ROBBINSVILLE: Baseball team closing in on .500 mark

By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
    The Robbinsville High School baseball team jumped out to a big early lead and held on for a 5-4 win over New Egypt on Saturday.
    “It was a real nail-biter,” Robbinsville Coach Tom Brettell said. “They scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Our second baseman Steve Kowalski made a diving play on a ball to end it. They had a runner on second base on that play. It would have been a tie game if it had gone through.”
    Ron Zingaro pitched four innings, struck out seven and gave up just two hits and a run to record the win.
    Robbinsville scored all five of its runs in the fourth inning. Fred Ulisse hit a three-run homer. A.J. Auletta had two hits and a RBI.
    Robbinsville was defeated by Ewing, 4-1, on Thursday.
    Ryan Leader allowed only three earned runs in six innings of work, but he picked up the loss. Adam Vorasso had a hit and run scored for Robbinsville.
    Robbinsville shut out Hamilton, 3-0, on Friday.
    “It was a nice win,” Brettell said. “It was a win in which we had to put everything together in order to win. We pitched well, fielded well and did a good job on the bases.”
    Kevin Burum scattered four hits over five shutout innings. Vorasso finished with two scoreless innings of relief.
    Robbinsville was held to just four hits, but Eric Strano had two of them and two RBI. Fred Ulisse had a hit and two runs scored.
    Following action on Saturday, Robbinsville had a record of 3-5.
    “I’m hoping this is the start,” Brettell noted of the two-game winning streak. “We’re starting to pitch and play defense. We’re still not hitting the ball the way I would like.”
    Robbinsville was scheduled to play Hightstown on Wednesday. It will host Princeton on Friday.
    “We just have to find a way to put ourselves in position to play in the state tournament when May 8 (the cutoff date to be .500 or better to qualify) comes around,” Brettell said. “In our league you can’t take anyone or anything for granted. Everyone comes to play.”
    AHS BASEBALL
    Thomas Koontz allowed 12 hits, but limited Princeton to just three runs in his complete-game victory in the Allentown High School baseball team’s 5-3 win on Friday. Koontz was helped out by the fact he did not walk a batter and struck out five.
    Koontz also got the job done on offense, with two hits, two runs scored and a RBI. Ed Ras added two hits. Josh Howell added a run, hit and RBI.
    Allentown scored six runs in the seventh, but fell short in a 10-9 loss to Delran at Waterfront Park on Saturday.
    Koontz (two RBI) and Howell (RBI) both had two hits and a run scored. Mark Maiorano had a hit and three runs scored. Curt Macysyn had a hit and run scored. Brett Miller had a hit, run scored and RBI. Keith Yatauro had a hit and RBI.