Baseball Takes Down Middlesex County College In 8 Innings

Lincroft, NJ- The Brookdale baseball team defeated the Blue Colts of Middlesex County College, 12-2. Sophomore outfielder Jon Roszel went 4-5 at the plate with a double, triple and 2-run homer. Roszel also brought in 4 RBI's. Sophomore third baseman Ryan Kirman drove in 2 RBI's.

Sophomore pitcher Billy Worswick threw 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. Sophomore outfielder Nick Vitale smashed a triple and scored 2 runs for the Jersey Blues.

The team returns to action on the road on Friday, April 10th at Delaware County Community College.   

Article is courtesy of Mike Ready, a journalist for the Jersey Sporting News and Middletown Patch, who covers Brookdale Community College athletics.

Lincroft, NJ- Jon Roszel went 4-for-5 with two home runs, four RBI's, a double and a triple, and Billy Worswick tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, while striking out 11 without giving up an earned run in Brookdale's 12-2 win over Middlesex County Thursday at MacLaughlin Field.

Roszel (Manchester H.S.) came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning needing only a single to complete the cycle (HR,3B,2B,1B) but instead drilled his second homer of the day, easily clearing the fences in dead centerfield.

"The guys in the dugout were letting me know about the cycle when I came to bat in the seventh," Roszel said. "I wasn't thinking it, I was just thinking let's get out of here with the win and go home early."

Worswick (Governor Livingston H.S.), who won his second game of the season against zero losses, was in complete control the entire game mixing a combination of pitches while keeping the Middlesex batters off balance all day. He had a wicked changeup working as his out-pitch that was set up by a moving fastball and a curve that continually found the plate.

"It was a day that as a team we all needed to step-up and we all did," Worswick said. "This weather has affected everyone and we needed a win today. It's tough to get anything going with so many rainouts."

The weather has played havoc with the Blues scheduling thus far this season. Almost half of Brookdale's games have been postponed due to rain or wet field conditions and it's been tough for the team to get into any real rhythm, especially the pitching staff.

"The weather's been horrible, you play one game and you're off five days," Brookdale coach Johnny Johnson said. It's been tough on our pitchers, they get mentally prepared to pitch on a certain day then it's cancelled and they don't know when they'll pitch next; you can't get into any type of rhythm like that. We have a young infield that's lacking collegiate level experience, so our defense has been hurt by the weather as well. This is a good ball club, if we can get some games under our belt we'll be okay."

The win gets Brookdale (10-10, 2-1) back to the .500 mark with better than half the season still to play. Six of Brookdale's 10 losses have been one-run games, one game was decided by two runs and two by three runs, so the Blues record is a bit deceiving.

Brookdale broke the game open scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth, one in the seventh and three in the bottom of eighth to end it after Spencer Young's (Jackson Memorial H.S.) bases loaded line-drive single pushed the lead to ten, 12-2.

Freshman righthander Luis Hidalgo (Ridgefield Memorial H.S.) pitched a perfect eighth inning in his third appearance of the spring.

Brookdale boasts a team batting average of .361 and has scored 140 runs in 20 games for an average of seven runs per game.

"This team can hit," said Johnson. "One through nine can all hit, if we can just put it together defensively this team can go a long way. We keep having that one bad inning because of an error here and an error there. If we can correct that we should be able to get it going."

The top five hitters in the batting order accounted for 14 of Brookdale's 20 hits, with leadoff hitter Nick Vitale (Brick Township H.S.) going 3-for-6 with two runs scored. Vitale is batting .451 this season with 5 HR, 5 3B, 6 2B, 16 RBI's and a 1.293 OPS.

Roszel was 4-for-5 to raise his season average to .407 with 4 HR, 14 RBI's and a 1.250 OPS. Number three hitter Spencer Young (.348, 6 2B, 3B) went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI's. Cleanup hitter Tim Carney (Brick Township H.S.) had two hits in five trips to the plate and scored two runs. Carney is hitting .456 with 4 HR, 11 RBI's, 3 2B, 3B and a 1.237 OPS.

The No.5 hitter, Ryan Kirman (Red Bank Regional), went 3-for-5 driving a run and scoring a run. Kirman is batting .400 with a homer, 10 doubles and 16 RBI's.

Designated hitter Travis Rudic (Freehold Boro H.S.), hitting an even .500 this spring with 5 doubles a homer and 13 RBI's, went 1-for-2, while catcher Aron Kane (Manchester Township H.S.) had a big 2-run double and an RBI walk.  

"We have a lot of games remaining and with the pitching depth and hitting we have we should be able – weather permitting – to get on a nice roll," Johnson added. "We just got to ask the young guys to step up and play to their potential; there's no doubt in my mind they can do it."

By: Mike Ready

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