The Jackson Liberty High School baseball team lost its Ocean County Tournament opener to Lacey, 5-4, on May 8, but the Lions still have two other tournaments to prepare for and the Shore Conference B South Division championship they won last week in only their third season of varsity baseball.
The Lions (13-4 overall; 12-2 in B South) will begin play in the Shore Conference Tournament in the middle of this week and expect a favorable home seed when the NJSIAA state sectional tournament begins on May 17.
“Everybody was surprised we won (B South), but we’ve been playing together since we were in the sixth and seventh grades,” said pitcher Dan Spall. “We have awesome talent. Everybody is confident.”
But coach Jim Rankin believes his players must put things in perspective after a Lacey reliever struck out 13 hitters with a sharp fastball in the Ocean County Tournament opener.
“We play in what people say is a weak division and when we go outside of it, the level [of competition] elevates,” said Rankin. “We as coaches are going to spin this [loss to Lacey] into a positive. Going against the pitcher Lacey brought in was a great experience. If you go through the Shore Conference and state tournaments, you will go through arms like that kid. If we are going to contend for a title, we will contend with facing a good arm.”
Jackson Liberty will conclude the regular season at Toms River South in a 7 p.m. game on May 15.
“I definitely think after a loss, we bounce back and a big win can push us a lot more,” said Spall, who is 5-2 on the mound this season. “We just have to play as a team and hit he ball better than we’ve been hitting it lately.”
Relying on location, Spall said, “every time I pitch, our defense is solid,” particularly with Justin Hernandez in center field, Brandon Vega in left field and Brian Chesley at second base.
Against Lacey, Spall got tagged with the loss as windy conditions created havoc. With the wind blowing out, three balls were hit by Lacey batters for solo home runs, and Jackson Liberty outfielders could not draw a bead on another windblown fly ball that got to the fence for a two-run double with the bases loaded.
“The wind was a hard factor both ways,” said Rankin. “Any time a kid hit the ball in the air, it was a threat to go out.”
Jackson Liberty clinched a tie for the B South title on May 3 when the Lions scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and beat Barnegat, 6-5, and then nailed down the division title outright with an 11- 1 victory over Point Pleasant Borough.
Barnegat was leading, 5-3, when Phil Diaz hammered a two-run triple and scored on a single by Chesley.
Diaz smacked two doubles and drove in a run against Point Pleasant Borough, and Korey McGuiness had three hits for two RBIs. T.J. Prohammer chipped in two hits and an RBI. Chesley connected for a solo home run as freshman right-hander Brandon Danecke nailed down his third victory with a six-hitter, striking out four and walking two.
While Jackson Liberty looks to regroup after its loss in the county tournament, the Jackson Memorial High School baseball team rolled into Tuesday’s Ocean County Tournament semifinals against Brick Memorial after a 9-3 quarterfinal victory over Manchester as Bryan Soloman hit a home run for the eighth consecutive game.
Soloman’s two-run shot in the first inning was one of four homers hit over the first three innings by the Jaguars. Mike Folk belted a solo shot in the second inning while Ian Booth unloaded a two-run blast in the third inning and Alex Herceg ripped a solo homer.