Flat Point Pleasant Beach Routed By Pompton Lakes In State Final

HAMILTON – Sometimes, it’s okay to have an off day. But when your off day happens to fall on a day of great importance, it genuinely doesn’t turn out well.

The Garnet Gulls came out flat on Saturday, and things definitely did not turn out well.

Just about everything that could have gone wrong for Point Pleasant Beach in Saturday’s NJSIAA Group I final at Veteran’s Park in Hamilton went wrong for them, and they were overwhelmed by a superior-looking squad, Pompton Lakes, 14-4 in five innings.

“Hey, it is what it is,” said Point Pleasant Beach head coach Angelo Fiore. “We’re the last team to be playing in the Shore Conference and one of the last teams to be playing in the state. So, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty proud of that.”

The Garnett Gulls pitching staff entered the game with a combined ERA of 1.69. Saturday, four Point Pleasant Beach pitchers gave up 14 runs (13 earned) and 14 hits while walking seven and hitting two batters.

“The entire game, our pitchers had to work from behind,” said Fiore. “When you do that, you’re setting the other team up for success. We had seven or eight walks and two hit batters. We didn’t strike the first guy out until the fifth inning. So, we didn’t have the pitching that we normally have, which is normally good. Today, they were missing the spots; we just weren’t there; we were constantly digging out.”

Starting pitcher Ryan Doyle, who entered the game with a 0.95 ERA, couldn’t find the plate and lasted just one-third of an inning. He walked leadoff hitter Harrison Curran in the bottom of the first, then Nick Laccitiello grounded a single in the 5-6 hole and number three batter Vinnie Stigliano walked to load the bases with no outs.

An unassisted groundout to first brought in the game's first run before another walk to Justin Bolt again loaded the bases. RBI singles by James Rodas and Jon Popovich brought in two more runs and Doyle was through for the day.

The Gulls Daniel Luback led off the top of the second with a single up the middle, and with one out, Daniel Storch reached on an infield single, beating the throw by sliding in head-first. With men on first and second, freshman Brody Powers drilled a double over the left fielder's head, driving in two runs to pull the Gulls to within 3-2.

That would be as close as Point Pleasant Beach (25-5) would get, as the Cardinals (26-4) then went on to score two in the second, two in the third, four in the fourth, and three in the fifth against three Point Pleasant Beach relievers.

Back-to-back-to-back doubles by sophomore Antonio Acevedo, junior Noah Banick and sophomore Nate Clayton in the top of the fifth pulled the Gulls to within 11-4, but Nick Laccitiello’s bases-loaded double in the bottom of the fifth cleared the bases and activated the mercy rule giving the Cardinals a 14-4 win and the programs first-ever state championship.

Laccitiello went 3-for-5 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored.

Point Pleasant Beach entered the game with a scorching .422 team batting average with 99 extra-base hits but only managed six hits on the day. Their one-through-four batters in the lineup were a combined 2-for-11 with six strikeouts between them and seemed, at times, overmatched.

“Give the kid credit (Cardinals starting pitcher Tyler Benway),” said Fiore. “We had a report on him and thought we could deal with him, but he was right in that zone. The difference between their pitcher and our pitcher today is on the 3-0 counts where we gave up the walks, and that kid (Benway) was battling back and striking us out. That was, I think, the difference in the game.”

“That was very uncharacteristic of us at the plate today,” added assistant head coach Joe Mazza. “Usually, we have a much better approach. You can’t strike out that many times and expect to win a baseball game no matter who you are.”

Except for that momentary blip in the top of the fifth, Benway was in control of the game from start to finish. His control was once again outstanding. He walked just one batter, giving him only 11 walks on the year in 61 innings pitched—a phenomenal stat. He also punched out 11 batters giving him 96 strikeouts for the year.

“This is my senior year, and this is what I’ve dreamed of,” said Benway. “I’ve dreamed of this ever since I was a little kid. So, to get this start, I knew I had to do my job. I’ve been doing this ever since I was little, and it’s just an unbelievable feeling.”

Benway also helped his cause by going 2-for-4 with two RBI at the plate.

With seven underclassmen in Point Pleasant Beach's starting lineup, including two freshmen, three sophomores, and two juniors, as bleak as Saturday’s loss was, the future is bright, and they can chalk it up to experience and use it as a springboard to success.

“I’m extremely proud of this team, as young as they are to get as far as they did,” said Mazza.

“We had five losses. We had five losses in the first week back in the day,” Fiore added. “Now it’s the entire season. So, we’re building, and the culture has changed here. We’re now expected to win. And I think that’s our mental toughness, work ethic, and dedication. And that’s the culture that we’ve established here.”

The Garnet Gulls will be moving from the Class B Central to the more competitive Class B South in 2025, which will include rival Point Pleasant Borough along with St. Rose, Toms River North, Jackson Liberty, Manasquan and Central. In essence, it’s a promotion.

“I feel good about the move,” said Fiore. “We’re out there running up scores with 300 runs a season to that effect. So, I’m really excited about this new conference, this modified B South, that we’re going into next year. I’m excited about the teams and the challenge that will be presented to our players, and I think, quite honestly, we’re going to do quite well.”

Point Pleasant Beach’s 25 wins are the most in program history.

“Today was not a reflection of what this team is,” added Mazza. “We’ll put this behind us, but let's look at this realistically. This senior class won three consecutive sectional titles. This is a great baseball team; they just fell a game short.”