The Old Bridge Knights pose for a team photo after their pre-season camp trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Source: @OBVBaseball on Twitter)
Old Bridge and North Brunswick were locked in a good, old-fashioned pitchers’ duel Saturday at Fred Cole Field, the kind of battle that looks like it’ll be par for the course in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division this year.
With the Knights (6-1) leading 2-1 after six innings of play, the visitors tied it up when E.J. Accetura scored on throwing error when Josh Rodriguez hit a ball in the hole to the right side of the infield.
No one would break through until the tenth when Thomas Papeo reached on hard-hit ball to third and a throwing error. But it took a while to win it. Kyle McSorley saw one pitch – a ball – then: a flash of lightning. Then, after a half-hour delay, almost as quickly as the lightning itself, he worked the count to 3-1 before driving in Papeo with a double to right-center for the walk-off 3-2 victory.
The starters went deep. Kyle Anderson went a full seven for North Brunswick (3-4) giving up two earned runs on six hits. Frank Papeo fanned nine for Old Bridge through six, allowing six hits and just one earned run.
Zach Konstantinovsky came in for an inning, then Chris Rosario followed, pitching a scoreless ninth, but giving up the winning run in the tenth, to take the loss.
For Old Bridge, John Smith threw a scoreless seventh, and Thomas Papeo – Frank’s older brother by a year – threw three scoreless innings to get the win in relief.
The win puts some distance between the now-first place Knights and the three teams tied for second in the division, a full game ahead of East Brunswick, North Brunswick and South Plainfield. Old Bridge is 3-1 in the division, having swept the Raiders, while splitting with St. Joseph of Metuchen.