Tourney runs end for Knights, Pirates
By: Bob Nuse
Both the West Windsor-
Plainsboro High North and WW-P South baseball teams ran into some pretty good pitchers this week, and because of that their tournament runs are over.
WW-P North saw its five-
game win streak come to an end with an 11-4 loss to Colts Neck on Monday in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group III tournament. WW-P South dropped a 7-2 decision to Brick Township in its CJ IV opener on Monday, then fell to Nottingham, 4-0, in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals on Wednesday at Mercer County Park.
Montgomery, the No. 1 seed in the North Jersey, Section 2 Group III tournament, will open state tournament play at home today against North Hunterdon, which topped West Morris, 10-0, in the opening round.
WW-P North had been swinging hot bats heading into Monday’s game against Colts Neck, but ran into a tough pitcher in Nick Tucker, who allowed two hits to start the game before settling in and pitching six hitless innings, striking out 10 along the way.
"We started off the game great," WW-P North coach Bob Boyce said. "Casey (Warner) and Derrick (Servon) got hits, but then after that we couldn’t do anything. Their kid was real good. He’s a D-I pitcher and he pitched a nice game against us."
The loss snapped the Knights’ win streak and left them with a 14-7 record.
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"We just ran into a good pitcher," Boyce said. "We had been swinging the bats real well, but he shut us down. We’ve been on a nice streak and the kids had been playing well. But we didn’t hit and we had six errors, that makes it tough to win."
Like North, WW-P South grabbed an early 2-0 lead in its state opener, but then fell to Brick behind the pitching of Joe Testa, who allowed just three hits and struck out 11. Then on Wednesday, the Pirates dropped a 4-0 decision to Nottingham, which received a four-hit effort from Rick Sutton.
"He’s a good pitcher," WW-P South coach Don Hutchinson said. "He’s pitched 13 scoreless innings in a row going back to the last start against us. So either he’s very good, or we’re not very good. I think it’s more that he’s just a real good pitcher."
South had a solid pitching effort of its own, as Alex Goldberg battled the top-seeded Northstars on plenty of guts.
"Alex had a great effort for us," Hutchinson said. "He threw 130 pitches on Saturday (in a semifinal win over Hamilton), and he wanted to come back tonight. He pitched well. He’s been solid for us his whole career. In fact, he’s got a chance to tie the school record for wins and that would be quite an accomplishment."
It’s a career that could put Goldberg at the top of the school’s all-time win list. With one more win he would tie the school record for career wins. If he happens to get a second start before the season is over, he could break the record.
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