No-hitters, home runs fuel Braves' baseball
Manalapan hot as state playoffs begin
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
When the state playoffs begin this week, one team to avoid is the Manalapan Braves.

With 11 wins in their last 14 games, Brian Boyce's team has finally put it all together - pitching, defense and hitting - and are one very dangerous team.

Just ask Shore Regional, the No. 2 seed in the Monmouth County Tournament. The Blue Devils were taken out of the tourney in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, 3-0, on Ryan Harvey's no-hitter.

For Harvey, a junior, this was his second no-hitter of the season. Craig Peterson cracked a second-inning home run that gave Harvey an early 1-0 lead to work with. Two RBI singles from Bryan Tamalone gave the right-hander, who fanned 10, more security.

"He has a good offspeed pitch and a good fastball," Boyce said of Harvey. "His location is good and he has the confidence to throw any of his pitches at any time in the count."

Harvey's two nonos highlight his strength as a pitcher - he can beat a team in more than one way. He was overpowering against Shore, while in his first no-hitter against Middletown South, he had the Blue Devils offbalance.

"He kept the ball down and he was working ahead in the count," said Boyce of Harvey's gem against the Shore.

Harvey is 5-1 this year and 8-1 for his career (he was 3-0 as a sophomore). The right-hander is at the top of a solid rotation that features senior Mark Holmes (3- 1), Lawrence Schoer (2-1) and freshman Nick Krieger (2-0), the only lefty on the staff.

"He was on the jayvee and pitching well," noted Boyce. "We had a stretch where we played seven games in eight days and we brought him up to give the pitching staff a break."

Kreiger has pitched so well, that he has become a part of the starting rotation.

As if the Braves' pitching were enough to concern teams, they are power-laden. They have four batters with at least four home runs led by Matt Cook with a Shore Conference-leading seven. Every time they step in to the batter's box they are in scoring position

Manalapan's overall power puts a lot of pressure on pitchers to make the perfect pitch, plus, they are never out of an inning.

"Even with two outs, we have an opportunity to score," said Boyce.

Cook, a senior, is batting .370 with 30 RBIs.

"He took a lot of batting practice in the offseason," Boyce pointed out. "He worked hard.

"He's getting good swings at the ball and he's been hitting the ball to all fields," he added.

Nick Turano, one of the premier catchers in the conference, is having another productive season. He's smacked five home runs.

Peterson and Harvey, each have four home runs. Add to that, Pat Flanagan, who leads the Shore in hits (34), and the Braves have a lineup that is dangerous top to bottom.

"We're a good offensive team," said Boyce. "We seem to get good swings, and now we're getting timely hits."

Dr. Longball saved the Braves in what was their most important win of the year, according to Boyce. They were 3-5 heading into their nondivision game with Red Bank Regional. They trailed 4-0 in the sixth at a 3-6 start.

"I was thinking it's going to be uphill from here," recalled Boyce.

The Braves rallied and grabbed a 7-4 lead. They would surrender the lead in the seventh, however, as the Bucs scored three times to tie it a 7-7.

Harvey smacked a three-run home run in the eighth that lifted Manalapan to a 10-7 lead. They've gone 10-3 since.

Defense was a problem early in the season. However, time and a change at shortstop have shored things up. Here, another frosh has been important. Boyce moved Rich Ricciardi up to the varsity to play shortstop where he has brought welcomed consistency to the position. In Turano, the Braves have an outstanding defensive backstop.

The team's slow start took the Braves out of the A North race, but they know there is plenty of baseball still to play with three tournaments.

"We want to get deeper into the tournaments," said Boyce.

They are already in the MCT semifinals where next week at a date to be determined, they will play the Christian Brothers Academy/Marlboro winner.

Manalapan moved into the second round of the Shore Conference Tournament Wednesday with an 8-3 win over Manasquan.

Flanagan added three more hits to his season total, including a home run against the Big Blue and a double. Tamalone and Cook also had doubles as Manalapan banged out 12 hits and improved its record to 14-8.

Holmes picked up his third win of the year.

The Central Jersey Group IV tournament begins this week and the Braves hosted Howell (12-9) in the first round. The winner moves to the quarterfinals today at Hamilton East.

Colts Neck (16-6) and Freehold Borough (13-8) also qualified. Colts Neck got a first-round bye and will play the Rancocas Valley/North Brunswick winner at home today.

Freehold Borough is in Central Jersey Group III and will play at Monroe today. Both teams got first-round byes.