Hickman's efficient outing helps lead EHT baseball into South Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals5/24/2017 By DAVE O'SULLIVAN Staff Writer ATLANTIC CITY -- Coming into the 2017 state playoffs, the Egg Harbor Township baseball team wanted another shot at Clearview Regional, the team that bounced the Eagles from the postseason a year ago. The Eagles will get that opportunity thanks to some big hits from Connor Agostino and Kyle Transue, and an efficient pitching outing from Drew Hickman in a crisp 4-0 win over Kingsway on Wednesday at the Chelsea Heights turf field. Hickman wasn't overpowering, registering just four strikeouts in seven innings, but peppered the strike zone and allowed just two hits, one walk and one hit batsman. He also got some solid defense from right fielder Robbie Petracci, who made a diving grab on a low liner in the second, and shortstop Andrew Fowler, who gobbled up many of the ground-ball outs Hickman induced. "I just wanted to pound the strike zone. We played them twice earlier in the year, so I knew what they had. We've been doing a great job defensively. This is probably our best defensive year in a long time, and I just needed to let them work. Fowler is having a heck of a year, making all the plays. There was a game a couple of weeks ago where he made two plays and I was just like, 'wow.' He's been really good," Hickman said. "I knew I didn't have to overpower anybody. Pitching to contact is an easy thing to do, and I just let my fielders do the work." "Drew was pounding the strike zone all game. His fastball was on, and he was spotting that really well. And when he needed his curveball, he located that pitch well," said senior catcher Dante DiPalma. "I didn't have to worry about wild pitches or anything. I just set up where I wanted the pitch, and he hit the spots." The second-seeded Eagles advance into the quarterfinals, where they will face No. 7 Clearview, which dispatched 10th-seeded Williamstown with a 6-3 victory on Tuesday afternoon. Egg Harbor Township took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Fowler scored on a booming double to left-center by Agostino, who had a pair of doubles in the game. The Eagles then loaded the bases on walks to Nick Milhan and Transue, but Kingsway pitcher Mike Baisiello fanned DiPalma to get out of the jam. Transue came up in a big spot in the third and delivered when he drilled a two-run double to left, scoring Jordan Sweeney and Agostino to make it 3-0. "It was a 3-0 count and I knew he was going to throw a fastball right down the middle. In batting practice the past couple of days I've been hitting really well," Transue said. "Usually, I look over to see if (coach Bryan Carmichael) gives me the take sign. He didn't, so I was swinging." EHT tacked on another run on an RBI single to left from DiPalma, and Hickman did the rest. He allowed just one hit and four base runners over his final four innings of work. "He had great defense behind him today, and he was throwing great. He threw a lot of ground balls, which made it easy on us," said Transue, the Eagles' third baseman. "We're playing really well," Hickman added. "This senior class has been playing together since we were about 7 years old, so we've been waiting for this time." Three of the top four seeds are still alive, with No. 1 Eastern and No. 4 Rancocas Valley each advancing in the other side of the bracket. But EHT is playing with confidence and the Eagles believe they can match up with anybody in one of the toughest brackets in the state. "We have so much energy, and that's really helping us," DiPalma said. We're playing great right now. This is a team I know can win," Transue added. "We haven't played our best baseball yet, like coach Carmichael has been saying. We just need to keep polishing things and getting better." Contact Dave O'Sullivan: [email protected]; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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14-Egg Harbor (18-4)Last week: Not ranked
Egg Harbor is playing some great baseball right now. It has won five straight games, including a statement 6-5 win over St. Augustine. Egg Harbor is scheduled to hosts Kingsway in the South Jersey Group 4 tournament game on Wednesday. http://www.nj.com/hssn-mms/2017/05/njcom_baseball_top_20_may_24.html ATLANTIC CITY – The Egg Harbor Township High School baseball team worked hard all season to secure home field advantage for the state playoffs, only to see its home field unavailable because of wet conditions. No matter. Good teams adapt to their surroundings. The Eagles beat Kingsway 4-0 in the first round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV playoffs Wednesday at the Chelsea Heights artificial turf field, about 13 miles from their home. Senior Drew Hickman was efficient and effective, needing to throw only 79 pitches in a two-hit shutout, striking out four. Connor Agostino hit a pair of doubles and Kyle Transue had two hits and two RBIs as the second-seeded Eagles (20-4) advanced to the quarterfinal round. “We’ve been waiting for this game the last two days. The rainouts really bugged us,” Hickman said. “We played on this field earlier in