Point Borough Baseball Eliminated from NJSIAA Tournament by West Deptford 3-1

Well, they say all good things must come to an end. For the Point Pleasant Borough baseball team, that day came on Tuesday.

The feel-good joy ride in the NJSIAA Tournament came to an abrupt end in West Deptford at the hands of Eagles’ southpaw Tony Urban.

Urban went the distance and allowed only one run in a 3-1 West Deptford victory in the NJSIAA Tournament's South Jersey Group II Region semifinals.

The Panthers’ offense, which defeated the third-seeded Buena Chiefs, was only able to muster three hits against the UNC-Asheville-bound product.

“I know our kids are really upset right now and this was not the outcome that they wanted,” said Point Borough head coach David Drew.

“But they fought real hard," he continued. "They made it to the South Jersey Group II semifinals. They have nothing to be ashamed of and they should walk out of here with their heads held high.”

Point Borough ace John Dunbar did his best to hold the Eagles’ bats at bay, and pitched yet another solid game.

Dunbar allowed only one earned run over six innings and struck out three batters.

However, the junior hurler ran into trouble in the third inning in what turned out to be the difference in the game.

With one out, Dunbar allowed a single to West Deptford’s Jason Fox. After advancing on a passed ball, Fox was able to score the Eagles’ first run on a booming Urban double over the head of Panthers’ centerfielder Keith Murphy.

Urban did not waste any time on the base paths. He stole third base and scored on a throwing error on the attempt by Point Borough catcher Deven DelPriore.

West Deptford scored yet another unearned run against Dunbar in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Dunbar allowed a leadoff single to Brendan Glass and then recorded two consecutive outs on sacrifice bunts that allowed Glass to advance to third base.

With two outs, Dunbar induced Tim Croft to hit a ground ball in the direction of first base, which was mishandled by Point Borough first baseman Dane Gahr.

That allowed Glass to score West Deptford’s third run of the game.

“We didn’t make the plays today that we normally make,” said Drew. “We knew this was a good ball club, and we knew their pitcher was very good, so we needed a few of the bounces to go our way. Unfortunately, that did not happen.”

Point Borough was able to scratch across their only run of the game in the fifth inning.

Gahr, who was 2-3 on the day, singled and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Dunbar, which cut the deficit to two runs.  However, that would be the closest the Panthers would get.

Urban left a runner stranded in both the sixth and seventh inning, which sealed the victory for West Deptford.

Although the season officially concluded for Point Borough at 14-11, the team improved upon their 2010 win total by nine games this season.

“We talked about setting a legacy at the start of the season,” said Drew. “Our seniors have set a standard, and that’s something that our underclassmen need to build upon. A South Jersey Group II semifinal appearance is something big to live up to. But, I think these underclassmen can reach it.”

The Point Borough skipper believes that his team in 2012 will be poised to have yet another successful season.

“We like the group we have coming back,” said Drew. “Our guys who were up on the varsity level were able to help us this year and learned a lot for the future. With those guys and JV team and the guys we’ve seen down there, we are real happy about what’s happening next year.”