Toms River East Baseball beats Brick Memorial 3-1 in a nail biter that came down to the wire.
The star of the show, Toms River East senior Dan Nafzinger pitched a 1.00 Earned-Run-Average (ERA) for seven innings, almost throwing a perfect game against a 13-5 powerhouse in Brick Memorial. Toms River East also came into this contest with a record to boast about going 13-4 in the regular season. Toms River East was the defending champion as Brick Memorial looked to dethrone them.
Brick Memorial actually went up first on the scoreboard at the bottom of the second as Michael Figner hit a Run-Batted-In (RBI) single to send Jimi Popp home. However, Toms River East wasted no time at all striking back at the top of the third where Matthew Ferrara hit a bomb into left field which landed as a home run to tie up the game. Not much action to report in the fourth and fifth innings despite Toms River East having loaded the bases, but Brick Memorial secured the tie by catching a pop fly.
In the top of the sixth, Toms River East broke the deadlock as Ferrara picked up his second RBI and sent Joseph DiMeo home. Ferrara ends up going home after Michael Vaccarino hits a big double to set the lead for Toms River East at 3-1 where they would play defensively sound for the final seventh inning. The aforementioned Nafzinger pitched all seven innings and struck out 10 batters, earning a celebration with his teammates on the mound.
Toms River East wins the Ocean County Tournament Final in back to back years. Nafzinger also won tournament MVP after missing last year’s tournament championship game.
Toms River East’s next game is May 8 where they will take on Rumson-Fair Haven, while Brick Memorial will take on East Brunswick also on May 8.