the season against Atlantic City. We played really well here, so it didn’t really bother us coming here.” Hickman also benefitted from good defensive play on the true-bounce artificial turf. Right fielder Robbie Petracci made a nice catch on a sinking line drive in the second inning. Second baseman Jayson Amoroso started an inning-ending double play in the third, and catcher Dante DiPalma picked off a base runner in the same inning. But Hickman did a lot of it himself, pitching with good rhythm and command and allowing only seven batters to reach base. “He commanded the strike zone, got ahead of hitters, controlled the tempo,” coach Bryan Carmichael said. “He did exactly what he’s preached to do. Seventy-nine pitches is incredible, and he gave us seven quality innings.” The Eagles jumped on the No. 15 Dragons early Wednesday, as Agostino’s RBI double scored Andrew Fowler in the first inning. In the third, after a one-out single by Jordan Sweeney and a Kingsway error, Transue smacked a double to score two runs. Catcher Dante DiPalma followed with an RBI single through the hole between third base and shortstop. Next, the Eagles will host seventh-seeded Clearview in a quarterfinal at 4 p.m. Thursday. The game is scheduled to be played on EHT’s already soggy home field, and with more rain in the forecast, it’s anybody’s guess when or where it will be played. But the Eagles certainly have more than enough incentive against Clearview, the team that beat them in the semifinal round last year en route to a South Jersey championship. “They’ll be ready (for Clearview),” Carmichael said. “They’ll enjoy this one today. It’s kind of a quick turnaround for us. Clearview got to play (Tuesday, a 6-3 win over Williamstown) and got to prepare themselves mentally, while we have to get up tomorrow and get ready for another playoff game.” “They had a really good team last year,” Hickman said of Clearview. “I know they lost a couple pitchers … but we’ll be ready for them.” “We want to get revenge,” Transue said. “We need to finish that tomorrow and play our best baseball. We haven’t played our best baseball this whole season. We always have a few mistakes. Today we had a couple guys thrown out on the basepaths and made a few errors on the field. We need to put it all together.” Drew Hickman said his best pitch was a two-seam fastball.
Acutally, his best pitch was strike one. Hickman got ahead, stayed ahead, worked quickly and pounded the strike zone in a masterful performance for Egg Harbor Township in Wednesday's weather-delayed South Jersey Group 4 playoff opener. A senior right-hander, Hickman needed just 79 pitches to hurl a three-hit complete game as second-seeded Egg Harbor Township beat 15th-seeded Kingsway 4-0 in a game played at Atlantic City's turf field off Filbert Avenue in the Chelsea Heights section of the city. "To throw a complete game with 79 pitches -- that was incredible," EHT coach Bryan Carmichael said of Hickman's performance. "He threw strikes. He commanded the strike zone. He was very efficient." Senior first baseman Connor Agostino rapped two doubles for EHT (19-4), which advance to play seventh-seeded Clearview in Thursday's quarterfinals, weather permitting. Clearview eliminated EHT from the tournament in the sectional semifinals last season. "We've been waiting to play them again since the beginning of the season," Agostino said. The game was played at Atlantic City's turf field because of the condition of EHT's field after heavy rains on Monday. Carmichael said the quarterfinal game vs. Clearview on Thursday is tentatively scheduled for EHT's home field, although the forecast is for steady rain. The win was EHT's sixth in a row and 11th in the last 12 games. "We're so hungry this year," Hickman said. "We've all been playing together since we were 6 or 7 in T-ball. We're best friends." Said Agostino: "We're all pulling on the same rope." Senior righthander Mike Biasiello was the hard-luck loser for Kingsway (11-12). Biasiello worked a complete game, allowing seven hits and just one earned run. EHT scored three unearned runs in the third inning, two of which scored on Kyle Transue's two-out double. "That team has been averaging around eight runs a game," Kingsway coach Ian Enders said. "If you told me we would hold them to four, I would have thought we would win the game. Mike (Biasiello) did a great job. He pitched around trouble." Hickman, who improved his record to 5-1, struck out four, including the game's final batter. He walked just one and induced nine ground-ball outs. "He lived down," Enders said. Kingsway 000 000 0 -- 0 3 1 Egg Harbor 103 000 x -- 4 7 3 WP: Drew Hickman. LP: Mike Biasiello. 2B: EHT-Connor Agostino 2, Kyle Transue. -- Contact Phil Anastasia at [email protected] -- Follow @PhilAnastasia on Twitter 1: South Jersey, Group 4One note makes it clear how deep this field is: No. 9 Lenape is the eighth seed. The bracket also includes No. 5 Eastern, No. 10 Shawnee and No. 16 Washington Township, plus four other teams – Egg Harbor, Rancocas Valley, Vineland and Toms River North – with at least 15 wins. The depth doesn't stop there, either, as all but two teams in this section are .500 or better.
