South Brunswick secures 7th place with .500 season
PRINCETON » The South Brunswick Post 401 baseball team has had it share of ups and downs during the 2017 Mercer County American Legion League season.
Wednesday counts as one of South Brunswick’s better moments after defeating Princeton Post 218, 19-2, in five innings at Princeton Day School.
By doing so, Post 401 (11-11) clinched seventh place and a spot in the upcoming district tournaments.
“We are very excited,” said South Brunswick left fielder Joe Pedulla after driving in five runs vs. Post 218. “Going into our last three games, we knew we had to win all three to make the tournament.”
After falling to 8-11 with a loss to Allentown Sunday, Post 401 did win out — defeating Ewing Post 314, the North Hamilton Hibos and Princeton to insure itself of another postseason berth.
To do that, South Brunswick had to get steady pitching and plenty of hitting, which is something that the team expected to do well all summer. That has not always been the case, so the team jumped out in the third inning Wednesday after only holding a 1-0 lead after two innings.
“It was just our approach that needed work,” Pedulla said. “I tried looking for the right pitches. We all had to hit the ball and perform.”
Things changed in the third inning when Brandon Rivera beat out an infield hit with one out, then stole two bases. After a walk to Chris Perdoni, Kevin Reyes singled in Rivera before Pedulla launched a triple to right-center field to bring home two more runs. Connor Carey and Tim Ruckdeschel drew walks from Princeton starting pitcher Owen Seals to reload the bases before Will Beck ripped a two-run single as part of a six-run frame.
Once they found their strokes, the Post 401 players did not want to stop, scoring 10 more runs in the fourth S. BRUNSWICK
abr hbi Viani 2b-cf 5 3 3 2 Rivera ss 4 3 3 1 Perdoni 1b 2 3 2 1 Reyes rf 3 3 2 3 Cross cr-rf 1 2 0 0 Pedulla lf 4 1 2 5 Carey 3b 1 1 1 1 White 3b 00 00 Rckdschl c 3 0 10 WBeck cf-p 4 2 23 Laurie p 2100 MJames p 1000 Totals 31 19 16 16 Totals
S. Brunswick (11-11) Princeton (2-20)
PRINCETON
abr hbi Dudeck cf 2 0 1 0 Girrd lf-3b 3 0 0 0 Sumnrs 1b 3 1 1 0 Silvrmn 2b 2 0 0 0 Drbn dhplf 3 0 1 1 Sarsfld rf 2000 Bocian c 2000 Powell ss 2000 Kfmn 3b-p 2 1 2 0 Seals p-3b 0 0 0 0
21 2 5 1
106 (10)2 — 19 00011—2
Game ended by 10-run rule.
E — Viani, Rivera, Silverman, Seals; LOB — South Brunswick 7, Prineton 6; 2B — Carey, Reyes, Viani, Dudeck, Kaufman; 3B — Pedulla; SF — Pedulla, Carey; SB — Viani, Perdoni, Rivera 2, Carey, Girouard 2, Sumners.
IP H R ER BBSO SOUTH BRUNSWICK POST 401
Laurie W,1-0 3.0 2 0 0 1 3 MJames 1.0 2 1 1 0 2 Beck 1.0 1 1012 PRINCETON POST 218
Seals L,0-4 3.0 7 7 6 3 1 Durbin 0.2 6 10 4 2 0 Kaufman 1.1 3 2 1 1 1 HbP- by Kaufman (White); WP — Laurie; PB — Bocian 2; Balk — Beck. inning. Pedulla had a sacrifice fly and a two-run single in that rally, in which South Brunswick sent 15 men to the plate.
“We didn’t want them to turn over anything,” Post 218 all-purpose player Parker Kaufman said.
Kaufman, who will be a sophomore at Princeton High in the fall, played third base and pitched against South Brunswick — two of the four positions he usually plays. Kaufman also had a good day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored in the bottom of the fifth.
Even with Kaufman limiting the visitors to two runs in his 1 1/3 innings pitched, Princeton’s late flurry (runs in the fourth and fifth) were not enough to keep the game or season going for Post 218, which finished 2-20.
For Pedulla, who graduated from Monroe High and will head to Gordon College in Boston in the fall, the summer will continue. He and his teammates are hoping to find the same consistency they have in their last three games as they head into New Jersey District Tournament play.