The way Wall baseball coach Todd Schmitt views things when it comes to his relentless lineup, it’s only a matter of time in each game before the Crimson Knights figure out the opposing pitcher.
After a big 9-5 win over Jackson Liberty on Wednesday, it’s now seemingly only a matter of time before Wall claims the Shore Conference Class C Central title after sharing the Class B North title with Ocean last season.
A big reason is a lineup that mashes from one through nine, as it showed by pounding out 13 hits, eight for extra bases, in the win over the Lions and previously undefeated sophomore pitcher Tyler Pallante (3-1).
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“Our philosophy has been that we hit well enough that if we don't get to (a pitcher), the kid is pretty good,'' Schmitt said. "I think it's just a matter of time to get our timing down on him. We're very patient.''
The Crimson Knights (10-1, 7-0) also have a knack for extending innings, as their decisive rally came in a four-run second inning in which they smacked three straight doubles with two outs to recover from an early 2-0 deficit and never look back.
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Wall now has a two-game lead over the rest of the division with only three divisional games remaining, so it appears to have cleared the last significant hurdle to a second straight division title.
Junior catcher Connor White led the way as usual, finishing 3-for-3 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer. Junior Tyler Block added a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs, and first baseman Luke Pasick had an RBI double and also walked and was hit by a pitch.
Designated hitter Mike Meszaros added two hits, including a double, and two runs scored, and Connor Mulholland also doubled and scored a run in addition to dropping down a squeeze bunt that brought home a run.
While patience at the plate and forcing opposing pitchers to run up pitch counts by being selective have been hallmarks of Wall’s success this season, it actually was a bit of impatience that keyed the four-run second inning that set the tone for the win over the Lions.
"We realized that (Pallante) was throwing a lot of first-pitch fastballs, so we just wanted to jump on that before he could even have a chance to throw a curveball,'' White said.
Meszaros and Scott Duncan led off with consecutive singles before moving into scoring position on a balk, but Pallante picked up a strikeout and a flyout to keep them standing there.
Block then launched a two-run double to center field, followed by an RBI double by Pasick to right field and then a third consecutive RBI double to the centerfield fence by White for a 4-2 lead.
The lead grew to three runs in the third inning when Meszaros led off with a double, pinch runner Alex Taylor went to third on a sacrifice fly, and then Mulholland perfectly executed a squeeze bunt down the first base line to bring home Taylor.
The Crimson Knights ballooned the lead to 8-2 an inning later to knock Pallante out of the game. Block belted a leadoff triple, resulting in reliever John Holland entering the game.
After Holland started off by walking Pasick to put runners at the corners, a passed ball allowed Block to score and Pasick to run all the way to third. White then lifted a high fastball over the fence in left field for his third homer of the season, a two-run shot for a six-run lead.
"(Holland) left it up a little bit and he throws hard, so if you make good contact, the ball is going to go,'' White said.
The lead became 9-2 in the fifth inning when Mulholland hit a leadoff double, went to third on a fielder's choice and then scored on an errant throw that was trying to nab Block on a steal attempt at second base.
Jackson Liberty rallied for three runs on five hits off junior starter Harry Paytas in the sixth inning, but Paytas pitched a scoreless seventh to lock up his fifth win of the season, which tied for first in the Shore Conference.
Paytas struck out six, walked none, and scattered eight hits to improve to 5-0 and pick up his second win of the season against Jackson Liberty while winning the matchup of unbeatens against Pallante.
After sharing the B North title before moving into the newly created Class C Central under the latest Shore Conference alignment, Wall is determined to have this championship all for itself.
"This year we don't want to share with anybody,’’ Schmitt said. “We want to be a little greedy.''
The Crimson Knights have earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Monmouth County Tournament, which starts on Saturday with a home game at 2 p.m. against the winner of 17th-seeded Howell and 15th-seeded Freehold. Having not lost to a Shore Conference team all season, they have as good an argument as any team to be considered the No. 1 team in the conference, but that is not their concern right now.
"To be honest with you, the only rankings we care about are the last poll that comes out at the end of the year,'' Block said.
