S.B. Junior Legion team a win shy of state final
Squad loses to Tuckerton in postponed
semifinal game
JERRY WOLKOWITZ South Brunswick second baseman Brandon Hair and Tuckerton’s Mike Cofer watch the play at first base to see if the Vikings can complete a double play during the Aug. 15 Junior American Legion semifinal game in Edison.
Scoring runs was not a problem for the South Brunswick Junior American Legion 16-and-under baseball team (it had not been shutout all season), until it met up with Tuckerton in the state tourney.
Even then, it took Tuckerton five days to attain the victory that ended South Brunswick’s season. The two teams began play on Aug. 11, knowing that the winner would advance to the finals.
Tuckerton held a 1-0 lead when play was halted in the bottom of the fourth inning due to sloppy field conditions at Edison High School. The game was resumed on Aug. 15, and Tuckerton nursed that narrow lead into a victory.
"I thought we’d be able to come back, and then the game was postponed," South Brunswick coach Mark Sock said. "When we resumed on Wednesday, we only had three innings to get something going, and we couldn’t. If we played seven innings in one day, I think our bats would have come around, but it didn’t work out that way."
Nevertheless, just getting to play Tuckerton was quite an accomplishment for South Brunswick. Sock’s team lost to Linden, 4-3 in eight innings, in the tourney opener, a defeat that placed South Brunswick in the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination event.
The team rebounded by edging Washington Township, 5-4, thanks to a three-run seventh-inning rally; and Father & Son (Edison), 4-3, with another last-inning uprising.
South Brunswick then avenged its loss with a 7-0 whitewashing of Linden, and downed Denville 7-5 to set up a meeting with Tuckerton, which came out of the winner’s bracket.
Sock’s team needed a pair of wins, while Tuckerton needed just one success to advance to the state finals. South Brunswick had its way in game one, parlaying a five-run rally in the top of the seventh into a 7-4 win, setting up the one-game, winner-take-all matchup, that Tuckerton eventually won.
"It was a great run," said Sock, whose team is sponsored by the South Brunswick Athletic Association. "Our guys came back strong after losing that first game. They had their backs to the wall, but they went out and won some important games."
Although the team had strong hitting, the coach noted that South Brunswick’s pitching staff helped propel the team to an overall 24-6 record and a second-place finish in the Middlesex County American Legion League.
Bryan Sock was the team’s ace, going 8-0 with a 1.07 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 50 innings. Michael Vibronek was solid as well, posting a 6-1 mark with a 1.50 ERA.
Lefty Patrick Keenan was 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA, and Corey Griffen, another left-hander, went 2-1 with a 1.15 ERA in three postseason starts. Justin Makowski went 3-3 with three saves and a 1.20 ERA, primarily in a relief role.
Center fielder and leadoff man Joe Clemente led the team with a .505 batting average, and also scored 32 times.
Nick Clemente, the second baseman, was at .337 with a team-leading 34 runs. Sock, who also played shortstop, batted .366 and led the club with 33 RBIs; Makowski, a first baseman when not on the mound, hit .398 with 22 RBIs.
Catcher Evan Mahoney was at .325 with 17 RBIs; left fielder Kyle Cleffi batted .444 with 14 RBIs; and DH Anthony Mauro hit .347.
Other members of the team include third baseman Anthony Clemente, infielders Mike Siecinski and Brandon Hair, and outfielder Dane Marini. The senior Sock was assisted by John Clemente, Jerry Makowski and Barry Cleffi.