By Jim Hintelmann
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP – With pre-season favoriteChristian Brothers Academy having dropped a pair of “A” Division North baseball games earlier this season, the division race is now wide open, and Middletown South scored a key 4-3 win over rival Middletown North in eight innings Friday.
Ben Porpora was the big hitter for the Eagles as he knocked in the winning run with an RBI double with none out in the eighth. He also bat- ted in two more runs earlier in the game with a pair of singles.
Starting pitcher Austin Markmann also had a key hit by tying the game in the sev- enth with an RBI single.
“Both teams are playing at a high level right now,” said South coach Ryan Spillane after the game. “That is a high quality team over there and I’m just proud of the ef for t my guys put in. They showed resiliency and overcame adversity.”
The two teams were tied, 3-3, going into the bottom of the eighth inning when South’s Zach Schild led of f with a double to right off relief pitcher Tyler Ras.
Porpora followed with a double to the fence in center- field to drive in Schild with the winning r un, and he was mobbed by his teammates at second base after the hit.
“It was a fastball and I was looking for it,” said Porpora. “It was right there and I was abletogetmybatonit.It feels awesome to get a hit against these guys and this was a big win for us.”
Nor th, which had won eight of its previous nine games going into Friday’s contest, took a 3-2 lead into the last of the seventh, but Ras hit the first two batters of the inning.
Ras retired the next two batters, but Markmann sin- gled to right, scoring Tom Frandsen from third with the tying r un.
“It was an outside fastball and I was looking for it,” said Markmann. “I just wanted to hit the ball to the right side and get the run in. The off- speed pitch was my best today and I just wanted to get it over the plate.”
“Austin is a workhorse and
is one of the toughest kids I have ever coached,” said Spillane. “Not only did he give us seven good innings with one earned run, but he tied the game with his single.
“I told him before the game that he had to put him- self on our backs and carry us, and he cer tainly did,” Spillane said.
South grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning as Markmann led of f with a triple and pinch r unner Jef f Lewandowski scored on a sin- gle to center by Schild.
Nor th tied the game in the fifth after Brendan Doher ty belted a leadof f double and later scored on a passed ball.
The Lions picked up two more runs in the sixth. Kyle Capo and Walt Schopf walked and both scored on an error.
South cut the lead to 3-2 in its half of the sixth when Johnny Zega doubled and scored on a hit by Porpora, along with an error.
South, which has won 10 in a row, showed no letdown Saturday when it won a pair of games in the Monmouth County Tournament.
Zega pitched and batted South to a 12-0 rout of Mater Dei in a second round game as he tossed a two-hitter and knocked in six runs with a pair of home runs and a dou- ble.
South added another shutout with a 4-0 whitewash of Marlboro in a quar ter final game and will play top-seeded CBA in a semifinal game.
In another quar ter final game, Red Bank Catholic defeated Ocean Township, 6-3 to moved in the semifinals against Howell.
Evan Madigan went three for four for RBC, including the 100th hit of his varsity career.


