Monroe knocks off defending CJ4 champ, top-seeded Old Bridge to gain berth in sectional final

Let’s get one thing clear: it’s all about the players. But Monroe head coach Sean Field had one heck of a day, and it’s not over yet.

He and his wife Amy welcomed their new son Brady into the world a little after 2 pm. He arrived at Fred Cole Field in Old Bridge for a 5:00 game during infield/outfield warm-ups. And then his fifth-seeded Falcons knocked off the top-seed and defending champion Knights 6-5 in the Central Jersey Group 4 semi-finals, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Now, it’s back home – for while – to wife Amy, his newborn son, and 4-year-old daughter Emilia.

No break for Sean Field.

And now, to the game.

Starter Harrison Lollin had a 3-0 lead before he even took the mound. He gave up the lead at 4-3 in the 4th, with all three runs coming from batters who he’d walked. But then Lucas White pitched the last three innings to close it out.

Of course, it got interesting in the 7th. Down by two runs, Old Bridge scored one but had another runner thrown out at the plate and Evan Smith struck out looking to end the game and Old Bridge’s season at 20-9.

Monroe survives and advances, and will play in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game Monday afternoon at 3rd-seed Jackson Memorial, which was a 2-1 winner at second seed Manalapan Friday afternoon. It’ll be their first sectional title game since 2014, when they fell 6-2 to Jackson.

White got the win, while JT Meyer took the loss for Old Bridge in relief.

Monroe scored three times in the first after the first four hitters reached on singles against Old Bridge starter Justin Hascup. Owen Judge knocked in the first run with an RBI single and Jake LoBue knocked into with another a couple of batters later.

Old Bridge got to run back in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by MJ Altman.

And it looked for a while like Monroe might not get another run as Hascup settled in, and after getting the final out of the first, he retired the next ten Falcon hitters he faced.

In the meantime, Old Bridge got three runs in the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. After an Akhil Penkala groundout, the next three batters walked against Lollin. One run came in on a wild pitch and then John Smith knocked in two with a single. But the inning ended when he was picked off of first.

Monroe took the lead back with two in the top of the fifth, as Old Bridge hurt themselves with errors. Liam Williams singled and Kyle McCauley reached on an E5. After a popup by Justin Mangano, Lollin – who moved to first after being relieved by Lucas White – laced a 1-0 pitch for a double to drive in two, making it 5-4 Falcons.

Then, they would add a much-needed insurance run in the top of the seventh with the aid of two more Old Bridge errors. Zach Wallace reached on an E5 and then scored three batters later with two outs when Mangano reached on another bad throw by third baseman Dom Botte, making it 6-4.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Old Bridge had its chances and made it interesting, with Field sticking with White no matter what.

Facing the top of the order, White gave up a lead off shingle to John Smith. Criss Crosta walked. After Frank Papeo struck out, Hascup singled in a run to cut it to 6-5. Penkala then grounded to first, and Lollin, now playing there, three home and the catcher Mangano tagged out Hascup at the plate.

But with the only runner on base now being Penkala on first, white was able to focus on the hitter Evan Smith, and struck him out looking on three pitches to end the game and set off a wild celebration in front of the pitchers’ mound.