BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Above, Colts Neck's Mike O'Reilly stands his ground and tags out Ocean's Mike Rochford during Friday's CJGroup III title game in Ocean Township. Below, the Spartans' Greg Spatz connects for a base hit during Ocean's 9-0 win. The Ocean Township boys baseball team is getting pretty good at collecting championships.

The Spartans, who finished the regular season tied with Freehold Township for the Shore Conference's A North Division title, have since added Shore Conference Tournament and Central Jersey Group III championships to their trophy case.

And they entered Tuesday's action hungry for more, as they squared off with South Jersey Group III champion Moorestown at the College of New Jersey for the right to play for the overall Group III championship at Toms River East on Saturday.

Heading into Tuesday's game, the Spartans had certainly given their fans plenty of reasons to make travel plans for Saturday.

Head coach Del Dal Pra's club has been the hottest team in the Shore over the past several weeks, as their opponents can attest to.

In the SCT final on May 31 at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, it was Toms River South that got a firsthand look at just how well the Spartans are playing, as Ocean routed the Indians, 13-6.

As usual, junior catcher Keith Weincofsky led the offensive onslaught, going 3-for-3 with a triple, two doubles, two walks and three RBIs, while the trio of Jamie Rosenkranz, Matt Segall and Eric Hinkle combined to hold the TRS offense in check.

But in truth, the entire Ocean offense was keyed in, as the Spartans rapped out 15 hits off five TRS pitchers, and seven out of nine players recorded RBIs.

Ocean scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back in capturing its first SCT under Del Pra, and the team's first since 1987.

The Spartans added the state sectional crown just two days later by beating an out-matched Colts Neck squad, 9-0.

Once again, Weincofsky was in the middle of things, launching a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to five the Spartans the lead. It was Weincofsky's ninth home run of the year, and the 17th of his career.

Ocean added six more runs in the fourth inning to stretch the lead, but it was more than what was needed as the team's ace, Eric Hinkle, shut down the Cougars, throwing two-hit ball over five innings to improve to 4-1 on the year.

With the win, the Spartans' 11th straight and 16th in their last 17 games, Ocean came within one more win of playing for their first state title.

Round-up ... Red Bank Catholic's baseball team saw its hopes for a sectional title get dashed on Friday, dropping a 27-22 contest to St. Augustine in the semifinals of the Non-Public South A tournament.

Then, on Monday, RBC lost in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game to CBA, 9-1, as the Colts used eight extra base hits (13 hits overall), to win their fifth MCT title, and first since 2000.

Twin brothers Dave (two doubles, two RBIs) and Jim (two-run home run, two singles) Laufer and senior Vin Avella (home run, double) led the Colts' offensive attack, while Kyle Slate (6-1) was strong on the hill for CBA, allowing just seven hits and walking four.

CBA's MCT win came just a few days after the Colts, the top seed in the Non-Public South A bracket, suffered a shocking loss to a 16-6 Bishop Ahr team in the semifinals on Friday.

Bishop Ahr's boys advanced to the title game (where they faced No. 2 St. Augustine yesterday at Mercer County Park to determine the sectional champion) behind the arm of Steve Montalbano and the timely hitting of Lee Cavico and Matt Rodriguez in their 4-2 win over CBA.

On the softball diamond, the Red Bank Catholic Caseys took the field last night in hopes of capturing the Non-Public South A championship.

The Caseys, who knocked off top-seeded Bishop Ahr in the semifinals, squared off against Notre Dame last night at Lenape High School, for the right to play for the overall Parochial A title on Saturday at Toms River East. That game is scheduled for 1 p.m.

St. John Vianney could not carry the momentum from its May 31 SCT championship win against Jackson over against Notre Dame, as Irish pitcher Allie Tamlinson continually frustrated Lancer batters, pitching out of trouble several times during their June 1 semifinal game.

Diana Sansevera was the hard-luck loser, striking out six and allowing the two runs in the second inning, when a walk, an error and a sacrifice bunt set up Ashley Vinmon's game-winning single to right-center field.