CBA salvages its week
By TONY GRAHAM
STAFF WRITER
TINTON FALLS - CBA senior first baseman Jim Laufer sounded more relieved than ecstatic.
""We weren't hitting, everyone was slumping at the same time,'' said Laufer of a week in which CBA fell Tuesday and Wednesday in the NJSIAA and Shore Conference Tournaments.
""Finally, one hit,'' he said. ""I guess one hit is all it takes.''
Laufer Thursday led off the sixth inning with his school single season record 11th home run, a line shot over the leftfield fence at Monmouth Regional High School, that propelled the defending champion Colts (25-6) to a 2-1 victory over Wall (21-8) in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game.
Laufer stepped into a 3-1 pitch from senior right-hander Craig Hughes (5-2). ""It was a fastball,''said Laufer. ""He left it up a little bit. I knew he had to come in with it. I just sat on it. Luckily it was there.''
A bases-loaded single in the fifth inning by sophomore Dan Avella tied the score, 1-1.
""To be 2-1 in this championship game, it was a great game,'' said Todd Schmitt, Wall coach. "'Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the 2-1.''
""It seemed like everything was just spinning down,'' said Laufer. ""We had to stop it and Falcone pitched a great game.''
Nick Falcone, a sophomore left-hander (2-0), held Wall to the one unearned run and two hits over five innings in which he struck out five and walked three.
""He's in the making,'' said CBA senior Mike Galeotafiore who closed out the game with two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief.
""I have good feeling about him,''said Galeotafiore. ""If he develops one more pitch he'll be number one next year, I think.''
Wall took the lead in the fourth inning when Drew Pinero worked a walk and scored on an error.
Galeotafiore said Tuesday's defeat, 1-0 in eight innings to St. Joseph's Metuchen, had been especially hard to swallow.
""That was the most heartbreaking of all,'' he said. ""That (a state championship) was what we really wanted.''
But Thursday Galeotafiore, a right-hander, made certain CBA would end its season in positive fashion striking out five including a game-ender that followed Dan Camano' second single of the afternoon.
""I don't have much of a stamina for an arm,''said Galeotafiore. ""I get to throw my hardest and see what I can do.
""I enjoy coming in in pressure situations. It makes you focus a lot more.''
Schmitt said 2007 marked the "'third or fourth time'' Wall has cracked the 20-win plateau.
""In the beginning of the year no one thought we had anything,'' he said. Instead, the Knights went on to defeat favored Ocean to win the Shore Conference Class B North championship.
""That's six years in a row we've won at least one championship,'' said Schmitt. "'We're proud of that.
""It's disappointing to lose (this game). But to lose to a CBA team, as good as they are, not much I can say about that.''
Jim Laufer's twin brother, Dave, singled and doubled Thursday for CBA.
Jim broke the school home run record formerly held by catcher Anthony Buffone who coach Marty Kenney said blasted 10 in as a senior in 2000.
Buffone later went on to star at the University of Maryland and was a 22nd round draft pick of Philadelphia in 2004.
STAFF WRITER
TINTON FALLS - CBA senior first baseman Jim Laufer sounded more relieved than ecstatic.
""We weren't hitting, everyone was slumping at the same time,'' said Laufer of a week in which CBA fell Tuesday and Wednesday in the NJSIAA and Shore Conference Tournaments.
""Finally, one hit,'' he said. ""I guess one hit is all it takes.''
Laufer Thursday led off the sixth inning with his school single season record 11th home run, a line shot over the leftfield fence at Monmouth Regional High School, that propelled the defending champion Colts (25-6) to a 2-1 victory over Wall (21-8) in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game.
Laufer stepped into a 3-1 pitch from senior right-hander Craig Hughes (5-2). ""It was a fastball,''said Laufer. ""He left it up a little bit. I knew he had to come in with it. I just sat on it. Luckily it was there.''
A bases-loaded single in the fifth inning by sophomore Dan Avella tied the score, 1-1.
""To be 2-1 in this championship game, it was a great game,'' said Todd Schmitt, Wall coach. "'Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the 2-1.''
""It seemed like everything was just spinning down,'' said Laufer. ""We had to stop it and Falcone pitched a great game.''
Nick Falcone, a sophomore left-hander (2-0), held Wall to the one unearned run and two hits over five innings in which he struck out five and walked three.
""He's in the making,'' said CBA senior Mike Galeotafiore who closed out the game with two innings of scoreless, one-hit relief.
""I have good feeling about him,''said Galeotafiore. ""If he develops one more pitch he'll be number one next year, I think.''
Wall took the lead in the fourth inning when Drew Pinero worked a walk and scored on an error.
Galeotafiore said Tuesday's defeat, 1-0 in eight innings to St. Joseph's Metuchen, had been especially hard to swallow.
""That was the most heartbreaking of all,'' he said. ""That (a state championship) was what we really wanted.''
But Thursday Galeotafiore, a right-hander, made certain CBA would end its season in positive fashion striking out five including a game-ender that followed Dan Camano' second single of the afternoon.
""I don't have much of a stamina for an arm,''said Galeotafiore. ""I get to throw my hardest and see what I can do.
""I enjoy coming in in pressure situations. It makes you focus a lot more.''
Schmitt said 2007 marked the "'third or fourth time'' Wall has cracked the 20-win plateau.
""In the beginning of the year no one thought we had anything,'' he said. Instead, the Knights went on to defeat favored Ocean to win the Shore Conference Class B North championship.
""That's six years in a row we've won at least one championship,'' said Schmitt. "'We're proud of that.
""It's disappointing to lose (this game). But to lose to a CBA team, as good as they are, not much I can say about that.''
Jim Laufer's twin brother, Dave, singled and doubled Thursday for CBA.
Jim broke the school home run record formerly held by catcher Anthony Buffone who coach Marty Kenney said blasted 10 in as a senior in 2000.
Buffone later went on to star at the University of Maryland and was a 22nd round draft pick of Philadelphia in 2004.
posted by Tony Graham at 6:03 PM
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