Point Pleasant Beach wins another baseball title: 'It's what we're made for'

POINT PLEASANT BEACH – Winning the NJSIAA Central Group 1 championship has become familiar to the Point Pleasant Beach High School baseball program.

Friday, the Garnet Gulls made it four sectional titles in the last five seasons with an emphatic 9-1 win over Shore Regional.

“I think winninng might be the best feeling ever,” senior center fielder/left handed pitcher Tommy Conroy, who led off a six-run bottom of the third with a home run to left and added a two-run single to plate the final runs of that inning, said. “It’s what we’re made for.”

Conroy, senior catcher Danny Lubach, senior right-handed pitcher Bennett Moberg and senior shortstop Antonio Acevedo have all been part of three sectional championship teams and the Garnet Gulls’ first state finalist team in 2024.

“This feeling, I can do this every day,” Lubach, who had a ground rule double in the third, said. “(Thursday night), I’m going to sleep and I’m just thinking about the possibility. It’s a real special team here and it’s a great program. These moments never get old. ”

Point Beach (18-6) will host Woodstown (21-8) Monday in a Group 1 semifinal. Woodstown defeated Maple Shade 2-0 Friday in the South Group 1 championship game. The Group 1 state championship game is June 14 at 4 p.m. at Rutgers University.

Until head coach Angelo Fiore and associate head coach Joe Mazza came to Point Beach 12 seasons ago, the prospect of winning a state championship or even a sectional title was not likely.

“Years ago, the players we had here built the foundation,” Fiore said. “The 2022 group (the team that won Point Beach its first sectional title) were able to break that mould and ice. These kids right here, when Lubach came in as a freshman and Conroy came in as a freshman, they’ve been able to embrace the culture, lead everybody and set the standard high. We’re super proud of them.”

The Garnet Gulls, who have been one of the Shore’s best programs in recent seasons, had already taken it to another level this season when they won the prestigious Shore Conference Class A South divisional championship. Class A South has long been the power division in Ocean County.

This team became the first Point Beach team in any sport to win a Class A South title and the first Group 1 team to win that title.

Class A South has proven its mettle in the state tournament. Brick Memorial won the Central Group 3 championship Friday for the first sectional baseball title in its history with a 7-0 win over defending Group 3 state champion Northern Burlington. Point Beach defeated Brick Memorial twice during the season.

“Playing the A South schedule is probably the main reason we won (the sectional title),” Conroy, who also pitched final two innings in relief Friday, said.

Five Class A South teams in all advanced to the sectional semifinals.

“In A South, you’re playing a team every day that is a state tournament team,” Lubach said. “Opportunities like this would not be possible without that.”

Shore (21-9), which was defeated by Point Beach in the sectional final for the second time in the last three seasons, had recorded four straight shutouts going into Friday’s game. Three of those shutouts had come in state tournament games.

The Blue Devils had 14 shutouts on the season entering Friday’s game. Even with senior left-handed ace Ryan Barham unavailable due to the NJSIAA’s pitch count rules, It still figured to be tough for Point Beach to break through and score runs.

However, Point Beach worked out nine walks against four pitches. Three of the walks scored runs. The Garnet Gulls also had three batters hit by pitches.

“Second time around, we knew we were going to get to them,” Conroy said.

Senior first baseman Dylan Ryan plated the first run with a single to center in the second.

Sophomore designated hitter Thomas Slobiski and Ryan had run-scoring walks and senior right fielder Davin Marquez had a run-scoring single in the third to go with Conroy’s homer and two-run single.

Slobiski had an RBI single and Marquez a run-scoring walk in the fourth.

“I feel like we have one of the best lineups in the state. I feel like we can compete with any pitching staff,” Conroy said.

Moberg pitched three-hit ball over the first five innings and struck out four and walked one while throwing 66 pitches to improve to 7-2 on the season. Conroy pitched two innings of one-hit ball and threw 33 pitches. Both will be available under the pitching rule to pitch Monday.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ Shore baseball: Point Pleasant Beach beats Shore in NJSIAA sectional final