http://www.nj.com/hssn-mms/2017/05/baseball_ranking_the_10_toughe.html Egg Harbor Township The senior sparked the Eagles to a 4-0 week. He was 6 for 11 with four RBIs in the four games. Hickman also got the pitching win in a 5-1 victory over Mainland Regional. He threw six innings, allowing just two hits. Hickman struck out four and walked one. Hickman is 4-1 with a 3.43 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 34.2 innings this season. Second-seeded Egg Harbor Township (18-4) hosts No. 15 seed Kingsway Regional (11-11) in a South Jersey Group IV first-round playoff game on Monday. http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/highschool/baseball/baseball-mvp-drew-hickman-egg-harbor-township/article_fa6cee6c-cf9b-54b2-bc0a-3a472f2d616d.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share 16-Rob Petracci, Egg Harbor, OF-RHPPetracci is batting .298 with 13 runs and as many RBI. Petracci and Jordan Sweeney are expected to key Egg Harbor's offense for the next three years
5-Jordan Sweeney, Egg Harbor, Pitcher-Outfielder Sweeney may be the best power hitter in the state, not just the best power hitting sophomore. He is batting .463 with seven homers, 19 runs and 33 RBI. On the mound, Sweeney is 2-1 with nine earned runs and 26 strikeouts in 28 and 1/3 innings pitched. http://www.nj.com/hssn-mms/2017/05/njcom_ranks_the_40_top_sophomo.html QUEENS, N.Y. - In the midst of a stellar season for the No. 20 St. John’s Red Storm, senior catcher Troy Dixon has been named a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award presented by BaseballSavings.com. Dixon, who ranks second among Division I catchers with a .378 batting average, is one of just 15 semifinalists around the nation for the award, presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate backstop. Finalists for the award will be announced on June 5, with the final vote occurring during the College World Series. A two-time All-BIG EAST selection as a sophomore and junior, Dixon has been having his best season as a member of the Red Storm in 2017, hitting .378 with three home runs, 10 doubles and 31 RBIs in 40 appearances, 34 of which have been starts. A two-time BIG EAST Player of the Week this season, Dixon is slugging .519 and reaching base at a .451 clip, helping the Red Storm secure the nation’s third best winning percentage with a record of 38-8 entering the final series of the regular season. The Egg Harbor Township, N.J., native has recorded 15 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI efforts on the campaign, the latter of which ranks second on the squad. Dixon came back to Queens for his senior year on the heels of winning the batting title and MVP of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Dixon and the Red Storm return to action tomorrow, playing host to Villanova in the first of three games at Jack Kaiser Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN3. https://www.facebook.com/kminnicksports/videos/419385368436489/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE
OCEAN CITY — It might be difficult to find a hotter Cape-Atlantic League hitter than Jordan Sweeney. A day after slugging a pair of home runs in a win over Oakcrest, the Egg Harbor Township sophomore went 3 for 5 with two doubles and five RBIs to pace the Eagles to an 8-2 victory over Ocean City on Thursday. “He’s just hitting the ball hard right now,” EHT coach Bryan Carmichael said. “He loves playing the game, and he’s having a lot of fun.” Sweeney had the game’s biggest hit in the fourth inning, when he lined a pitch into the gap in left-center field with the bases loaded for a three-run double. The hit turned a 2-1 EHT deficit into a 4-2 lead. “I was just trying to hit the ball hard and make something happen,” Sweeney said. “The pitch was in the middle of the plate, and I was able to drive it in the gap.” In the sixth, Sweeney followed Andrew Fowler’s double with one of his own to deep center. And in the seventh, Sweeney ripped an RBI single to left. “I’m so confident up there right now,” Sweeney said with a smile. “Everything’s looking clean to me at the moment.” Through 15 games, Sweeney is batting .479 with and 33 RBIs. Thirteen of his 23 hits have gone for extra bases, including seven home runs. “We saw flashes of this last year when he played for us as a freshman,” Carmichael said. “People have to remember he’s only a sophomore. But he’s really doing a lot of good things.” Equally impressive in the victory was EHT pitcher Drew Hickman. He tossed a complete game with eight strikeouts. He gave up eight hits, but his only walk of the game came with two outs in the seventh inning. Hickman was able to get out of trouble a couple times with the help of his infield, which turned a pair of inning-ending double plays, both times with runners on first and third. Hickman improved to 3-1. “Drew needed to do that,” Carmichael said. “That was his best performance of the season. He was really commanding the strike zone and he attacked hitters. He wasn’t doing that as much early in the year, so it was refreshing to see him throw the ball the way he did. ” Kyle Transue had an RBI single in the first inning, and Jayson Amoroso added an RBI single in the seventh for the Eagles (12-3), who won their fourth straight and the eighth in their last nine games. “I couldn’t be happier,” Carmichael said. “But we also could be 15-0. In our three losses we didn’t play our best baseball at all, but then again, who does in every single game? We’ve tried to learn from the losses. We’ve talked about the mistakes and gotten better from them.” Matt Lashley hit a two-run single in the third inning to account for all of the scoring for Ocean City (7-7). The Raiders hurt themselves with four errors. Their pitchers also walked nine and hit two other batters. “Walks and errors doomed us,” Ocean City coach Craig Mensinger said. “And you have to give them credit because every mistake we made, they pounded us for it. “They’re a really good team. They’re the most talented team we’ve faced so far.” Matt Fumo went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored for Ocean City. Parker Bristol also doubled. Egg Harbor Township 100 401 2 – 8 8 1 Ocean City 002 000 0 – 2 8 4 2B —Sweeney 2, Fowler EHT; Bristol, Fumo OC. WP – Hickman (3-1) 8K; B. Lashley (2-1) 2K. Records— EHT 12-3; OC 7-7. |