Central Falls Shy of B South Dream

This wasn't the ending Central Regional was hoping for.

The Golden Eagles went into the top of the seventh feeling confident. Leading by two runs against rival Manchester, the Central sidelines were fired up, cheering their team on.

But Manchester was not going away quietly. The Hawks scored two runs to tie the game, and added two more in the top of the eighth. Then Manchester pitcher Tim Rogers shut the door, striking out Central's final two batters for a 5-3 victory at Leiter Field in Berkeley on Monday that clinched Manchester's second straight Shore Conference Class B South championship.

Central (5-8, 5-4) had been hoping to share that title. The Golden Eagles had beaten Manchester 6-5 on April 18, and a victory would have given them a piece of the crown.

"We fought hard," Central coach John Scran said. "The offense is not going to win every game."

And while Central had its opportunities, Rogers found a way to shut the Golden Eagles down.

Central took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Kenny Beyrouty reached on a ball that got past the Manchester third baseman, advanced to second on Connor Stacy’s perfectly placed sacrifice bunt. Mike Puglisi’s fly ball to left center fell in for a single that allowed Beyrouty to score, then junior Tom Clark smacked a triple to center field score Puglisi. Troy Enderson-Sigrist’s single to right plated Clark, and Central wanted more.

But Rogers shut the Eagles down, striking out the next batter and inducing a pop-up to get out of the inning. Rogers struck out seven in the complete game victory.

While Rogers was throwning hard for Manchester, James Canning was doing his share for Central. He pitched seven innings, striking out four, and was helped by some great defensive plays by the Eagles, including a diving stop at first by Troy Enderson-Sigrist that ended a Manchester threat in the top of the fourth and a diving catch in deep center by Rich Galati to end the fifth inning that prevented another Manchester run.

But Rogers was willing Manchester to victory. He reached base in the seventh inning, driving a 2-1 pitch from Canning to short that would have gone into left field if not for a nice bare-handed grab off a bad hop by Central shortstop Connor Stacey. Rogers then scored on Matt Zingaro’s two-run double. And Rogers delivered the winning run in the eighth inning, drilling a single to right field off Central reliever Wes Krempel that drove in Shaun Wernock.

Central threatened in the bottom of the fifth, when Puglisi singled and Enderson-Sigrist and Julian Cimino walked to load the bases with one out. But Rogers struck out the next batter and induced a grounder to third to get out of the inning.

"These were two quality pitchers tonight,” Scran said. "Every time we play Manchester it's a tough, quality game."

Local boy honored

Jason Nasr, a 9-year-old from Berkeley, threw out the game’s first pitch at Leiter Field, home of the Berkeley Little League. Nasr is a member of the Berkeley Little League but has been unable to play this spring as he battles a form of muscle cancer.

The league dedicated the night – its annual hosting of high school baseball under the lights – to Nasr, and held a 50-50 to help defray some of the family’s medical expenses.

After the ceremonial pitch, both teams posed for a photo with Nasr and the Central players also signed a baseball for him as a keepsake of the game.