Tag: Justin Hascup

June 3, 2025June 4, 2025 by Mike Pavlichko

Oh, Penkala! Old Bridge walks it off after Hascup surprise relief appearance holds off Edison for 4-3 win in 8 to send Knights to CJ4 title tilt

Where do we start?

In the first inning of the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, third-seed Old Bridge decided it had to attack one of second-seed Old Bridge’s two aces in John Smith.

Little did they know they’d end up facing both in one game.

Edison got three runs right off the bat, swinging at first pitches, but Smith settled in, even as Old Bridge got two back in the fourth.

But in the fifth, Smith felt something in his arm after one out and a first pitch ball to Eagles’ shortstop Anthony Calantoni, and he had to come out of the game. Not wanting to save him for a title game that might not be otherwise, Knights’ head coach Matt Doanghue went to his other ace, Justin Hascup, who finished off a strikeout of Calantoni, then fanned Robert Roma to get out of the inning.

*Old Bridge’s Justin Hascup pitches in the 6th inning against Edison in the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals at Fred Cole Field on June 3, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)*

Edison’s leadoff hitter Darren Tirado started the game getting hit by a pitch, then Calantoni singled, and a Rob Roma single scored Tirado. Calantoni came home on a wild pitch, and Rom scored from second after Murphy walked and Ray Tavarez hit a ball to first that Old Bridge’s Eric Shickschneit threw into center field trying to get a force at second.

Old Bridge had gotten within a run in the fourth on a two-RBI single by Noah Balbuena.

In the sixth, Old Bridge tied it. Chris Crosta led off with a triple, and was driven in two batters later by Shickschneit on a sac fly to center.

Hascup could have come back Thursday – if Old Bridge had won – had he stayed under 50 pitches, but there was no way he was leaving this game, even if he had to pitch through the 12th.

That wasn’t a far-fetched scenario. After splitting two regular season meetings, each team winning by four runs, Edison beat Old Bridge in the first round of the Jim Muldowney GMC Tournament 2-1 in 12 innings, a four-hour affair.

But this would be over much more quickly.

After a scoreless seventh, Hascup got the Eagles 1-2-3 in the eighth, and had the two through four hitters due up.

Chris Crosta reached on an E4. Hascup walked. Edison decided to intentionally walk Shickschneit, not to get to the next batter, but to get a force at any base with no one out. On an 0-1 pitch, Akhil Penkala laced a single just inside the third base bag to score Crosta for a 4-3 win, and set off delirium in the Old Bridge dugout.

And on the other side, heartbreak for Edison, which lost 7-4 in the GMC final on a walk-off grand slam by St. Joseph’s JP Zayle in the seventh.

Old Bridge will host 9th-seed Hillsborough – a 10-0 winner in five innings over 12-seed Montgomery in the other CJ4 semifinal Tuesday – this Thursday in the title game at Fred Cole Field at 5 pm.

The win went to Hascup (7-2) in relief – who also logged his 200th career strikeout in the eighth – for Old Bridge (18-10), while Dom Innocenti (1-1) took the loss in relief for Edison, which fell to 17-11.

Click below for postgame reaction from Old Bridge’s Akhil Penkala, Justin Hascup and head coach Matt Donaghue, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

May 18, 2024 by Mike Pavlichko

Top Knights! Old Bridge knocks off South Plainfield 6-5 to win GMC Tournament title

It got tense. Both in the first inning and the seventh.

Third-seed Old Bridge scored four times in the top of the first inning against South Plainfield starter Kevin Penny, with each run digging a deeper hole.

And by the seventh, the Tigers had gotten within a run, and had two on, two out, but were one miracle comeback short.

In the end, the 3rd-seeded Knights, who’d been swept by South Plainfield two weeks before the GMC seeding meeting, exacted revenge, beating the No. 1 seeded Tigers 6-5 to win their third GMC Tournament title, and their second in the last five seasons.

The win was also No. 100 for head coach Matt Donaghue, who’s now 100-70 in six seasons.

Old Bridge (18-7) got four in the first, dinking and dunking the Tigers. John Smith led off with a walk, Chris Crosta was hit by a pitch and Frank Papeo singled to load the bases. Justin Hascup drove him in with a single to right, and an Akhil Penkala walk brought in a second run. MJ Altman reached on a 4-6 fielder’s choice to make it 3-0, and Evan Smith’s single made it 4-0.

But South Plainfield starter Kevin Penny stayed in the game and settled down for a bit, while his team mounted a comeback.

The Tigers got three in the second. Jayden Alvarez led off with a single, followed by Nick Irizzarry, and Brandon Bickunas drove in Alvarez with a single. After a groundout by Aiden McCarthy, Ryan Balent grounded to short to drive in the second run, Stephen Studlack singled, and Dom Massaro drove in the third run with a single to bring South Plainfield within one.

It would stay that way into the fifth, when old Bridge expanded its lead. Penkala led off with a single, and after MJ Altman was hit by Penny, he was taken out for Mike Castagna. He got a K, then hit Noah Balbeuna. Meyer grounded out to third to drive in a run, and a wild pitch to the next batter brought in another to make it 6-3 Old Bridge.

But South answered in the bottom of the inning. Massaro reached on a ground ball to short when the throw pulled Bickunas off the bag. Kapsch walked and Donahue pulled Papeo for JT Meyer, who gave up a two-RBI single to Zack Robinson. But Meyer would get the next three hitters to end the inning.

