Middletown North Advances In Shore Conference Tournament Behind Garrett French Pitching Gem

Photo above: Garrett French after big win Wednesday

MIDDLETOWN – Garrett French hurled a complete game, three-hit shutout and the tenth-seeded Lions scored solo runs in the first, second and fifth inning to beat Central 3-0 advancing into the Shore Conference Tournament round of sixteen.

French (7-2, 1,14 ERA) had a perfect game going through three innings but an error on leadoff batter Shane Black’s grounder to short in the top of the fourth gave No. 23 seed Central its first baserunner of the game.

The junior right-hander looked as though he had no-hit stuff going for him Wednesday but Ryan Galati’s infield hit with one out in the fifth broke up French’s no-hit bid. Shortstop Tyler Ras’ throw to first on a nice backhanded stab on Galati’s grounder in the hole was just late to first by a blink of the eye.

“I was just trying to throw strikes and get ahead of the batters,” said French. “My fastball was my out pitch and I mixed in a few curveballs.”

In complete command from the first to the last pitch, French didn’t allow a baserunner past second base and faced only 26 batters - five over the minimum. He didn’t issue his first, and only, walk of the game until the top of the seventh and he finished with four strikeouts.

“Garrett’s one of our go-too pitchers,” Middletown North head coach Justin Nathanson said of French. “He came on strong for us in a big game in hot weather. He did a great job getting ahead of the batters putting them in a defensive spot and capitalizing. He’s done this all year for us, he’s a special pitcher.”

The Lions loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first on a walk, single and hit batter before sophomore right fielder Jason Timmons brought a run home on a RBI sacrifice fly. Another walk re-loaded the bases with two outs but the Lions left the bases full after junior designated hitter Connor Welch’s hard-hit line drive was snagged by Central first baseman Ryan Greene preventing any further damage by the Lions.

Middletown North added a solo run in second inning on a leadoff single and stolen base by junior third baseman Nick Donato, a sacrifice bunt by senior Marc Cerbo moving Donato to third and an RBI grounder to the right side of the infield by Ras handing the Lions a 2-0 lead.

In the meantime, French was relying on the command of his fastball to set the first nine Central hitters he faced down in order including a six-pitch second inning.

Ras led off the bottom of the fifth with a booming triple into the right-centerfield gap and junior Brendan Doherty’s line drive RBI single up the middle gave the Lions another insurance run pushing the lead to 3-0 after five innings.

With one out in the top of the seventh, an error and French’s only walk of the game brought the tying run to the plate but French finished off his pitching gem inducing pop out to short right before making the play on a foul ball in front of the Central dugout.

“I didn’t lose focus,” French said of his walk after the error. “I was just tired and needed to get outs.”

After an up-and-down season which saw the Lions (13-8, 8-6) suffer through a number of tough losses including its 7-5, 12-inning loss to Manasquan and a 7-6 loss to Monmouth in the MCT quarterfinals that sent them into a four-game tailspin after winning five in a row, Middletown North appears to have righted the ship just in time.

“Momentum is always nice but we knew in those loses we were playing very good baseball,” Nathanson said of his teams play. “We were pretty much one play away from winning every single one of those games so we just tried to be mentally tough. I’m proud of my guys not letting it (the losses) affect them and they’ve been playing quality baseball in all facets.”

Wednesday’s win was its fifth in a row with victories over MCT champion Red Bank Catholic and Christian Brothers Academy - both top 10 teams in the Shore Conference. Middletown North has climbed in-and-out of the top 10 a number of times this season but with this current streak they should make another appearance.

The Lions will now travel to seventh-seeded Toms River North (15-6, 9-5) for a round of 16 matchup on Saturday. The Mariners are on a roll themselves after beating No. 1 Toms River South advancing to the OCT final versus Southern tonight, then clobbering Pt. Beach 15-0 in the SCT opening round yesterday behind Jon Giordano’s five-inning no hitter which saw him strikeout 10 batters in five innings.

“We’re playing really good right now, we’re hot,” French said of his team’s recent play. “We’re sticking together and hitting the ball good. I feel we’re going to be fine in the states and Shore Conference because we have three solid pitchers - Chris throws strikes and Tyler throws hard.”

With two off days until Saturday’s game, the Lions are in good shape pitching wise with either Ras (2-3, 4.35 ERA) or surprising sophomore Chris Price (3-1, 1.93) getting the nod.

“We’re very fortunate to have the three pitchers we have,” said Nathanson. “We needed for someone to step up this year and Chris Price has done that and some and Tyler’s a special player. We’re looking for him, a three-year starter as a junior, to lead us and carry us through the playoffs.

“Absolutely,” Nathanson emphatically stated when asked if his team can make a run in the tournament. “We set goals at the beginning of the year and one of those goals was wining the Shore Conference Tournament. We know we can do that but in order to do that we got to stay together, play as a team and everyone has to do their job.”

Senior Jared Morris went the distance in taking the loss for Central allowing three runs, five hits, and three walks with three strikeouts.

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