Spartans and Devils split

Last Tuesday, April 12, the Blue Devils baseball team at Shore Regional High School hosted the undefeated Spartans of Ocean Township. Before the first pitch was thrown, the Devils gathered for a team photo as they were named the Jersey Mike’s Team of the Week by the Shore Sports Network.

Shore opened the season taking on Red Bank Catholic which most baseball pundits say is the best team in Shore Conference this season. The the Devils lost 23-0. The Caseys did look like a team that was unstoppable. John Kuhlthau, head coach at Shore, didn’t let that lopsided defeat get his team down. Three days later, Shore beat the Caseys 10-6, earning them the team of the week selection.

The Spartans entered West Long Branch undefeated with a 6-1 win over Raritan, 7-6 win over Raritan and an 11-1 victory over Holmdel.

Both Shore and Ocean play in the highly contested A Central division with Red Bank Catholic, Rumson-Fair Haven, Monmouth Regional, Raritan, St. Rose, and Holmdel.

It didn’t take Ocean long to get on the scoreboard with one run after one inning. They added two in the second, one in the third, three in the fourth and three in the seventh taking a 10-2 victory over the Devils. Shore scored their two run in the bottom of the third.

George Krenkel smacked a homerun for the Spartans to start the scoring. He also had a triple and drove in three runs. Ben Robinson was 1-2 with two runs smacked in for Ocean. Winning pitcher was Will Calderone.

Shore had several pitchers in the game. Taking the loss was Joe Santi. Also on the mound were John Dunleavy, Rich Barton and Jeff Barham. Top hitters for the Devils were Lucas Rosa who was 3-3, E.J. Sefaneilli went 1-3 with two runs batted in, Cole Sefanelli was 2-3 with a double.

The win put the Spartans at 4-0 overall and in the division. Shore dropped to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in the division. “Ocean is a very good program, and we knew today was going to be a battle for all seven innings,” said Kuhlthau after the game. “I was proud of how our team competed and fought back to make it a 4-2 game in the middle innings. Ocean just had a few more timely hits than we did, but we look forward to the opportunity to bounce back on Thursday with a rematch at their field.”

Shore took advantage of that rematch on April 14, as they dominated that game winning 13-2. Getting the win for the Devils was Cole Stefanelli, who is now 2-0 on the season. Top hitters in the rematch for the Devils were Joe Santi who went 2-4, Cole Stefanelli 3-4, Rich Barton 2-3, and Rylan Fegan 2-3.

Taking the loss at home for Ocean was Matt King who is now 2-1 on the season. Krenkel hit another homerun against the Devils and was the Spartans top hitter going 2-2 with the homer and two runs batted in.

A Central Division standings as of Sunday, April 17, 2022

Rumson-Fair Haven            8-0 overall           8-0 in division

Monmouth Regional           5-1 overall           5-1 in division

Ocean                                    5-1 overall           5-1 in division

RBC                                        4-2 overall           4-2 in division

Shore                                    4-4 overall           3-4 in division

Raritan                                  1-5 overall           1-5 in division

St. Rose                                1-7 overall           1-6 in division

Holmdel                               0-6 overall           0-6 in division

Please click the photo for the caption.