Tag: no-hitter

by Mike Pavlichko

Big day for No. 8 South Plainfield, as McCarthy no-hits No. 7 Old Bridge in 4-1 win, Massaro sets Tiger all-time hit record

Put this one under the category of the old adage “Nobody cares how, just if.”

The South Plainfield baseball team didn’t have the best day in the field, committing four errors, one of them leading to a run, but the Tigers still won their GMC Red Division matchup against Old Bridge Tuesday afternoon at home, 4-1 – and they did it in style.

Aidan McCarthy threw a complete game no-hitter with nine strikeouts, while Dom Massaro went 3-for-4 and set the school’s all-time hit record, with the 127th of his career.

For McCarthy, it was his first no-no that he could recall – at least at the high school level – while Massaro broke a record that stood for 14 years, set by Steven Petriello in 2012.

The 8th-ranked Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a passed ball that scored Massaro, and a sac fly by Ed Budzinski. Massaro scored again in the fourth on a ground out to short by McCarthy to make it 3-0, then made it 4-0 in the fifth on a bases loaded walk to Joe Stanzione that scored Andrew Bena.

The 7th-ranked Knights got their lone run in the top of the sixth. Matt Chin hit a grounder to short that got behind Anthony Cicenia, allowing Nicholas Agostino to score.

And despite the fourth South Plainfield error in the game coming with two outs in the top of the seventh, allowing Brady Meyer to get to second, McCarthy got Harry Denney to fly out to Massaro in center field to end it.

South Plainfield (7-5, 6-4, tied for 2nd GMC Red) and Old Bridge (5-6, 5-4, 3rd) split their series, with the Knights winning 9-3 on their home field back on Friday.

Click below for postgame reaction from South Plainfield seniors Aidan McCarthy and Dom Massaro – as well as head coach Scott Gleichenhaus – with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

by Mike Pavlichko

Pascarella’s first-ever no-hitter gives Colonia back-to-back trips to sectional semis

A Divison-1 recruit who’s going to play at Monmouth next year, Cory Pascarella has been a great pitcher in his career, even dominant this year, with a minuscule ERA of just over a half a run coming into Thursday’s North 2, Group 3 quarterfinal game for top-seed Colonia against eight-seed Middletown North.

But he had never thrown a no-hitter in his career, at any level.

Well, check that box.

Pascarella was literally unhittable Thursday, striking out 16 in a no-hit effort to send the Patriots (22-4) into the sectional semifinals for a second straight season with a 5-0 victory.

The first GMC team to win 20 games this year – and the only one still alive in the state tournament – Colonia has now outscored its first two opponents in the state tournament 21-0.

Colonia got one in the second on a Jayce Rodriguez sac fly that scored Matt Fasulo. They would score four more times in the fifth, on back-to-back RBI triples by Jake Harvatt and Joseph Massimino, then get two more on a Dylan Chiera RBI single to make it 5-0.

Head coach Mike Scialfo almost didn’t let him finish the game, but Pascarella says none of the coaches realized he had a no-hitter going. He didn’t mention it, but said he was going out to finish the game, and finish it he did.

Colonia will face fourth-seed North Hunterdon in Tuesday’s semifinals at home, after the Lions beat 12-seed Carteret Thursday, 3-2 out at Diamond Nation in Flemington.

Click below to hear Colonia’s Cory Pascarella talk to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about his no-hitter:

by Mike Pavlichko

VIDEO: Watch the final out of Ryan Auten’s no-hitter for Immaculata in the SCT semifinals!

Pitching well in a big game is always a big deal, but throwing a no-hitter to get your team back to the county semifinals is even bigger.

But that’s what Ryan Auten did for Immaculata on Monday.

The junior transfer from Delaware Valley – who came in with much fanfare – turned in a performance head coach Kevin Cust said after the game was “the best he threw all year.”

He allowed seven baserunners – three by error, two by walk, and two by fielder’s choice – but no hits in seven innings of work, striking out 13. The seventh was the only inning he didn’t record a strikeout, and he struck out the side twice – in the second and the fourth. No runner got past first base the entire day.

Click below to watch the final out, with play-by-play as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio:

by Mike Pavlichko

Bressler hurls no-hitter for Piscataway, and has a nice day at the plate, too, in win over South River

After sitting out a year from pitching due to a UCL injury that limited him to making throws from second base, Piscataway senior Bobby Bressler was excited to get back out on the mound this year.

His coaches were excited to see him back out there, too.

South River? Not so excited. Not after Tuesday.

