-handed ace Bill Cerutti in the top of the seventh to close the game. Raritan (7-7) battled back, however, scoring the tying runs on two-run single by Charlie Rivera to extend the game.
Before giving way to Cerutti, Shore starter Rob Somers allowed just four unearned runs in six innings, while striking out 7.
""Billy (Cerutti) has been our ace this year and they had two lefties coming up to start the inning, so we make that move every time,'' Karpell said. ""I thought he threw the ball well, but Rivera came up with a big hit.''
Shore looked to have squandered an opportunity in their 3-run fifth when Erik Swinton was thrown out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple for the first out. But the Blue Devils kept coming, with Cerutti driving in a run with a double and John Kuhlthau knocking in two with a two-out single.
""For the kids to show the kind of resolve they did is huge for us,'' Karpell said. ""Raritan is perennially a great baseball school and to get a win like this will help us going forward.''


- Matt Manley