The Toms River Blacksox Alumni "Old Timers Game" this weekend ended with the alumni beating the 18 under high school select / college prep team 8-6 in a 9 inning woodbat game Saturday Oct. 13 at Castner Field in Toms River. The alumni were lead by Brady Doyle's 3 run homerun and David Cole's 2 doubles and 3 runs batted in. Some 35 former Black Sox players from the past 22 years participated in the game, representing the old timers as well. The annual event renews friendships - establishes new ones - and is a good time for players and spectators. Among some of the players on the Alumni team …

Making his fifth start in six games for the Cincinnati Reds, Toms River Native Todd Frazier was dropped to eighth in the batting order, Tuesday night. The former Toms River South Indian went 1-4 in a 3-2 losing effort to the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, and scored in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at two. Frazier struck out in his at-bat in the fourth on five pitches, but advanced to first base as the final strike was a wild pitch. He would eventually score on a line drive off the bat of Edgar Renteria. Frazier would later register his only hit of the …

With the American division crown in the Jersey Shore Baseball League on the line, the Point Pleasant Merchants picked the worst time to have their worst performance of the season. The Toms River Tigers defeated the Merchants 8-1 at Point Pleasant Borough High School Sunday evening. With the defeat coupled by the forfeit defeat in game 1 of what was supposed to be a doubleheader, the Merchants failed to clinch the division title and a first-round bye in the postseason. The Merchants dug themselves an early first-inning hole. With the bases loaded and two outs, Merchants starter Rich Gabriel …

Former Toms River Little League star Todd Frazier had arguably his most productive game for the Cincinnati Reds (50-55), Thursday afternoon, going one-for-three, drawing a walk and scoring two runs in a valiant effort, but the Reds fell, 10-9. In the bottom of the fourth, the Toms River native belted a two-out double, his second in the major leagues, over Mets right field Lucas Duda's head. He would then score on an RBI single by pitcher Homer Bailey. Frazier scored again in the bottom of the sixth. After drawing a one-out walk, Frazier would score on Miguel Cairo's three-run home run. He …

Todd Frazier made his first career start at first base, Monday night, going one-for-four in a 4-2 loss against the New York Mets at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The Toms River South graduate's only hit came by virtue of an infield single in the bottom of the fifth inning. Frazier slapped a ground ball to Mets' shortstop Jose Reyes, and used his speed to beat out the throw, He then advanced to second base on a single to left field by Paul Janish, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Mike Leake. Frazier would be stranded at third as Drew Stubbs struck out looking. He …

When Tyler Folger walked to give Toms River East American a base runner in the bottom of the 14th inning, Rob Spillane was certain of one thing. "I was going to send him no matter what," said Spillane, the manager of the Toms River East American Junior League team, who was coaching third base. "We were running out of time because Berkeley has a strict curfew." It had been a wild game already, and sending Folger was sure to create another exciting play. As it turned out, Spillane's plan wasn't a big risk. Matt Corsi drilled the first pitch of his at-bat over the left fielder's head for a …

  Toms River American’s Little League all-stars have long believed in their ability to hit. On Sunday, they put that ability fully on display, hitting seven home runs to defeat Jackson’s 12-year-old all-stars 10-3 in the District 18 tournament, playing at the Holbrook Little League complex in Jackson. Toms River’s Nick Tedeschi and Amanda Joyce each homered twice, and Cameron Dineen and Tommy Campo had homers. Dylan Danielson, who pitched 4 2/3 innings, helped his own cause with one of two home runs in the second inning (Tedeschi had the other one) as Toms River started hitting Jackson hard …

It’s that time of year again, when every crack of the bat may lead to a longer season, when young baseball players dream of reaching the big stage: the Little League World Series. The District 18 tournament, which encompasses tournaments for every age group from 8-year-olds to 15- and 16-year-olds, got under way on Sunday with the 10-year-old age group. It was a tough beginning of pool play for the Berkeley Little League 10-year-olds, who lost 7-6 to Holbrook Little League in extra innings. Berkeley Little League president Bob Everett reported it was a great game but shaky defense was costly…

