Point Borough Baseball Blasts Henry Hudson 14-1

The Point Borough baseball team beat Henry Hudson High School 14-1 at Firemen’s Field in Atlantic Highlands on Wednesday afternoon.

It's the third straight win for the Panthers.

With the win, Point Borough moved back to the .500 mark at 9-9 and put themselves in good position to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament.

Due to Friday’s cancellation against St. Rose, if Point Borough is able to defeat Spotswood on Saturday, they will clinch a birth in the Shore Conference Tournament.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to be able to qualify for this tournament,” said Point Borough head coach David Drew.

“When we're playing our game, we think we can play with any team in the Shore Conference," he added. "We’re hoping on Saturday night we can prove that.”

The Panthers' offense, which was held in check for a majority of the game against Henry Hudson starter Brian Farrell, exploded for three runs in the sixth inning and seven runs in the seventh inning against the Admirals' bullpen.

“Their guy did a decent job of throwing strikes and holding our bats in check early on,” said Drew. “But, thankfully we were able to get adjusted and started hitting like we’re capable.”

Through the first four innings of play, Point Borough did little offensively to support starting pitcher Dane Gahr.

The Panthers held only a 2-0 lead until the top half of the fifth inning.

Point Borough tacked on two more runs in the frame, thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Rob Pawlak and a Mike Mazza fielders choice that brought home Sam Nelson to give Point Borough a 4-0 advantage.

Henry Hudson was finally able to break up Gahr’s shutout in the bottom half of the fifth inning when Ryan Hancock blooped a double down the line, which cut the deficit to three runs.

From that point, Point Borough’s offense pummeled Henry Hudson relievers to the tune of ten runs, and twelve hits over the next two frames.

Both Mike Matthews and Keith Murphy singled to start the sixth inning.

After both runners advanced on a wild pitch, they were able to score on a two-run single by Jimmy DiOrio.

Gahr, who was brilliant in his five innings of work on the mound, capped off the three-run sixth, and brought home DiOrio on a two-out single.

Point Borough followed up their three-run sixth inning, with a seven-run seventh inning, where they sent twelve batters to the plate.

After John Dunbar singled and Matthews walked, DiOrio once again was able to deliver with runners on base and smashed a two-run double which stretched the lead to 9-1.

Following the double, Admirals' reliever Jim Trivett proceeded to allow seven consecutive hits that allowed the Panthers to stretch their lead to an insurmountable thirteen runs.

Gahr and John Dunbar combined to hold the Admirals' offensive attack to one run over five hits and struck out a combined twelve batters over their seven innings of work.

The relief outing was very encouraging for Dunbar, who has struggled of late, after he dominated lineups for much of the first part of the season.

“It was a great all-around job by our pitchers today,” said Drew. “Dane Gahr has been super consistent for us all year and it’s sure nice to have John Dunbar back throwing the ball well.”

Point Borough will look to make it four in a row against Spotswood on Saturday night at 6:00 with a trip to the Shore Conference Tournament on the line.