Who were the Shore Conference baseball stars from Week 5 of the 2024 season?
Week 5 was the busiest week of the 2024 season so far in Shore Conference baseball.
The Ocean County Tournament concluded with Toms River East winning the tournament for the first time since 2007 and the ninth time overall.
The championship bracket of the Monmouth County Tournament got down to the semifinals, with Christian Brothers Academy, Middletown South, Red Bank Catholic and Middletown North advancing.
Several of the Shore Conference divisional races came into clearer focus with Wall (Class A Central), Southern (Class A South), Matawan (Class B South), Point Pleasant Beach (Class B Central) and Point Pleasant Borough (Class B South) clinching ties for divisional titles through the games of this past Saturday.
Of course, there were some outstanding performances last week.
Here are 10 of them.
Danny DiTullio (CBA): DiTullio fired a 2-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk in the Colts’ 1-0 win over Howell in a MCT Marty Kenney Sr. Division (championship bracket) quarterfinal.
Zach Hampton (Middletown North): Hampton pitched nine scoreless innings in the Lions’ wins over Rumson-Fair Haven and Matawan in the Monmouth County Tournament Marty Kenney Sr. Division (championship bracket), including a complete-game four-hitter in a 11-0 win over Matawan.
Brady Lesiak (Southern): Lesiak went 3-for-4 and pitched the final four innings in the Rams' 7-2 win over Jackson Memorial that enabled them to clinch a tie for the Shore Conference Class A South championship. He also had a two-run double and hurled 3 1/3 scoreless innings in Southern's 5-0 win over Toms River North and scored three runs in the Rams' 14-3 win over Toms River North.
Jake Marciano (Donovan Catholic): Marciano allowed three hits and struck out 10 and walked four in six innings in the Griffins’ 2-1 win over two-time defending NJSIAA Non Public A champion Don Bosco Prep.
Jack Concordia (Middletown South): Concordia went 8-for-14 with three RBI, scored nine runs and had three RBI in the Eagles’ wins over Manalapan, Freehold Township, Allentown and St. Rose.
Matt Ferrara (Toms River East): Ferrara’s two-run double in the bottom of the sixth plated the go-ahead runs in the Raiders’ 8-5 win over Jackson Memorial in the Ocean County Tournament championship game. It was Toms River East’s first OCT title since 2007 and ninth overall. He also had a go-ahead two-run triple in Toms River East’s come-from-behind 10-9 regular season win over Jackson Memorial.
Rob Stock (Shore): Stock had two complete-game shutouts with 17 strikeouts and just six hits allowed against Rumson-Fair Haven and Ewing.
Christian Suarez (Wall): Suarez pitched a complete-game three-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk in the Crimson Knights’ 1-0 win over Raritan.
Declan Leary (Red Bank Catholic): Leary allowed just a combined five hits and one run in two complete-game wins. He had a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings against Holmdel before he wound up with a one-hitter and had a four-hitter against Ranney in a Monmouth County Tournament Marty Kenney Sr. Division (championship bracket) quarterfinal.
Jimi Popp (Brick Memorial): Popp went a combined 7-for-10 with three RBI and scored five runs in the Mustangs’ wins over St. Rose and Brick twice.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ baseball: Standouts from week 5 of the 2024 season
