Notre Dame’s Brendan Buecker, left, is congratulated by teammate Jack Hughes, right, after he hit a home run against Lawrence during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo)
TOMS RIVER — The sixth-seeded Notre Dame High baseball team used a trio of home runs to sail past third-seeded Donovan Catholic, 9-6, Thursday at the Whitty Road Fields in the second round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletics Association Non-Public A South Tournament.
Logan Eilbacher started the hit parade with a three-run homer in the first inning.
Jack Hughes came back to belt a grand slam in the fourth, then Dom Vizzoni slugged a two-run shot in the seventh to seal the victory.
With the win, the 20-4 Irish advance to play in next Wednesday’s sectional semifinals against today’s winner between seventh-seeded Paul VI (17-8) and second-seeded St. Joseph’s-Metuchen (19-9).
Notre Dame (20-4) 300 400 2 — 9
DonovanCath(22-4) 101 102 1 — 6
HR: LoEilbacher, Hughes, Vizzoni (ND); RBIs: LoEilbacher 3, Hughes 4, Vizzoni 2 (ND).
WP — LFoley (6-0); LP — n/a; S — Prekop (1).
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP III
MIDDLETOWN NORTH 4, ALLENTOWN 3
MIDDLETOWN — The defending state champion Lions scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to escape the sixth-seeded Mercer County Tournament champion Redbirds.
Jack Sweeney tied a school record with his ninth home run of the season.
Allentown (16-9) 010 101 0 — 3
MiddletownN(15-8) 010 010 2 — 4
HR: Sweeney (A); RBIs: Sweeney (A).
WP — AFigueroa; LP — Bruett (0-1).
MIDDLETOWN SOUTH 4, NO. BURLINGTON 2
MIDDLETOWN — Franklin Peters and Liam Velit both doubled and drove in a run to help the 15th-seeded Greyhounds put some pressure on the seventh-seeded Eagles before the home team scored three times in the bottom of the sixth in other CJ III action.
No.Burlington(11-14) 000 001 1 — 2 7 4
MiddletownS(14-12) 010 003 x — 4 8 1
2B: Peters, Velit (NB); RBIs: Peters, Velit (NB), Chiusano 3 (MS).
WP — Schild; LP — Musser (0-1); S — Roche.
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP IV
OLD BRIDGE 10, WW-P SOUTH 0
OLD BRIDGE — The top-seeded Knights limited the ninth-seeded Pirates to singles by Bennett Siegel and Devin Singh in this five-inning shutout.
WW-PSouth(11-15) 000 00 — 0 2 0
Old Bridge (18-8) 100 09 — 10 11 0
RBIs: Papeo 3, Villani, ESmith, Meyer (OB).
WP — Hascup; LP — JKasof (3-4).
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP II
RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN 7, BORDENTOWN 2
RUMSON — Luke Guire had two hits, and Andrew Forster had the other as the eighth-seeded Scotties fell to the top-seeded Bulldogs.
Bordentown(13-13) 002 000 0 — 2 3 0
Rumson-FH(19-5) 220 120 x — 7 8 0
2B: Moroney, Riva, Hobson (RFH); RBIs: CBell, Bassett (B), Riva 2, Kenney 3, Hobson (RFH).
WP — O’Toole; LP — CBell (3-4).
CENTRAL JERSEY GROUP I
MANVILLE 2, NEW EGYPT 1
MANVILLE — The 13th-seeded Warriors had the fifth-seeded Mustangs on the ropes until the home team tied the game in the sixth inning before winning it in the eighth.
Nolan Arnold and Zachary Jenkins had two hits apiece for New Egypt.
NewEgypt(8-12) 001 000 00 — 1 6 0
Manville (14-7) 000 001 01 — 2 5 0
2B: Rindgen (M); 3B: Jenkins (NE); RBIs: Cucci (NE), Barrios, D’Ambrosio (M).
WP — Klementovicz; LP — Stillwell (2-4).