OB BASEBALL TEAM WINS NJSIAA CENTRAL GROUP IV CHAMPIONSHIP

By Jayden Junaid

On June 2, the Knights defeated North Brunswick 2-1 to win the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV Championship.

Shortstop Thomas Papeo drove in the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning to break the tie. “It feels amazing to win the CJG4 championship against North Brunswick,” said Thomas Papeo, who led the team with 37 hits and 26 runs.

The game ended on an exciting play by Shawn Bogda. With two outs and a runner on third, Bogda had to field the ball and dive head-first back to the base to get the forced-out at first.

Justin Hascup shut down the

Raiders’ offense for 5 2/3 innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits. “I just kept throwing strikes and let them hit the ball, so our defense could make plays,” explained Justin Hascup.

In the four Central Jersey Group IV games, the pitching staff never surrendered an earned run, shutting out every other opponent: 3-0 over West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 10-0 over West Windsor-Plainsboro South, and 8-0 over East Brunswick.

Frank Papeo struck out seven batters in the win over EB in the Semifinals, keeping the offense in check until Old Bridge’s bats heated up in the sixth inning. “The offense played great late in the game, and the defense made no mistakes,” credited Frank Papeo, who held East

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