Ryan Costello home run record pursuit put on hold; Middletown South downs Ranney

MIDDLETOWN - Ryan Costello's pursuit of both the Shore Conference and state single-season home run records was put on hold Monday.

Hopefully, the hold is just temporarily.

Costello, Ranney's senior first baseman and a Louisiana State University recruit, left the Panthers' 5-3 defeat to Middletown South at Walter Woods Field in a Shore Conference Tournament Round of 16 game after he was hit on the hand from a pitch from Middletown South ace left-hander Mason Christopher in the top of the third.

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Costello was tended to by Middletown South athletic trainer Stacy White both immediately after he was hit and then again just before his No. 2 spot in the batting order came around in the top of the fourth.

After the second treatment, Costello left the field sitting in a cart driven to the school's parking lot.

"He had some soreness,'' Ranney coach Pat Geroni said. "Out of precaution, there is no reason to mess with anything going forward. We want him to get checked out just to make sure he's OK. I told his dad, 'If there is something minor, I don't want it to be major' ''

Geroni said there was no swelling when Costello was checked out at the field.

"There's no reason to make him swing here at like 70 percent for a high school baseball game,'' Geroni said. "It was on the padding of his left hand. She (White) did a bunch of tests. She was awesome. Hopefully, he's fully cleared and we get him back soon.''

Costello, who walked in his first at-bat Monday, has 14 homers on the season. He is one away from tying the Shore Conference single-season record of 15 set by Joe Stanzione of Middletown South in 2022. The state record is 18 set by Los Angeles Angels' star outfielder Mike Trout in 2009 and equaled by equaled by Ashton Bardzell of Ramsey in 2014.

Ranney's next scheduled game is Saturday at St. Rose. Geroni said before Monday's game he would look to add games later in the week if the Panthers lost Monday.

A much smoother second season for Jeff Karpell as Middletown South head coach

Middletown South, which did not qualify for the SCT last season in Jeff Karpell's first season as head coach, advanced to the quarterfinal for first time since 2021, when it lost to Red Bank Catholic and Caseys' ace pitcher Shane Panzini in the final. That Middletown South team went on to win the NJSIAA Group 4 championship.

Last season was probably a situation of Karpell, who had a successful six-season stint at Shore Regional from 2006-2011 that included the Blue Devils advancing to the NJSIAA Group 2 championship game in 2009, getting to know the Middletown South players and the Middletown South players getting to know.

"Whenever you start a head coaching job, the first year is always the hardest,'' Karpell said. "You're trying to do some different things - some new things. Sometimes, some of the kids are all bought in and sometimes they're not sure if it's going to work out the way they envisoned.

"I feel like this group, with the second year with these guys have brought into everything, the coaches are trying to do with them.''

Another major factor in last year's up and down 13-13 season was an injury to ace pitcher Ben Schild that prevented him from pitching for about a month of the season. Schild, now at the University of Connecticut, was the winning pitcher in the 2021 Group 4 state final.

"We did a great last year battling back,'' Karpell said. "We were proud of how we finished and I feel a lot of the kids have carried that into this year.''

The Eagles (15-5), who are the No. 3 seed, will host No. 6 seed and four-time defending champion Red Bank Catholic Wednesday, weather permitting, in the quarterfinal.

Middletown South broke a 2-2 tie in Monday's game on an RBI double by Robert Chiusano and run-scoring single by Brody Tacca.

Two keys were Christopher pitching out of a second and third, one-out jam in the first with Ranney (14-6) already ahead 14-6 and the Eagles throwing a runner out at the plate in the sixth trying to score on a triple.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ baseball: Ryan Costello injured in Ranney defeat in SCT