MANALAPAN—With the All-Star break fully in the rearview mirror, the focus around the ABCCL
shifts to the playoff push as the regular season enters the home stretch.

Just one game in the standings separated Langan Baseball and NJ Elite entering the day as they
met for a doubleheader. Along with the Wall Clippers, all three teams will be fighting for the
last two playoff spots in the Shore division with only a handful of games remaining.

Both teams had the opportunity to separate themselves from the pack, and NJ Elite looked
poised to do so early in game one. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings, led by
a mix of good offense and plenty of Langan errors.

The scoring started for NJ Elite in the first inning on a Jacob Ramirez RBI double down the third
base line. Langan starter John Slover looked poised to get out of the inning by recording the
second out of the inning on the next batter, but loaded the bases by giving two free passes on a
hit by pitch and walk. A dropped pop-up by the second baseman in the following at-bat allowed
two runners to score, and NJ Elite would remain with the 3-0 lead after the inning.

The lead grew for Elite in the next inning, as Langan played more bad baseball on the defensive
side. Two consecutive singles and a sacrifice bunt to begin the inning set the table for the top of
the order. Despite the ball not leaving the infield for the rest of the inning, NJ Elite doubled
their lead to 6-0.

With some bad decision making plus runners stealing bases and advancing on wild pitches, it
appeared as though Langan had little control over the game. At one point, manager Russ Dunn
yelled out, “If I had a tent it would be a… circus.”

After the second inning, Langan began to polish their defense, but were still allowing runs to
cross.

The book closed on Slover’s day in the middle of the fourth run when Mike Caldon entered to
the bases loaded and Langan down 8-1. He stranded Elite’s threat to blow the game open even
further with a strikeout and an inning-ending ground out that would prove to be huge later in
the game.

Caldon would finish the rest of the game and was stellar in his 3.2 innings pitched. He walked
one batter and struck out seven in the appearance, most importantly holding the NJ Elite
offense in check while the Langan bats woke up.

After chipping away to cut the deficit to five runs in the fifth inning on an error and a sacrifice
fly, most of the damage came in the sixth. Caldon pitched a scoreless frame against the top of
the order in the top half of the inning, giving Langan a chance to do something big late in the
game.

The perfect opportunity arose when they would load the bases with no outs in NJ Elite reliever
John Limaldi’s third inning of work. Hunter Boag entered to stifle the great scoring chance, but
the Langan bats would prove to be too much.

After walking the first batter he faced, Boag allowed a two RBI single from pinch-hitter Samuel
Martucci to quickly make it a two-run game with the tying run on base. Langan got closer to
tying the game when the following batter Tyler Himielewski roped an RBI single past the
shortstop to close the gap to 8-7.

Boag was finally able to stop the bleeding with the tying run in scoring position and go-ahead
run on, forcing three huge strikeouts to retire the side. Quickly, the tide of the game had shifted
from a blowout to a nailbiter, with the best yet to come.

NJ Elite got an insurance run in the top of the seventh when pinch hitter Benjamin Cuccolo
doubled and Boag helped himself out by following with an RBI single to centerfield. Boag
remained on the mound for the seventh to try and get the save, but his troubles with the
Langan lineup continued.

Boag quickly found himself in a jam when he walked the first batter and the third baseman
botched a grounder, leading to two runners in scoring position and none out. Langan continued
to pass the baton, as the next batter Reid Duffus dropped a game-tying two-run double down
the left field line and represented the winning run himself. Duffus would be the last batter for
Boag, with Thomas Turnbach entering to try and prevent a loss in a game, in accordance with
league rules, would not go into extras if the score remained tied at the end of the inning.

NJ Elite manager Eric Alvarez opted to intentionally walk Dom Salot to set up a force play at any
base, but the decision would prove not to matter when a dropped pop-up by the centerfielder
allowed all runners to advance safely. Langan was in the driver’s seat with the bases loaded and
the winning run only 90 feet away and still no outs.

This time around, Langan was able to break through. Martucci, who had a huge hit in the sixth,
wasted no time by ambushing the first pitch from Turnbach and sending it to left field for the
game-winning single. Duffus scored easily as Martucci was mobbed by his teammates after
completing the improbable victory.

Game two did not feature much of the drama that the opening contest contained. Once again,
it would be NJ Elite that led first, scoring a run in each of the first three innings to take a 3-1
advantage.

NJ Elite received much more consistent outings from its pitching staff and played a much
cleaner game by not committing any errors. The game felt much more distant than the score
suggested for the majority of the contest.

Jose Peralta, the starting pitcher for NJ Elite, set the tone by giving up one hit and one earned
run in three full innings pitched, using his offspeed often to get weak contact. His arsenal
contrasted nicely with reliever Tyler Mendez, throwing gas over his two innings pitched in
which he struck out three of the seven batters he faced.

NJ Elite got the runs it needed for victory in fifth inning, already leading 4-1. An RBI groundout
and another RBI single from Hunter Boag on the afternoon made for a sizeable lead when it was
clear that Langan had used up all the magic it had.

Langan put together a bit of a rally in their last at-bats, scoring two runs on Garrett Allo’s single
up the middle. NJ Elite refused to collapse twice, putting the game away on a groundout to the
pitcher to secure the split.

Despite trailing for 13 of the 14 innings played, Langan did not lose any ground in the standings.
Langan and NJ Elite will get another crack at each other when they meet for the third straight
game this Tuesday in what serves as a rubber game for a three-game series.