Sports Shorts

The Knights of Columbus Boxing Club in South River will hold its Amateur Boxing Night on Friday, starting at 8 p.m. Weigh-ins are at 6 p.m. Tickets are $15 for ringside and $10 for all others, and are available at the gym or by calling Dennis Cronin at (732) 246-1518 or Ron Brown (732) 251-1597. Among the boxers scheduled to fight is Rick Romero, the former heavyweight wrestler from Rutgers University, who is making his boxing debut.

The East Brunswick Grizzlies split their two games this weekend to improve to 5-3 on the season. In the first game at North Hunterdon, the Grizzlies played an outstanding game despite the fact that they only had 11 players. The girls dominated play, especially in the first 15-18 minutes of the second half, creating numerous shots and keeping the ball in the NH end of the field until they got tired and allowed several breakaways for the NH team, which won the game, 5-1. The Grizzlies’ only goal came after Sabrina Barik took a cornerkick from Molly Placido and fed Jamie LaGattuta, who blasted a shot past the NH keeper.

On Sunday the Grizzlies played another tough contest with the Edison United Stingers. The score was 0-0 with about 10 minutes left when Nicole Belpedio sent a pass down the wing to Rosa Buffolino, who crossed a pass to a cutting Gianna Cordasco, who shot it past the Edison goalie, giving the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead. Colleen Murphy then added an important insurance goal when she ran up on a punt by the Edison goalie at the 25 yard area and powered it past the Edison defense and goalie. The ball rolled into the net off the inside of the far post, giving the Grizzlies a well-deserved 2-0 win. It was also the Grizzlies’ fifth shutout of the season. Sierra Rauchbach deserves a special note of thanks from her team for playing a great game in spite of having an allergic reaction the night before, which caused both eyes to swell just about shut.

The girls on the team are Sabrina Barik, Nicole Belpedio, Rosa Buffolino, Kim Buscemi, Gianna Cordasco, Cristina Craig, Olive Froehlich, Jamie LaGattuta, Olivia Lawnick, Jordyn Minus, Colleen Murphy, Malika Phanda, Molly Placido, Sierra Rauchbach, Romina Reversi, and Hanna Wasserman. The girls’ next game is Sunday at the PDA New Brunswick Thunder.

The U16 Cranbury Cyclones girls soccer team tied Rolling Hills 2-2. After being down by two goals early, the Cyclones got on the board when Danielle Cokeley scored off a throw-in by Leslie Hankins. Sue Westock got the game-tying goal when she converted a well-placed through ball by Kristyn Pecsi. The Cyclones had numerous scoring chances in the second half but could not find the back of the net despite continued offensive pressure by Ashley Hackett and Emily Kotowski. The back four of Stephanie Grubb, Alessandra Mercuro, Katie Burke and Katie Lindberg all played well.

Sophomore Tara DeMarzo, of East Brunswick, helped the Muhlenberg College (Allentown, Pa.) softball team make the Centennial Conference playoffs this spring. DeMarzo played in 26 games, caught the second game of most of the team’s doubleheaders and totaled 22 starts. She did not record an error in 786 chances, making her the fifth everyday Muhlenberg player to finish a season with a 1.000 fielding percentage. DeMarzo hit .286 with a double, knocked in three runs and scored two. Her pitch-calling and defense helped the Mule Pitchers post a 1.94 ERA and hold opposing batters to a .247 average. Muhlenberg was 21-12, 10-6 in the conference, reaching the 20-win mark for the fourth time in six years and the eighth time overall. The Mules made the league playoffs for the fourth straight year, where they finished third.

The East Brunswick Bombers U10 Cerbo League team maintained its winning ways by beating Hazlet, 8-4. Six runs scored in the first inning on consecutive RBIs by Brian Connors, Ryan Hensperger, Troy Zeiger, Joey Zapata and Ryan Berdoff. Brian Connors had another strong outing by pitching three no-hit innings, followed by Joey Zapata (no runs, one inning).

The East Brunswick Bombers improved their record to 6-1-1 by beating Milltown 11-8. Fourteen different players reached base, led by Ian Alexander (3 RBIs), Joey Zapata (2 RBIs), Rich Yura (RBI), Michael Holihan (RBI), Troy Zeiger (RBI), and Frankie Granito (RBI). Alec Metsch came in to pitch with the tying runs on base, and recorded the save by getting the last batter to foul out to the catcher.