0022SportsOS26June2015

SPORTSThe Ocean Star

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 PAGE 33

JSBL 34ICE HOCKEY 38FISHING TIPS 38

COURTESY OF BILL ALLEN-NJSPORTACTION.NET

PART OF A CLASSICJake Fioretti of Point Beach and Jack Fitzsimmons of Point Boro will both be playing in the 37th annual Phil Simms North-South HighSchool All-Star Football Classic. Pictured are players Ray Fattaruso [from left], Conor Davies, Xavier Young, Saifullah Adamkakar,David Staton, Matt Castronuova, Jack Fitzsimmons, Jake Fioretti and Point Beach football coach John Wagner. The game will beplayed Monday at Kean University’s Alumni Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

BY DOMINICK POLLIOTHE OCEAN STAR

POINT BORO — Tuesday wasquite the mess of a day formany people across thestate. Comcast experiencedan outage with their Inter-net, phone and cable servicedue to a software mishapwhile other New Jersey resi-dents were dealing withpower outages and fallingtrees due to a spectacularstorm that was rolling to-ward the coast.With the threat of that

storm looming over PointPleasant, many were bracingfor the inevitable downpourof rain as thunder could beheard and flashes of light il-luminated the distant sky.But what is the threat of

rain to dedicated athletesitching to play some summerball? Well, it’s nothing but adistant thought that mightruin a quality game of base-ball.The Ocean Giants, an At-

lantic Baseball Confedera-tion Collegiate League[ABCCL] baseball team, has

ABCCL PREVIEW

Ocean Giants set forsuccessful summer seasonCollegiate summer teamoff to a 6-6-1 start incompetitive league

BY DOMINICK POLLIOTHE OCEAN STAR

POINT PLEASANT — The peti-tion started last week tobring back the Point Boroversus Point Beach Thanks-giving Day football game hasgrown to slightly larger pro-portions. What started as apush for one specific gamehas expanded to include allBoro and Beach athletics.Point Beach resident and

Point Boro alumnus CraigSulaitis noticed the originalpetition started by Point Borostudents was not getting thelook he felt it deserved. Tak-ing matters into his ownhands, Sulaitis drafted up an-other petition with the helpof some friends and begandistributing them aroundboth towns to gauge commu-nity interest.

The petition written by Su-laitis points out that this yearwould have marked the 50thanniversary of the rivalry be-tween the Beach and theBoro.“How great was the Beach-

Boro wrestling match thisyear,” the petition asks. “Re-member when the footballstands were full, the sold outbasketball games, and hun-dreds of people watching thebaseball games and the trackmeets. This is for the kids!They see each other on thebeach and they play each oth-er in youth sports but thenthey go to high school andthey are cheated of the greatrivalry games we had whenwe were young.”Sulaitis said he wants the

petition to be about the chil-dren getting a once-in-a-life-time experience.“To play for a crowd is

pretty exciting for a kid andthis rivalry is their chance,”he said.

Restore the rivalrypetition grows

Beach resident hopesto include all sports

in rivalry

STEVE WEXLER THE OCEAN STAR

Joe Serrapicca [top] of Manalapan struck out three and allowed only one hit in three innings pitchedduring Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against the NJ Angels at home. The Ocean Giants defense [above] snags anAngels runner as he tries to steal second base.

BY DOMINICK POLLIOTHE OCEAN STAR

POINT BORO — The PointBoro Panthers hit the dia-mond again this week, start-ing off strong with a 4-1 winover the Griffins of DonovanCatholic Monday evening.The American Legion

baseball team put the heatout of their minds and stuckto aggressive play from thebatter’s box, bolstered by asuperb seven innings ofpitching from Michael Fal-conetti.The first and second in-

nings gave way to a pitchingduel with Falconetti record-ing three strikeouts. Hestruck out one batter in thefirst and two more in the sec-ond.On offense the bats started

slow for the Panthers withMark Leyble being the onlyone to reach first base on awalk from the Donovan

AMERICAN LEGION BASEBALL NOTEBOOK

Boro Panthers topDonovan Catholic at homeFalconetti pitched a

complete game strikingout six, walking one

STEVE WEXLER THE OCEAN STAR

Frank Graziano steps safely on second during Point Boro’s home win against Donovan Catholic Mondayevening. Graziano batted in Boro’s first run with a single up the middle in the third inning.

