Sport Shorts

The Brunswick CHAOS softball team is holding a fund-raising bus trip to Atlantic City to help defray travel expenses for its 16-year-old and 18-year-old travel softball teams. In the past two years, CHAOS squads have placed in the top 30 at the PONY National Softball Championship in Raleigh, N.C. The trip to Caesars Casino is scheduled for March 9. The cost is $25, with $13 back in casino cash. The bus departs from the East Brunswick baseball complex at noon and returns at 10:30 p.m. For more information, call Sue at (732) 254-8345.

The Milltown Rangers 10-year-old travel basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Hillsborough, 28-27. Milltown was led by Tyler Osofsky and Cody Pace, who had 10 and nine points respectively. Nick McConnell had four points, all late in the game, on four consecutive foul shots to tie the game. Jeff Coy (three points) and Thomas Pareti (one point) rounded out the scoring. Milltown’s defense was led by James Pareti, Drew Buffalino, Bobby O’Grady and Ricky McCall.

The Applegarth boys’ basketball team ended their season with an exciting 47-41 win over Linwood School of North Brunswick. The Applegarth Mustangs finished their season with a record of 13-2. What was special about this victory is that the Mustangs lost earlier to Linwood at home by two points. The Mustangs’ other loss was in overtime to Carteret. The Mustangs again played short-handed, as they were without center Mike Buffalino. The Mustangs’ outside game, aided by treys from Colin Horsch and Joe Costa, helped lead them to a first-quarter margin of 8-7. The Mustangs exploded in the second quarter and outscored Linwood by a 17-7 margin. Horsch, Costa, and Ivan Baretto all hit three-pointers in the quarter. They went into the locker room with a 25-14 lead. The Mustangs added to their lead by outscoring their opponent by a 10-8 margin in the third quarter. Matt Troncone led the way with six points. With a 35-22 lead going into the fourth quarter, some sloppy play and a few threes by Linwood, who went on a 15-5 run, cut the lead to 40-37. Ivan Baretto then broke the press and fed Matt Troncone for a key basket. Linwood was forced to foul and Mark Gulick and Ivan Baretto combined to go 7-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to help secure the victory. Joe Costa was the leading scorer with 11 points; Ivan Baretto had 10 points, two assists and five rebounds; Matt Troncone had seven points; and James Pellino controlled the boards with nine rebounds. Mark Gulick had four points and a team-high six assists. The Mustangs fell just three points short of an undefeated season.

The Jersey Intensity 12U fastpitch team is looking for a catcher and a utility player to fill out its 2003 roster. The Intensity is a highly competitive ASA Junior Olympic travel softball team. The team is currently in training and is looking for two skilled players. For a private tryout, e-mail bightr17@aol.com or call (732) 577 0797.

The Monroe U13 boys’ basketball team defeated North Edison, 76-54, to move their record to 6-3 and second place in the Central Jersey League. The balanced scoring attack was led by Vinnie Small with 11 points. James Pellino and Mike Buffalino each had 10, while Joe Costa and Nick Young added eight points apiece with Costa adding four assists. Mark Gulick had seven points. Colin Horsch had six, while Vincent Mahmoud added five points and six assists. Justin Dinsmore hit for five points, Matt Troncone four and Kevin Synarski chipped in with two. The team next takes on North Brunswick and Colts Neck. Also, Joe Costa, Colin Horsch and Mark Gulick were named to the Central Jersey All-Star team. Joe and Colin played in the game, with Joe scoring six points and Colin adding five. Mark was unable to play. Kevin Synarski was in the three-point shooting contest.