Bressler hurled a complete-game, seven-inning no-hitter, dominating the Rams with 16 strikeouts in a 5-0 win. Not only that, he went 2-for-3 on the afternoon at the plate, knocking in two runs.

It’s the first no-no Bressler’s thrown at any level, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for a Piscataway program that’s looking to improve over last year’s 7-15 campaign.

The win puts the Chiefs at 4-3 in 2024, the latest they’ve been over .500 in a season since they were 7-3 in the first ten games – on April 17th – in 2018 under Scott Gleichenhaus, who’s now at South Plainfield.

If you were wondering, it’s been a long time since a Piscataway player pitched a no hitter. The last one was thrown 32 years ago – to the day – by Brian Heda, in a 1-0 win over Bridgewater.

Click below to hear Piscataway’s Bobby Bressler talk to Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about his no-hitter:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY: GMCT Quarterfinals – (4) Monroe 1, (12) South Brunswick 0

Monroe junior Lucas White pitched a no-hitter – walking just one and striking out ten – in a 1-0 victory for the fourth-seeded Falcons over 12th-seed South Brunswick in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals at North Brunswick Community Park as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by Auto Lounge of Edison.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino call all the play-by-play on May 10, 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

WATCH: Here’s the final out of Lucas White’s no-hitter in the GMC Tournament quarterfinals

Monroe’s Lucas White was nearly flawless Wednesday in fourth-seed Monroe’s 1-0 GMC Tournament quarterfinal win over 12-seed South Brunswick.

He walked just one batter in pitching a full, seven-inning no-hitter, having retired the first eleven batters he faced, then the next ten after the base on balls to complete the no-no.

Click below to watch the final out as White strikes out the side to end the game:

Video by Dom Savino, play-by-play by Mike Pavlichko
by Mike Pavlichko

Yes! A No-No! Lucas White no-hits South Brunswick to advance Monroe to GMC Tournament semifinals

Coming into the GMC Tournament quarterfinals with two pitchers with ERAs in the fives ans sixes, you might have thought you’d see some runs.

You thought wrong.

But more than that, Monroe got a no-hitter from junior Lucas White – and it was nearly a perfect game. He struck out ten and allowed just one base-runner in a 1-0 win for the fourth-seeded Falcons over 12-seed South Brunswick – as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – to advance to Saturday’s GMC Tournament semifinals in East Brunswick.

White retired the first eleven batters he faced before walking opposing starting pitcher Ethan Fantel, who pitched a great game in his own right, allowing just one earned run on five hits in six innings of work.

But after the base on balls, White retired the next ten batters in order, and struck out the side in the seventh to seal the game.

White was the beneficiary of some solid fielding, including a catch along the warning track in right center field by Jake Lobue to end the fourth, and some solid infield play on hard hit balls.

White improves to 2-2 with the win; Monroe now 10-6. They’ll face either top-seed North Brunswick or 9th-seed Edison in the semifinals Saturday at East Brunswick Magnet High School. South Brunswick falls to 7-12.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Monroe starting pitcher Lucas White
Monroe head coach Sean Field
by Mike Pavlichko

At bat or on the mound, Joe Moye is an ace for EB Tech

Surely, you’ve seen those memes on social media: “How it started” vs “How it’s going.” Someone posts a picture of when some endeavor began, side by side with an image of how things are going now.

For a ballplayer, it might be a photo in their first little league uniform, next to a shot of them at bat in the major leagues.

As a freshman two years ago at East Brunswick Tech, Joe Moye gave up 25 hits in 23 1/3 innings.

This week, the junior threw a no-hitter against Highland Park.

In 2018, Joe Moye had 9 hits and 3 RBI in 47 at bats.

Coming into this week, in just 21 at bats, he led the entire State of New Jersey with 14 hits and 20 runs batted in.

East Brunswick Tech’s Joe Moye at the plate. (submitted photo)

That’s how things are going for Joe Moye.

In between, he played for the NJ Marlins club baseball team, based in Millstone, not far from his home in South Brunswick. It was there and in one-on-one lessons that he worked on his game, all of which had helped EB Tech to an undefeated mark heading into Friday’s matchup with Blue Division foe Metuchen.

Click below to hear Joe Moye talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about his outstanding season at the plate and on the mound for East Brunswick Tech:

Central Jersey Sports Radio will have live play-by-play of East Brunswick Tech’s May 12th home game against Timothy Christian. Game time is 4:00 pm; air-time is 3:45. Click here to listen.

For a full broadcast schedule, click here.