Sports Shorts

Monmouth University pitcher Brad Brach picked up a pair of weekly awards after tossing his first collegiate no-hitter. The junior right-hander was named the Akadema/Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Week, as well as the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week. Brach, a graduate of Freehold Township High School, no-hit Long Island University in West Long Branch on April 13. He was two outs from pitching a perfect game before surrendering a one-out walk in the ninth. He struck out six as Monmouth won the NEC game, 2-0.

Brach's no-hitter was the first by a Monmouth pitchers since 1990 when Glenn Spencer authored a seven-inning no-no. The last NEC no-hitter was back in 2004 when LIU's John Dooley and Ryan Ekberg teamed up to hold FDU hitless. The last solo-effort no-hitter in the conference was 2002. Brach's no-hit gem was also voted the Northeast Regional Performance of the Week on InsidePitching.com and the Spotlight Performance of the week by PingBaseball.com. Brach, who led the Hawks in wins the past two years with six wins each season, is 4-1 with a 3.21 earned run average. Monmouth is 18-11-1 and 5-3 in the NEC.

Wagner University's Damian Csakai is enjoying an outstanding rookie season with the Seahawks baseball team. The freshman from Freehold Township High School is batting .273 with 24 hits in his first 88 at bats. His .402 on-base percentage is second best on the team. He has four doubles and a triple, and he's scored 17 runs, third best on the team. The outfielder also has the best base-stealing percentage, swiping a perfect 12-for-12.

Earlier in the season, he was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week when he batted .529 and had four multi-hit games. At one point during the week, he had reached safely in 14 of 16 plate appearances. At Freehold Township, Csakai was a three-year varsity letter winner. The Pats won two Shore Conference A North Division titles during his career.

Marlboro's Ty Jensen, a junior at Brigham Young University, is running the middle distances for the men's track and field team. He is coming off an indoor season in which he was named All-Mountain West Conference Team. Jensen, the state champion at 1,600 meters at Marlboro High School, has career bests of 1:52.89 for 800 meters, 3:45.69 for 1,500, 4:06.97 for the mile and 9:25.0 for 3,200 meters. In addition to his Meet of Champions state title at Marlboro, Jensen was an All-American at 1,600 meters.

Duke University high jumper Debra Vento finished second at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, jumping 5-8 3/4. She was the defending champion. The Freehold Borough graduate has qualified for the ECAC and the NCAA East Regional championships later this spring. With her second place, Vento made All-ACC for the fourth time outdoors. She was indoor All-ACC three times. She has twice made the All-American team. Her personal best of 6-1 1/2 is a Duke school record. At Freehold Borough, Vento won the national championship her senior year. She won four Meet of Champions crowns (two indoors, two outdoors) during her unsurpassed career. He personal best of 5-10 1/2 is second best in state history.