BASEBALL - MESSING WITH PERFECTION: TR NORTH 6, ST. ROSE 1

By Scott Stump - Senior Editor


     TOMS RIVER - Slugging first baseman Bill Hoermann has returned to supercharge Toms River North's offense, helping the Mariners run right down their agenda in ruthless fashion in a 6-1 nondivisional win over previously undefeated St. Rose at Ryan Field on Thursday night.
      Hoermann belted a three-run homer in the first inning and then added a double and a run scored to continue his ferocious hitting since returning to the clean-up spot from a nagging back injury from basketball season that kept him on the shelf for the majority of April. That opposite-field blast allowed sophomore righty Rudy Ferrentino to settle in immediately, and he responded with a complete-game five-hitter and a career-high 10 strikeouts to improve to 2-0.
      "(Hoermann's return) gives us a lot of confidence and it puts fear into pitchers,'' said junior Steve Nyisztor, who has been inducing plenty of nightmares of his own as he belted a solo homer as part of a two-hit night on Thursday.
      Besides realizing that Ferrentino can perform in a big spot and showing that the offense is now back at full tilt, the other items the Mariners (16-2), ranked No. 1 in the DigitalSports Top 10, crossed off the list against the No. 4 Purple Roses (19-1) were avenging a lop-sided loss to St. Rose from last season as well as potentially locking up the No. 1 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament as long as they emerge from Saturday's Ocean County Tournament games unscathed.
       "(St. Rose) beat us pretty bad last year, so that was in the back of our heads,'' Nyisztor said.
      Hoermann set the tone immediately, when he crunched an 0-2 pitch from St. Rose's Casey Cannon (5-1) the other way to bring home Nyisztor and Mitch Johnson for his second homer of the season and a 3-0 lead with one out in the first inning.
      "(Cannon) started me off with a curveball that made me look silly, then threw a nice pitch on the second one in a perfect spot fo a pitcher,'' Hoermann said. "On the last one I was looking for a fastball and he left one up there, and I just went the other way with it.''
      "That let them know that we're here to play,'' Nyisztor said.
       It also was an unfamiliar position for a Purple Roses team that has won 56 straight Class B Central games and rolled through a majority of its schedule, with two one-run victories over Shore serving as the main tests.
       "We got punched in the teeth first for once,'' said St. Rose coach Jim Agnello. "We got stunned a little bit, and it took us a while to get going.''
        Ferrentino, who has a live arm for a young player, only ran into trouble in the top of the second inning when Monmouth University recruit Owen Stewart led off with a double that was followed by an RBI double by sophomore Kyle Kennett that cut it to 3-1. A single by Connor Smith and a walk by Matt Rodgers loaded the bases with two outs, but Ferrentino halted St. Rose's attempt to get right back into the game by getting leadoff man Chris Bresnahan to fly out to center field.
        "I did have a little trouble in the second, but I had to ride it out and throw strikes,'' Ferrentino said.
        "We have bases loaded, and maybe if we get a hit there, it's a different ballgame,'' Agnello said.
        Toms River North made it 4-1 in the second inning when catcher C.J. Alonso reached on an error, went to second on a wild pitch, went to third on an infield hit by Matt Mancini and then scored on a groundout by leadoff man Paul DeMartino. The lead swelled to four runs by the end of the third inning as Hoermann ripped a one-out double down the third-base line and then scored on a two-out, RBI double by senior third baseman Scott Shan.
        Ferrentino only grew stronger after that, retiring 12 of the final 14 batters he faced after the third inning. His fastball had some pop, his breaking ball came around, and any mistakes he made were in the dirt, where the Purple Roses couldn't do anything with them.
        "We saw (Ferrentino) yesterday in practice, and he was just throwing smoke with a lot of confidence,'' Nyisztor said. "It obviously carried over to today.''
        It also helped Ferrentino's cause that Stewart had to leave the game after one at-bat, as he limped to second with a double after re-aggravating a hamstring injury. Smith, also one of the top pitchers in the Shore, also left the game with a hand injury that prevented him from being able to properly grip a bat or a ball, according to Agnello. That leaves Smith's scheduled start against Wall in Saturday's Monmouth County Tournament semifinal up in the air, potentially resulting in senior Vin Vinci, who just got some stitches over his eye after being hit by a ball in practice, to start against the Crimson Knights.
        Toms River North, meanwhile, was able to save its main pitchers - Zach Brebner, Mark Leiter and Shan - for Saturday's Ocean County Tournament, thanks to Ferrentino. The sophomore got one more run of support in the fifth inning when Nyisztor walloped a hanging curveball on a 1-2 count over the fence in right center field for his fourth homer of the season and a 6-1 lead. It continued a torrid stretch for Nyisztor, who hit a game-winning triple against Lacey on Monday to clinch the Class A South title and then hit for the cycle in a win over Central on Tuesday.
        "Steve's not even in this world right now,'' Hoermann said before smiling.
        It also was a nice night in Ferrentino's world, as the chants of "Rudy! Rudy!'' were going up in the seventh inning before he recorded his version of the sack against Georgia Tech by striking out the final batter swinging to punctuate a strong night for the Mariners.
       "I've been thinking about the game all day,'' Ferrentino said. "I found my curve later in the innings, and (the Mariners) were chanting my name. I just reared back and threw as hard as I could. It was fun.''
        With that, he brought St. Rose's 19-0 start to a crashing halt and helped the Mariners drive home their status as the Shore's No. 1 team after a tough loss to Southern last week temporarily slowed them down.
        "I think we're back now,'' Hoermann said.

E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com

Box score
Toms River North 6, St. Rose 1

St. Rose (19-1) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 2
TR North (16-2) 3 1 1 0 1 0 x - 6 6 1

Doubles: (S) Stewart, Kennett; (T) Hoermann, Shan. Home runs: (T) Nyisztor, Hoermann. WP: Ferrentino (2-0); LP: Cannon (5-1).