S. Jersey Boys: Lenape earns shot at Group 4 baseball title

Designated hitter Brian Black poked a single to right field past a drawn-in infield to cap a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh and keep

Lenape

alive in the South Jersey Group 4 baseball tournament with a 6-5 semifinal thriller over visiting

Toms River South

yesterday.

The Indians (19-4), who rallied to win in the bottom of the seventh for the third straight game, trailed by 5-2 when Matt Conforti started the comeback with a single.

After an out, Ryan Fletcher singled and Kevin Crook walked to load the bases. Derek Johnson singled in a run, an error on Ryan Lavell's ground ball let in another run, and pinch hitter Dan Scalia tied the game with a single, setting the stage for Black.

Lenape will face Toms River North, a 20-10 winner over visiting Cherry Hill East in the other semifinal, for the sectional crown on Friday.

South Jersey Group 3.

J.J. Williams doubled twice and Craig Lewis homered to fuel

Timber Creek

's 8-2 semifinal victory over visiting

West Deptford

.

Williams scored three runs, Nate Floyd knocked in a pair of runs, and winner Jim Schramm and reliever John Amato combined to stop the Eagles on four hits.

South Jersey Group 2.

Run-scoring hits by Dan Caregnato and Ken Miles in the second inning gave

Buena

enough offense to end 10-seeded

Gateway

's run of upsets, 3-2, in a semifinal at sixth-seeded Buena.

Caregnato doubled in Joe Cifaloglio and Luke Root and scored on Miles' single as the Chiefs bunched four of their five hits in the inning.

Gateway got its runs on Nick Alloway's two-run homer off winning pitcher Mike Ney, who struck out 10.

South Jersey Group 1.

Pitman

(18-5) avenged a pair of regular-season losses to

Pennsville

by shocking the visiting Eagles, 3-1.

Rob Cressman pitched a complete game for the Panthers, who were outhit by 8-5. Jay Pogue and Kevin Gibbs came through with run-scoring singles in the first inning, and Adam Satanoff's RBI double in the fourth inning provided an insurance score.

Chris Szymczak carried

Maple Shade

to a win in the other semifinal, 8-5, over visiting

Gloucester

.

Szymczak went 3 for 4 at the plate as the Wildcats collected 11 hits and also handled the pitching, going 61/3 innings.

Central Jersey Group 1.

Steve Giambrone struck out eight and also drove in two runs as

Florence

defeated visiting

Metuchen

, 5-1. Quentin Lofton scored two runs, and Scott Meredith and Jim Narkun also had RBIs for the Flashes.

South Jersey Non-Public A.

Despite being held to two hits,

Holy Spirit

escaped with a 2-1 quarterfinal thriller over visiting

St. Joseph-Metuchen

.

After scoring the tying run in the sixth, the Spartans (16-7) got the winning run in the seventh when Joe Collepardi walked and advanced on E.J. Stoltzfus' bunt.

Mike Blee singled, an intentional walk to Justin Scull loaded the bases, and Collepardi ended the game by scoring on a wild pitch.

Mike Eliasen fashioned a complete game and seventh-seeded

Gloucester Catholic

scored the first eight runs en route to a 10-3 win at second-seeded

Notre Dame

.

George Spingler went 3 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, and Rob Wilgus and Mike Gartland each contributed two hits and two RBIs.

St. Augustine

was beaten, 6-3, at

Christian Brothers

, despite Anthony DeLeo's homer.

South Jersey Non-Public B.

Jared Turner's three-run homer highlighted a five-run third inning as

Holy Cross

ousted visiting

St. Joseph

, 10-6.

The Lancers' Anthony Krause drove in two runs with two doubles, Turner knocked in five runs, and Mike Loffredo struck out eight Wildcats in six innings.

Bishop Eustace

turned four walks and run-scoring hits by Jim Yezzo and Rory McTear into four second-inning runs, taking the lead for good in a 6-3 win over visiting

Wildwood Catholic

.