Middlesex County College’s Nicole Gibbons (12) of North Brunswick celebrates with teammate Jennifer Shereyka of Parlin after scoring a run during the May 4 Region XIX Tournament game against Gloucester County College. Middlesex County College, which hosted the tournament in Edison, was eliminated by Gloucester in the semifinals and finished the season 26-7. Middlesex is ranked No. 10 in the country among Division III softball teams. ERIC SUCAR staff South Brunswick
S outh Brunswick High School’s baseball team upped its record to 13-5 behind ace pitcher Sean Keenan, who now has seven of his team’s wins. The Marist College-bound senior struck out 12 Sayreville War Memorial High School batters and allowed just two hits in a 5-0 win.
Keenan, catcher Ken Drost and center fielder T.J. Perkowski all drove in runs for the Vikings, who fell to the Bombers by a 4-1 count the previous day when Brian Oates drove in his team’s lone run. He also drove in the game-winner against Perth Amboy High School on May 1, with a single in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Jake Izzo, who led off with a triple, for the game’s only run.
South Brunswick coach Tim Sweeney praised Keenan’s effort. In 42 innings, he has 57 strikeouts and a 0.83 ERA. A shortstop when not on the hill, Keenan is also batting .339 and has driven home 15 runs. The Vikings are batting a healthy .314 as a team, led by Perkowski at .396 with Chris Huber right behind at .395.
“Right from the start, we were counting on Sean to carry a lot of the load and he’s been outstanding,” the coach said. “He just goes out and gets it done.”
Girls track and field
South Brunswick’s girls track and field team captured its eighth consecutive Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Relays title, winning six events and scoring points in 15 of the 16 events.
The discus relay of Danielle Padovano (110-7), Brianna Del Piano (102-8) and Kristin Krier (84-6) threw a combined 297-9 to take first place. The Lady Vikings won the long jump, as Julia Lekht (16-3 1/4), Aspen McMillan (16-3 1/4) and Jada-Rae Poku (14-11 3/4) jumped for a combined total of 47-6.5.
Nikki Cavett (8-6), Danielle Hecht (8- 6) and Lindsay Del Piano (8-0) took the honors in the pole vault; as did the shot put team of Padovano (37-1), Nateya Harris (32-2) and Denise Porter (31-3). South Brunswick also finished first in the javelin, as Krier (125-0), Rachel VanDemark (104-7) and Ashna Manhas (86-11) threw for 316-6.
The shuttle hurdle team completed the winnings, as Lekht, Zyjira Thomas, Khadija McDonald and McMillan ran a 63.84, the fastest time in the state so far this season.
Softball
In softball, the Lady Vikings dropped two out of three games, including a tough 2-1 loss to Sayreville. South Brunswick pounded out 10 hits in that game on April 30, including three by Ashley Shor, and two apiece by Leann Panconi and Brianna Crossen.
On May 2, Melissa Mielko’s two-run, first inning home run helped propel the Lady Vikings to a 5-3 triumph over Woodbridge High School. Panconi earned the win. Shor went 3-for-3 and Sara Finnegan contributed a two-run single. South Brunswick withstood a three-run, sixth inning rally to hold on. The Lady Vikings ended the week with an 11-1 loss to John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, as Julie Foeldes drove in her team’s run.
Boys golf
South Brunswick’s golf team has quietly reached the 10-win mark against just four defeats. Parth Ahuja and Matt Lagarenne both shot 39s on May 3 to lead the
Vikings past South Plainfield High School to complete a perfect week. The day before, Ahuja came into the clubhouse with a
41 and Ankit Amin recorded a 44, as
South Brunswick bested Colonia High
School.
Against Piscataway Township High
School on May 1, Ahuja and Amin again led the way, shooting 39 and 40, respectively. On April 30, Johnny Park’s 41 led the Vikings past J.P. Stevens High School.
Boys tennis
On the tennis court, South Brunswick’s boys bested both North Brunswick Township High School and Piscataway by identical 5-0 scores. Singles players Dylan Karchere-Sun, Kooshul Jhaveri and Vivek Subramani, as well as the doubles tandems of Vijay Chocklingham and Viknesh Lakshmanan and Mohit Jauhri and Eshan Kanetar won their matches.
