The Brick Township Green Dragons will take on the Point Pleasant Beach Garnet Gulls at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Brick Township barely beat Manchester Township the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Green Dragons were the clear victors by a 19-3 margin over the Hawks on Thursday.
Brannon McBride made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he pitched four innings while giving up just two earned runs off five hits. McBride was also big at the plate, scoring a run while going 2-for-4.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Chris Quick, who fired off two home runs, seven RBI, and four runs while going 3-for-3. Another player making a difference was Brayden Heatter, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run, four RBI, and two runs.
Brick Township always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .649. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Manchester Township only posted an OBP of .423.
Meanwhile, Point Pleasant Beach put another one in the bag on Thursday to keep their perfect season alive. They blew past Liberty 13-1.
Like Brick Township, Point Pleasant Beach also got a great game from a two-way player: TOMMY CONROY. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. The dominant performance also gave CONROY a new career-high in strikeouts (four). He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs and stealing two bases while going 1-for-3.
In other pitching news, BENNETT MOBERG looked comfortable as he struck out six batters over 2.2 innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and only one walk). Those six strikeouts gave him a new career-high.
Back at the plate, BRODY POWERS and DANNY LUBACH did most of the damage at the plate: POWERS went 2-for-3 with one home run and five RBI, while LUBACH went 2-for-3 with one home run, three RBI, and one double. Those five RBI gave POWERS a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of DANIEL STORCH, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one triple, and two RBI.
Point Pleasant Beach pushed their record up to 3-0 with the win, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Brick Township, their win bumped their record up to 2-0.
Brick Township couldn't quite finish off Point Pleasant Beach in their previous meeting back in May of 2019 and fell 4-2. Can the Green Dragons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
