HOLMDEL— As the ABCCL season turns the calendar into the month of July, the Garden State
Junebugs are as hot as any team after sweeping the Wall Clippers in a doubleheader at St. John
Vianney High School.

Both sides of the ball have been clicking for Garden State as of late, and the story remained the
same today. Strong pitching and hitting was present throughout both contests, and Ryan Pozo
led the Junebugs into battle in game one.

It would be hard to follow up a 16-strikeout performance in the team’s previous game this past
Thursday, a 7-3 win against Langan Baseball, but Pozo set the tone.

He would find himself in a jam early, allowing back-to-back singles to begin the game to put
runners on the corners with no outs. Pozo would get a crucial pickoff out on Christian Bauman
to alleviate some of the pressure, and after a walk, would retire the next two batters with a
huge strikeout followed by a flyout to escape the scoring chance.

Pozo would settle in for the remainder of his outing, finishing with a line of three full innings
pitched, four strikeouts on four hits and one walk. He allowed no runs in the appearance,
improving his earned run average on the season to 0.98.

Clippers starter Luca Marshall hung with Pozo, throwing three shutout innings of his own, and
allowing just two hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Once both teams dove into the
bullpens, the offenses would take advantage.

The Junebugs would strike first in the bottom of the fourth inning when Ezra Caspi lined a
bases-loaded single to center field to end the scoreless tie. Two runs scored on the play, but
with only one out, Garden State would not plate any more in the inning. The Clippers would
make them pay two innings later when the top of the order would come back around.

After being announced to the Shore Division All-Star team on Saturday, Christian Bauman, John
Wade, and Jack Scrivanic made up the meat of the Clippers order. In the top of the sixth,
Bauman would make up for getting picked off in the first with a leadoff double, his third hit of
the game. Wade followed up by drawing a walk, setting the table for Scrivanic representing the
go-ahead run.

Scrivanic would take full advantage of the situation, blasting a go-ahead three-run home run
and showing exactly why he is an All-Star. However, the Wall lead would not last for long.
The Junebugs exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to regain the advantage 9-3.
Garden State would bat around in the inning, retaking the lead on a two-RBI single from Joe
Cilea and blowing the game open when Chris Corchado unloaded the bases with a double into
the left-center field gap.

The game was pretty much wrapped up by the top of the seventh inning, but Christian Bauman
crushed a no-doubt two-run home run to right field to cut the Junebug lead to the eventual
final of 9-5. Bauman went 4-4 in game one, finishing a triple shy of the cycle, and ended the day
6-7.

Game two was much more distant, as Garden State scored early and often. The Junebugs
scored a pair of runs in each of the first four innings, with Jimmy Pasquale getting things started
in the first inning on an opposite-field two-run homer. Four other Junebugs batters recorded at
least one RBI, which put the game out of reach when paired with starter Alec Shwartz and
Dylan Wanagiel’s combined five shutout innings.

Wall would put together a bit of a rally in the sixth inning, scoring three runs, but it was not
nearly enough to make the game close. The Junebugs now enter the All-Star break in the midst
of a four game win streak, and are 7-2-1 in their last 10. They sit just 1.5 games out of first place
in the Shore Division, and are playing like a team no one wants to face.