Girls lacrosse
In girls lacrosse, the Lady Vikings dropped an 11-8 decision to Bridgewater- Raritan High School to start the week, despite three goals from Elle Hvozdovic and two apiece by Eileen Rolwood and Kelly Ciabattone.
Coach John Coppola’s team bounced back with an 11-10 victory over a pesky East Brunswick High School squad, as Nicole Deinzer netted the game-winner with three minutes to go. AnneMarie Rolwood, Emily Ryan and Ciabattone each scored twice, and Liz Ruedemann made 18 saves in goal for the winners.
Boys lacrosse
In boys lacrosse, the Vikings bounced back from an 11-4 loss to Princeton High School on April 30 with an exciting 12-11 success against Allentown High School on May 4.
Aiden Burnett scored the winning goal — his fourth of the game — late in the fourth period. Matt Gorzynski and Bruce Redfield each scored three times, and Danny Joseph picked up three assists. Brad LeHan stopped 10 shots in net. The South Brunswick goaltender made 16 saves in the Princeton loss.
North Brunswick
Over in neighboring North Brunswick, the Raiders’ boys volleyball team recorded three victories in three tries to raise its record to 15- 1 on the year. Rohan Chittella had 12 kills and Jon Lin posted 22 assists in a 2-0 win over Perth Amboy on April 30. Pratik Patel added four aces and five kills to the effort.
On May 2, Brandon Shamy’s six kills, three aces and a dig helped propel the Raiders past an outmanned Colonia team, 2- 0. The following day, coach Jim Biolsi’s team escaped with a 2-1 triumph over a hustling Piscataway (7-14). After splitting two sets, the Raiders prevailed, 25-23 in the third.
Baseball
On the diamond, the Raiders’ baseball team is coming off of a 12-0 win against South River High School on May 4. Chris Iocca and Brian Pelzynski had three hits each, and Victor Konstantinovsky had a pair of hits to go along with three RBIs. Mike Pfeiffer notched his fourth win on the mound.
North Brunswick had lost three straight before that, including a pair of one-run losses to Colonia on April 30 and May 1. The Raiders also dropped a 10-7 contest to East Brunswick on May 3, despite three hits from shortstop Harrison Kaye and two more RBIs from Konstantinovsky.
Coach Ryan Lillis’s team is now 7-11, but that could easily be the other way around, as the Raiders have been in involved in seven one-run games, winning three of them. Nevertheless, the coach believes his team can make its mark in the upcoming GMC Tournament.
“We really haven’t been playing as well as we can,” Lillis said. “Our fielding isn’t where I’d like it to be, and I want to see our hitters put more balls in play and make our opponents work to get us out.”
Iocca is the team’s top hitter with a .405 average, with Konstantinovsky at .312 and infielder Dom Scialabba batting .302. Freshman Eric Reardon has provided assistance on the hill, while also getting some time at first base.
“We’ve been in a lot of close games and I think we’re better than our record shows,” Lillis said. “Still, it comes down to throwing strikes, fielding the ball and making contact, all of which we can do.”
Softball
Meanwhile, North Brunswick’s softball team is coming off of a two-victory week that improved its record to 7-10. Winning pitcher Molly Kuchler had two hits and three RBIs in a 7-1 win over Colonia on April 3. Jackie Carlsen had two hits, while Crystal Baksh and Kayla Vannoy each drove in two runs. On May 2, Kuchler tossed a shutout and Rebecca Colandrea blasted a pair of home runs, as the Raiders posted a 4-0 success against Perth Amboy.
Girls lacrosse
In girls lacrosse, North Brunswick raced to an 11-3 first-half lead against South Plainfield on April 30 en route to a 16-6 triumph. Samantha Mehalick scored four times and had three assists, while Tatum Altman netted a trio of goals to go with four assists. Kate Lonczak made 12 saves in net.
The Raiders edged East Brunswick, 13- 12, on May 2, as Lizzy Hartel’s free shot goal proved to be the winner. Hartel and Altman had four goals apiece, and Mehalick picked up three. On May 3, North Brunswick fell, 17-5, to Montgomery High School, despite four goals from Mehalick and 15 saves by Lonczak.
Boys lacrosse
On the boys side, the Raiders earned their first win with a 15-6 decision over Newark East Side High School. Jacob Tranzfer-Newton scored five times and had three assists, while Branden DeCoteau scored four goals.