Baseball Recap: Lakewood Comes Up Short

Lakewood had lost eight straight on the road dating back to last season, but on Wednesday they dropped their record down to 2-4 to make it nine. They fell 6-2 to the Keansburg Titans. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Piners of the 12-0 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in May of 2024.

Abel Martinez made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs. Fernando Gomez also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

As for Keansburg, the win keeps they at an undefeated 4-0. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 4.0 runs on average this season.

On Keansburg's side, Mikey Clayton and James Valle made a splash no matter where they played. Throwing, Clayton didn't allow a single earned run while striking out 14 over six innings pitched. Meanwhile, Valle pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs or hits. Clayton has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't tossed less than eight strikeouts any time he's pitched this season. At the plate, Clayton went 1-for-2 with one home run, one stolen base, and two RBI, while Valle got on base in two of his three plate appearances with three stolen bases and one run.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Shawn Retta, who went 1-for-2 with three stolen bases, two runs, and one RBI.

While Lakewood had to take the loss, they won't have to wait long to give it another shot: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 11:00 a.m. on Friday.