Baseball: Hunterdon Central captures third straight HWS Tournament title

PHILLIPSBURG – Hunterdon Central began the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Baseball Tournament with an ordinary 8-5 record – at least by Red Devils standards – and thus were seeded third behind North Hunterdon and Pope John XXIII-Sparta.

It wound up winning the event Wednesday for the third straight season with a commanding 12-5 win over No. 1 seed and state-ranked Pope John (14-7) at the Phillipsburg Athletic Complex.

Any volunteers to play the Red Devils (12-8) in a first round North 2 Group 4 game next week?

Hunterdon Central has now won the tournament seven times since Sussex County schools joined in 2010. The Red Devils have beaten Pope John in three straight finals. Last year Central won 12-3.

So is this the team that lost to Randolph 10-0 last week or the one that rolled through the HWST, outscoring its four opponents 38-11?

“I believe that when we play our best we can beat any team in the state,” said coach Kevin Cuozzi, whose team won North 2 Group 4 and Central Group 4 titles the last two seasons.

Senior Jared Cassella drove in the first run, scoring Mike Contiliano from second in the first inning. They scored three more in the second – plating one of them on a safety squeeze off No. 4 hitter and senior catcher Jim Lundari’s bunt.

Central had 19 hits – all of them singles.

Hunterdon Central game balls

Senior righty Noah Baird pitched 3 1/3 innings in relief of senior lefty James Scott. Baird got the win, striking out six. He allowed two hits, four walks and three runs. Sophomore Ryan Lundari finished.

Junior shortstop Mike Contiliano was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. Senior Kyle Yasunas went 2-for-3 with three RBI and Cassella went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Pope John game balls

Mac Tufts singled twice with two RBI and Brandon Weir singled and drove in two runs.

 A different double play

Contiliano and senior second baseman Andrew Nguyen partnered for a very interesting and important double play in the fifth.

The Lions had the bases loaded and no outs down 9-2 – perhaps an extra base hit or two away in getting back into the game. Contiliano scooped a hard-hit ground ball – more like a hard hit liner at his feet.

Contiliano threw the ball to Nguyen for a force for the first out. The runner who had been at second was off the base and attempted to get back , thinking Contiliano had caught it. Nguyen tagged him for the second out. Then Nguyen looked over at first.

A triple play?

“I looked at first and it wasn’t 100 percent so I didn’t risk the throw to try to get a triple play because I wasn’t trying to do too much with the big lead, there was no need,” said Nguyen.

They said it

Contiliano said, “We all showed up today and came ready to go. We knew who we were going to play. We knew it was going to be a tough team, and we showed up ready, and we came with energy today, and it felt good.”

Cuozzi said about the team’s inconsistent play, “It’s just the way the season has been going for us. We’ll put up a rough game, and then we’ll come out and we’ll do this. I’m just really happy for the seniors. This is a senior group that works hard every day, whether it’s a 10-0 loss or whatnot. They come out and work hard and love playing for each other.”

What’s next

Hunterdon Central was scheduled to play its last regular season game against South Brunswick Thursday before waiting to see where it lands for the beginning of the North 2, 4 sectionals next week.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ baseball: Hunterdon Central captures third straight HWST title