Baseball: South Hunterdon comes close, but misses division title with loss to Manville

MANVILLE – South Hunterdon High School’s baseball team looked poised to do something the Eagles hadn’t done since 1988. Manville prevented that from happening Friday.

South needed a win at Manville and at Bound Brook May 16 to earn a share of the Skyland Conference Mountain Division title with Warren Hills. But Manville’s 5-3 win left the Eagles with only a long bus ride back to Lambertville. Warren Hills is the division champ.

The Eagles (9-5) were after their first division title since 1988 and were very confident in ending the drought. They beat Manville 12-2 on April 16 and topped Warren Hills 8-0 Tuesday to improve their division record to 5-1. Hills beat South on April 11.

But a superb effort by Manville sophomore righties Brandon Shimp and Josh D’Ambrosio was the key in the Mustangs not only being spoilers, but also in leading them to a sixth straight win. Manville, 9-5 overall, finished 5-3 in division. Warren Hills finished 7-1 to win it.

“I’m sick for these kids,” said South coach Ben Donaghy. “We wanted the conference championship. Did we come out a little tight? I don’t know.”

Manville had just three hits against South senior ace Dillon Gallagher and junior Nate Lawton. But they also worked long counts at the plate and took advantage of poor South defense.

Manville scored a run in the first inning to tie the game at 1-1 and three more in the second to take a 4-1 lead. South cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth on a Lawton RBI hit and an error.

But D’Ambrosio led off the Manville fifth with a double, stole third and came home on a throwing error to make it 5-3. He scored three of the Mustangs’ runs and had two hits and reached on an infield error.

“They (Manville) fought the whole game,” said Donaghy.

The Eagles loaded the bases with no outs in the third, but Shimp got a strikeout, stabbed a grounder and threw home for the force and got a strikeout looking. In the fifth, D’Ambrosio stranded a runner at third with a strikeout. In the seventh, an error and hit by pitch set up the Eagles once again, but D’Ambrosio struck out two before hitting Anthony Venettone with a pitch to load the bases. But he got a soft liner shot to end it.

“We came out early and capitalized on some things and we were able to run a little bit,” said Snyder, whose team went 14-8 overall and 5-3 in division last year. “Then it comes down to just trying to stay focused and limit any type of damage that they do.”

Shimp’s start was his first of the season. He suffered a mild knee injury early in the season and was kept to the bullpen. He pitched 4 2/3 innings for the win with five hits, three walks allowed with six strikeouts. D’Ambrosio got a very deserved save.

“Those guys threw strikes,” said Donaghy.

South Hunterdon was the second seed and Manville sixth in the latest NJSIAA Central Group 1 power point race. So, there could be one more meeting between the two.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Baseball: Manville tops South Hunterdon