TOMS RIVER —Throughout their success-filled 2011 season, the Manalapan baseball team has relied heavily on their pitching.  With a staff that featured the lowest team earned run average in the Shore Conference, there was no question as to why the Braves would rely on their arms for the duration of the season. In Manalapan's group IV state final against Westfield, Saturday afternoon, however, it would be the bats that would eventually crown the Braves. Manalapan (29-3) scored a whopping 29 runs on 32 hits, beating out the Blue Devils, 29-14 at Toms River High School South, the teams first …

Post-game update: Todd Frazier appeared as a pinch-hitter in the 6th inning of tonight's game. The 25-year-old batter struck out swinging on a four-seam fastball. The right-handed batter went 0-1 in his first big league appearance. It's a trip to the big show, right in his own backyard. On Monday, Toms River native Todd Frazier was promoted to the Major Leagues, playing for the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds face the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:05 p.m. today. Frazier is not shown in tonight's opening lineup, but is expected to be available on the team's bench. On Monday, Reds manager Dusty Baker …

All season long, the Point Borough baseball team has shown that it can hang in with the top teams in the Shore Conference. And yet, all year, Point Borough has displayed the knack for finding new ways to lose against those same elite teams. This time, it was Toms River North. Once again, that bugaboo for not being able to close out an opponent was on display on Thursday afternoon as Point Borough could not hold a 7-2 seventh inning lead and was eliminated from the Shore Conference Tournament by Toms River North, 8-7, at the Toms River North Athletic Complex. After Point Borough received six …

Toms River North head coach Ted Schelmay and his coaching counterpart on Thursday from Toms River South, Ken Frank, have more than 50 years of head coaching experience in the Toms River baseball rivalry and in all of those years, neither has seen anything quite like what both witnessed on Thursday evening at Toms River High School North. The Mariners squandered a six-run lead in the top of the seventh inning before rallying in both the bottom of the seventh and ninth innings to claim a wild 16-15 win in nine innings over Toms River South, earning a season series split with their cross-town …

BRICK— Indians Head coach Ken Frank stood in front of his team and simply, challenged them. Asking if his team wanted to win, Frank witnessed Brick Memorial rally to tie the game at one in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Indians' took their head coach's words to heart, scoring nine runs in the final two innings to run away with a 10-2 opening day win over Brick Memorial (0-1), at Brick American Baseball League in Brick, Monday afternoon. "[Brick Memorial] was in the game, and firepower was lacking," Frank said, "It's a credit to our kids for coming back. We really hit the ball well today…

Reading the box scores from last year’s Ocean County high school baseball games, one might think Toms River High School North changed its name to Toms River High School Gilbert. In a season that saw the Mariners go 11-12, senior pitcher-slash-third baseman Brian Gilbert was a one-man wrecking crew, pitching gem after gem and driving in run on top of run to carry his team back from a 3-7 start to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinals. Ultimately, the rest of the Toms River North team found out Gilbert could not win it all alone, as the senior ran out of gas in a 13-2 loss to Manalapan …

Some high school sports programs that win any kind of championship are still celebrating three years after the fact. While those teams may still be partying two years later, at Toms River East, there is a different word for the two-year period following the last championship: drought. For a period from 2001 to 2008, Toms River East did nothing but win championships, whether it was a Shore Conference Class A South division championship, an Ocean County or Shore Conference Tournament championship, or the NJSIAA Group IV championship the Raiders won in 2001. In the last two seasons, however, the…

Monsignor Donovan senior Adam Harlan can still recall playing with the varsity baseball team as a sophomore in 2009, during which he and a number of his classmates were part of a run to the NJSIAA South Jersey Non-Public A semifinal. Harlan remembers both the thrill of the playoff run as well as typical struggles that come with being a sophomore newcomer on the varsity team and that knowledge will come in handy this year as he and fellow seniors Matt Poinsett, Kyle Hoeler, Bob O’Brien and Bobby McGeehan will try to both carry the load on the field and help bring along a talented sophomore …

Most people in Connor Kaden’s shoes would not have much to prove going into their final season of high school baseball. The senior right-hander at Toms River South has already committed to pitch at Wake Forest University and is coming off a junior season in which he posted dominant strikeout numbers on an Indians team that won three separate championships. But this is Toms River South baseball. There is always something to prove. The bar is high for every player in the Indians program in the 2011 season, which begins Friday against Central Regional, but no player has a higher standard to live…