Middletown South Storms Back From Loss With 8-0 Win Over Toms River South In SCT Semifinal

Photo of Scheuer and Schild on the mound discussing strategy courtesy of Jim Rosa

RED BANK – Middletown South bounced back in a big way from one of the most devastating losses in program history when they blew a two-out, one-run lead in the seventh inning losing to Wall Township 3-2 in last Thursday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals.

The loss itself was bad enough, but with a squad predominately made up of battle-tested senior starters, most felt this was the team to beat for the state group III championship, including the Eagles themselves.

But after being given a couple of days off by head coach Ryan Spillane to clear their heads, Middletown South rebounded in a way that would make any coach proud by stomping No. 6 seed Toms River South 8-0 in Wednesday’s Shore Conference Tournament semifinal at Count Basie Field in Red Bank.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my guys bouncing back; it really shows a lot about their character,” Spillane said. “To be able to overcome that (loss) and come out here and play the way they’re capable of playing really said something about our team and how we persevered. But I told them, ‘it’s great to get to the championship, that was sweet, but we’re not done yet'.”

The second-seeded Eagles (23-5) will now make their first appearance in the SCT championship game since it won its second SCT title in 1996.

Both teams were fighting to stave off elimination and the end of their seasons, but it was Middletown South battery- mates Ian Scheuer and Zach Schild who made sure it was the Eagles who survived to play another day.

Scheuer (8-1) was phenomenal on the mound for the Eagles tossing a five-hit complete-game shutout while striking out four and walking two against a lineup that featured nine .300-plus hitters including one batter (Matt Shiffer) with a .415 average.

“We came in really confident after losing in the states; we had a chip on our shoulder,” Scheuer said. “I really think we had something to prove today so we came in with a positive attitude and a winning will.”

Schild has been catching Scheuer since they were kids and was impressed with what he had today.

“Ian was awesome,” Schild said. “I think I’ve caught every one of Ian’s starts in high school and I think his control was probably the best he’s had all year. He came to pitch today. He had command of his fastball, had command of his off-speed and just took over.”

"Ian's a senior and he's been great for us all year; he was outstanding today," Spillane said. "We scrimmaged (Toms River South) in the preseason and Ian threw great, so that worked into the equation."

Schild produced the big blow of the game, a bases-clearing three-run double in the Eagles six-run fifth inning and he picked off a runner at first base with one out in the second inning and runners at first and second when Toms River South was threatening to take an early lead.

“That (pickoff) was a big play at the time for sure,” Spillane said. “One out, first and second and that was the second out with a runner at second; that kind of cooled things off. And his double made it 6-0 so I could take a deep breath and kind off relax a little bit.”

“Honestly the loss to Wall hurt a lot,” Schild said. “It was a crushing loss but we came in here with a lot of confidence. We have 11 seniors and we’ve been playing together since we were eight years old so we knew we could get the job done. That loss stayed with this team and a lot of teams could’ve folded but we came back and put up an eight spot on a very good team.”

In the bottom of the first, Middletown South leadoff hitter Tom Gammon drilled a single up the middle and later came around to score on an Austin Markmann RBI sacrifice fly giving the Eagles a spirit-lifting 1-0 lead.

Then with one out in the second inning, the Eagles threatened again stringing together line-drive singles to right field by Ben Porpora and Ryan Ruziecki , but after advancing to second and third on a slow hopper to the mound, both runners were left stranded as Gannon flew out to left field for the final out.

In the third, a double play erased a lead-off walk to Jeremy Joyce before Markmann hammered a double into the left-centerfield gap only to be left standing on second after Jon Martin grounded out to third leaving their fourth runner on base in scoring position in only three innings.

“Early we kept getting runners in scoring position but couldn’t get the big hit,” Spillane said. “We were kind of letting them hang around. But we did a good job not being to over anxious in the strike zone in the fifth and setting Zach up. “

In the meantime, Scheuer was sailing along facing only 14 batters in innings three through six with the help of two double play balls.

The Eagles erupted in the fifth, taking advantage of Indians starting pitcher Trevor Wagner’s (6-4) wildness when the senior righty walked the bases loaded with no outs then hit Johnny Zega with a pitch for another run sending Wagner to the showers.

Right fielder T.J. Scuderi took over for Wagner and didn’t fare much better. After striking out Markmann for the first out of the inning, he walked Martin for the second run of the inning and then left a ball over the plate for Schild to drive into the left-centerfield gap for a 6-0 lead.

The Eagles weren’t quite finished with Scuderi as Schild was sent home on Ruziecki’s ground-rule double that bounced over the fence in left-centerfield holding him at second base for what looked like a sure triple.

Senior Nick Scrudato came for Scuderi and got the final out of the inning but the damage was done as the Eagles put up six runs in the inning for a 7-0 lead entering the top of the sixth inning.

The Eagles tacked on another run just for good measure in the sixth. Zega lined a two-out single through the 5-6 hole before Markmann plated him with his second double of the game – a shot over the centerfielders head.

“We were able to clear our heads over the weekend and come out today and get back to playing our brand of baseball,” Markmann said. “We haven’t won the Shore Conference Tournament since 1996 so we’ve got that we’re still playing for and we want to be the number one team in the Shore.”

“We had a good team talk on Sunday when we met back up,” Spillane said. “I talked to them what this year has meant to me and how much I think of them as a team and as individuals.”

Middletown South will now face its arch-nemesis, top-seeded Christian Brothers Academy, in the SCT final this Sunday at First Energy Park in Lakewood with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Although the Eagles are the Class A North champions, division foe CBA (20-9) has beaten the Eagles in all three of their meetings this season including a 3-0 loss in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals.

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