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Schools

Dragons Mercy Monmouth, Win 14-4

Brandon Kieslor goes the distance in the Green Dragons 14-4 win.

And the hits keep on coming.

Last week, when word broke that the Brick boys varsity baseball team would be playing three playoff games in as many days, in three different tournaments, it was quite obvious the depth of the pitching staff was going to be tested.

The collective group of hurlers could not have performed much better, allowing just seven runs combined.

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Brick more or less knew what they were going to get with Tim Carney on the mound on Monday, yet the senior was untouchable striking out 15 in a 5-1 win. Tuesday, in his first ever start, Dan Mnich went six plus innings holding the feared Toms River South Indians to just two runs as Brandon Kieslor came on in the seventh to strike out the side. Kieslor got the start on Wednesday against the hot Falcons of Monmouth Regional in the Shore Conference Tournament Quarterfinals and completed the trifecta of superb pitching starts for the Dragons.

Kieslor struck out six in six innings of work, while allowing four runs to score; three of them came very late while Brick held an eight run lead.

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Kieslor was most impressive in getting out of a first inning jam.

After getting the opening two batters of the game out, Kieslor surrendered a walk and a hit to put runners on second and first. A Falcon double scored one, and after another walk the bases were loaded for Brandon Pollina, who Kieslor struck out to end the inning.

"It was obviously huge for us," said Brick head coach Jason Groschel. "We didn't want to fall behind them, they had a quality pitcher on the mound and have been playing a lot lately, we wanted to try and get to their bullpen. But I can't stress enough how important it was getting out of the inning holding them to one run. Kieslor did a good job of limiting the damage all game long."

Oddly enough, Kieslor found trouble more than once after retiring the first two batters of the inning. Groschel could not quite put a finger on as to why.

"I don't know," said Groschel. "You have to give a lot of credit to Monmouth for putting good swings on the ball, he gave up a few walks but his location was pretty good for the most part, all in all he managed to throw well."

The big story for the Dragons was the offensive explosion that was on display. Senior short stop Sean Henry led the offense, not only going 4-for-4 with four runs scored and a run batted in, but with plenty of hustle and heads-up baseball.

With numerous passed balls and wild pitches, the senior ran all around the base paths, including scoring three times off wild pitches or passed balls. Henry's hustle taking third base in the bottom of the second inning resulted in a cut on his chin, which he received attention to after scoring.

Brick scored runs in the second, third, and fourth inning and capped the game with a five run sixth.

With runners on second and third following an error, catcher Rich Zonin drove in two runs with his double up the middle in the bottom of the second inning to make the score 3-1. Zonin scored first baseman Tyler Iannarone who reached on an error, and John Kizzman, who walked.

In the third inning, right fielder Dylan McDonnell pulled a shot down the third base line with runners on the corners. McDonnell's blast scored Henry who was on third, and Victor Wilenta advanced to third on the play, as he would soon score on another wild pitch to give Brick a 5-1 lead. McDonnell would later score as Tyler Iannarone hit an infield single, thus making the score 6-1 before the innin ended.

After Nick Vitale's leadoff double in the fourth, Carney would hit a home run, giving Brick a seven run lead. Henry would take home on a passed ball for the second time on the day later in the inning. Carney crushed the Falcons in the field as well, ending a two- home run inning for Monmouth and any chance at a comeback in the top of the fifth.

The sixth inning was highlighted by Rich Zonin smacking a ball back up the middle scoring two runs, and ending the game in walk-off fashion giving the Dragons a 14-4, 10 run lead.

The win boosts Kieslor to 5-0, and gives the Dragons confidence heading into Friday's state playoff game with the same Monmouth Regional squad, with ace Carney set to take the mound for the start.

Dylan McDonnell went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a run batted in.

"We are still going to have to battle on Friday," said Groschel. "Anything can happen, we scored 14 today, we could score two on Friday. It's our ace versus their ace and we cannot over look them – I don't think the boys are going to."

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