Monmouth Regional Baseball Edges Shore, 10-9

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Starting pitcher in the win for Monmouth Regional over Shore Regional was Evan Booth.

It was a wild baseball game on Tuesday afternoon in Tinton Falls. The Falcons of Monmouth Regional hosted and beat the Blue Devils of Shore Regional, 10-9 in a Shore Conference A Central match-up. “The way our guys persevered was just amazing. There was no quit in them,” said Paul Crivello, head coach at Monmouth Regional.

With the win the Falcons improved to 2-1 on the season. For the Blue Devils, it was the opening game of the 2024 season, since all games were rained out last week.

Shore took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. In the top of the third they added an additional run and were up 3-0.”Sophomore Andrew Barham made his varsity debut and did not disappoint. In his first ever varsity game, he went 3-for-3 including a three-run homer to tie the game at six in the top of the fourth inning,” said Jay Kuhlthau, head coach at Shore.

Monmouth Regional didn’t give up, as they exploded for six runs in the bottom of the third inning. “Shore is a very experienced team, and they are tough! But I was happy the way we put together at bats and came through with some bit hits in key situations” said Crivello.

The top of the fourth inning is when the Blue Devils exploded for five runs and tied the game at six. However, the Falcons gave a great performance in the bottom of the fourth in which they plated four runs.

Shore added one in the top of the fifth, but it was not enough as Monmouth Regional had the one-run victory. “We know who we are. We are low on numbers and just overall depth this season and everyone is going to have to contribute in some wat to help us win games. Especially in this division. It’s one of the best in the Shore Conference,” add Crivello.

Kuhlthau added that Barham ended the game with five runs batted in, scored a run and stole a base. “He also pitched one inning,” he said. Starting the game on the mound was Rob Stock. Also getting some action was Joseph Santi. “Senior Cole Stefanelli, in his first game played since missing all of last season with an injury, went 1-for-3 with two runs batted in.”

“In typical fashion for the Monmouth Regional and Shore Regional rivalry, it was an exciting and exhilarating game of back-and-forth action. We came up just short in the end, but there were a lot of positives to take from this game,” said Kuhlthau.  Also making a varsity debut for Shore was Liam Hennelly, sophomore. “We look forward to a rematch with Monmouth Regional in a few days on our field.” That game will be played on Friday, April 12^th at 4:00 p.m.

“Our guys understand that we are going to be underdogs every game and we will have to fight and claw every pitch, every at bat, every inning, but we’re up for the challenge,” said Crivello. He added, that Monmouth Regional was picked to finish last in the division this season.

Evan Booth collected three hits in three at bats for Monmouth Regional. He had a single in the first, fourth and fifth innings This was his first varsity game, and he went in and threw 63 pitches over three innings. Jospeh Alfano had a single in the third inning that drove in two runs. In the bottom of the fourth, Bobby Davidson singled, scoring two runs, Brandon Geiger drew a walk, scoring one run and Alejandro Ocelotl doubled scoring a run.

Vaughn Bociulis, left-handed pitcher for the Falcons, earned the victory. He gave up four hits and three runs, two earned, over one and two-thirds innings. He didn’t get any strikeouts, but did walk one Blue Devil.

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