Chase Donovan pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh for South Plainfield to give them one last shot.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kapsch led off with a single, but Zack Robinson grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, and the Tigers were down to their final out. But Jayden Alvarez laced a double down the right field line, chasing Meyer from the game.

Donaghue brought in Hascup, but he gave up a single to Irizzarry. With first and third and two down, Bickunas knubbed a 1-1 pitch back to the mound. Taking no chances, Hascup ran all but the last ten feet to first before he flipped to Papeo – now playing in the field – for the final out.

The win went to JT Meyer in relief; he’s now 6-1 on the year. The loss went to Kevin Penny (2-1) as South Plainfield falls to 19-5-1.

Click below for postgame reaction with JT Meyer and Justin Hascup, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

June 5, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

On to the final! Old Bridge wins wild Group 4 semi over Eastern, 8-6 to advance to first-ever state title game

In a game that had the long ball, hits, errors, and gold glove plays, it was a balk call int he sixth inning that led to the winning run.

Old Bridge doesn’t care how; they’ll take it: an 8-6 win over Eastern in the Group 4 semifinals at Fred Cole Field that sends them to the state Group 4 title game in Hamilton at 4 pm Saturday against Ridgewood, which walked-off Bayonne with a single in the seventh to win 14-13.

In a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, Justin Hascup closed the game on the mound, and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. He led off the inning with the game tied 6-6 by knocking a triple. Evan Smith walked and a sac bunt by Adam Scire put him at second. With second and third and one out, a balk was called on Eastern pitcher Logan Dawson to score Hascup. A passed ball then brought home Smith with an insurance run the Knights would turn out not to need.

Old Bridge was down 2-0 before even coming to bat, as Eastern got a two-RBI double from Rich Iulucci, but starter JT Meyer settled in from there.

The Knights got three back in the second on an RBI double by Scire that drove in Mike Villani. Then Meyer knocked in two with a two-out triple to make it 3-2 Old Bridge after two.

The Vikings took a 6-3 lead in the fifth. With a runner on third, Bill Bentliff popped up a bunt to first that Shawn Bogda caught; he tried to double up Spencer Haldeman on third but threw it away and the run score to tie the game. After a hit batter and a walk put two on, Sam Winsett crushed a three-run homer to left.

That’s the way the game would stay until the wacky sixth inning.

Old Bridge goes to the finals with a record of 21-8; Hascup got the win in relief. Logan Dawson took the loss for Eastern, which falls to 17-11-1.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Old Bridge sophomore Justin Hascup scored the game’s winning run and got the win in relief

Old Bridge sophomore Justin Hascup. (Photo: Dylan Allen)

Old Bridge head coach Matt Donaghue

June 2, 2023June 2, 2023 by Mike Pavlichko

Championship Knights! Old Bridge takes CJ4 title in thrilling 2-1 win over North Brunswick

The GMC was guaranteed at least one sectional champion Friday, with four teams playing in three championship games.

And in the most thrilling and closest of them all, top-seed Old Bridge wound up as the only winner, beating second-seed North Brunswick 2-1 Friday afternoon at Fred Cole Field to claim its first sectional title since 2015.

The Knights (20-8) now move on to host South Jersey Group 4 winner Eastern – which beat Rancocas Valley 4-0 Friday – at 5 pm, back on their home turf.

North Brunswick ends its season at 21-7.

The old sports saying “Defense wins championships” has lost some meaning in today’s sports world full of high-scoring affairs. But today on a 90-degree scorching hot summer day, Old Bridge and North Brunswick reminded sports fans of how fun pitchers duels can be.

Knights starter Justin Hascup did the majority of the heavy lifting for his team. He earned the win and pitched 5 1/3 innings, struck out two, and allowed one run on four hits, finishing his outing with only 65 pitches thrown.

The scoring started in the top of the second, when cleanup hitter Justin Batts hit a leadoff triple into the left-center field gap. Old Bridge recorded two quick outs, but designated hitter Josh Rodriguez was able to put a ball in play to shortstop and leg out an infield single, scoring Batts to give North Brunswick a 1-0 lead.

*Old Bridge pitcher Justin Hascup throws against North Brunswick in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game at Fred Cole Field in Old Bridge on June 2, 2023. (Photo: Dylan Allen)*

Old Bridge responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the second. Mike Villani hit a leadoff double and eventually scored from third on an Alejandro Jabar wild pitch that knotted the game at one.

Neither team could break through until the fifth. That’s when Old Bridge’s Adam Scire, batting in the eighth spot, led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. He later reached second base after Justin Meyer grounded out to the pitcher. With two outs in the inning and Jabar rolling, the unexpected happened. The eventual game-winning run was scored on a dropped fly ball by Chris Rosario in Right Field that plated Scire from second, who was running on contact.

And yet, it still wasn’t over.

Things got dicey in the top of the seventh for Old Bridge when relief pitcher Justin Meyer had hit Frankie Gabolino of North Brunswick in the head with a pitch, then gave up a single to Josh Rodriguez, which advanced Gabolino to third. All of a sudden, North Brunswick had runners on the corners with one out, down a run in the final frame.

But Meyer bounced back – getting Sammy Berardo to strike out swinging. Then it came down to the nine-hole hitter EJ Accettura, who was 0-2 in the game. It was a hard-fought at bat, but in the end, it was Meyer who was victorious, getting Accettura to ground out to first for the final out of the game.

Meyer earned himself the save in 1.2 innings of work, allowing just one hit.

Click below for postgame reaction with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen: