Cerwinski leads Seton Hall Prep baseball in state tournament

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Junior right-handed pitcher John Cerwinski pitched a two-hitter to lead Seton Hall Prep to a 2-0 victory over St. Peter’s Prep in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA Non-Public “A” North State Tournament at Porcello Field in West Orange last Saturday morning. 

Cerwinski, a University of Pennsylvania commit, allowed two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks, and hit one batter. 

The Pirates scored both their runs in the second inning. Senior Karson Harcourt led off with a single to right field. He was sacrificed to second by senior Andrew Fernandez and scored when junior Ryan Sprock drilled an opposite field double into the right-field corner. Sprock scored later in the inning on a wild pitch. 

“I felt good out there today,” Cerwinski said after the game. “The ball came out of my hand really well. All of my pitches were working really well and I got ahead of the batters all game.” 

Head coach Mike Sheppard Jr. added, “John stepped up and pitched a masterful complete game.”

It was the third complete game pitched by the Pirate pitching staff and seventh shutout. 

Seton Hall ended its regular season with two victories last week. The team’s current record is 20-5-1, with a five-game winning streak. 

The team defeated Morris Hills 8-0 as senior Gerard Perillo, junior Patrick Walega, senior Kieran Hollander and junior Patrick Shamieh combined on a no-hitter. Senior Dominick Carlucci and junior Chris Maldonado each drove in two runs while junior Sam Nomura and senior Cole McGonigal each drove in a run. 

The Pirates defeated St. Joseph’s from Metuchen 8-2. Nomura was (2-3) 4 RBI while Sprock was (3-3) 3 RBI and Alex Kim drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Junior lefty Nicholas Pomponio (3-1) picked up the win in relief and Nomura picked up the save, throwing the final three innings.