STEVE WEXLER THE OCEAN STAR

Point Boro’s Michael Falconetti put in seven innings of workfrom the mound Monday evening against Donovan Catholic.Pitching a complete game, Falconetti struck out six, walkedone and only allowed five hits in the 4-1 win at home.SEE PANTHERS PAGE 37

SEE RIVALRY PAGE 35

SEE GIANTS PAGE 36

WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COMPAGE 34 THE OCEAN STAR FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 SPORTS

JERSEY MIKES JSBL PREVIEW

Jersey Mikes JSBL basketball long-time summer traditionBY LEN BARDSLEYTHE COAST STAR

WALL — One of the longestrunning and most competi-tive basketball leagues in thecountry begins on Monday atWall High School.The Jersey Mike’s Jersey

Shore Basketball League hasbeen a fixture in the summersince the early 1970s and willkick off this season at Wallwith a game against two tra-ditional powerhouses.The first game of the sea-

son, scheduled for 7:15 p.m.will feature T&T Coastagainst Sterns Trailers.Sterns Trailers reached the

finals last season before los-ing to Horn Law.The second game on Mon-

day, which starts at 8:45 p.m.or 15 minutes after the end ofthe first game, will featurethe defending champs HornLaw against the New JerseyTarheels.The league will feature

eight teams with every teamreturning from last season.Horn Law has its top play-

ers from its championshipteam coming back in AshzonArtis, a 6-foot-8 forward whoplayed at Academy Charteras well as guard Nate Pacius,who also played at AcademyCharter.Je’Long Hornbeack, a 6-

foot-4 forward, who trans-fered to Monmouth fromUniversity of Oklahoma alsoreturns for Horn, as well asformer Monmouth Regionalstandout 6-foot-7 forward JoeWillman.

Jarelle Reischel, whoplayed at Point PleasantBeach High School and isnow at Rhode Island Univer-sity is listed on the Horn Lawroster as well.Sterns Trailers has one of

the top forward lines in theleague with veteran BlakeHamilton, Raritan HighSchool big-man Mike Aaman,and Rutgers University grad-uate Greg Lewis.Sterns as always boasts a

few pretty good shooters inJerome Hubbard and NeilThompson.T&T Coast is always a

force in the JSBL and thisseason should be no differ-ent.T&T Coast returns its core

of strong local players led byJason Westrol, a 2006 Man-asquan High School graduateand guard Randall Stallworthwho played at DonovanCatholic.Sea View Jeep is another

team that is always in the mixin the league. MikeBalkovitch, who played at St.John Vianney returns as wellas Matt McMullen, whoplayed at Christian BrothersAcademy.Sea View also returns An-

drew Feeley, one of the JSBLtop big men at 6-foot-10 andadd Monmouth University’sChris Brady is also 6-foot-10.Larson Ford is a charter

member of the JSBL and sureto field a high-energy teamthat plays tough defense. Ka-reem Collins, one of the topveterans in the JSBL along

with Hamilton and Hubbardreturns for Larson Ford.Team Shore continues to

live up to its name and fea-tures plenty of Shore Confer-ence players on its roster.Team Shore is led by guard

Roy Mabrey, who is from Bel-mar and just graduated fromSt. Anselm College.Jim Walsh, a 2013 graduate

of Manasquan High School,who is playing at StonehillCollege joins Team Shore asa 6-foot-7 forward.

Island Tile is back withone of the top incomingfreshman at Monmouth Uni-versity, Pierre Saar, a 6-foot-8 forward on its roster aswell as one of Iona College’stop scorers in A.J. English.New Jersey Tarheels will

look to improve after com-ing up winless in the JSBLlast season.The regular season is

played on Tuesday throughThursday with two games anight at Wall High School.

There is no break in theregular season with July 4,being a Saturday this year.The final day of the regu-

lar season will take place onJuly 30.All eight teams make the

single-elimination playoffs,which begin on August 3.The semifinals will take

place on August 5, with thefinal being on August 6..

THE OCEAN STAR

Point Boro football will beconducting its annual foot-ball camp for anyone inter-ested in attending in gradestwo through nine.The football camp will be

directed by Point Boro headfootball coach Sean Henryfrom July 6 to July 9.Camp will take place at the

Point Boro JV field runningfrom 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thecost of the camp is $100.There will be a $25 discountfor siblings.The Panther football camp

is designed to improve achild’s fundamentals andteach them the different as-pects of the game of football.Each camper will receive afree t-shirt and an opportuni-ty to win daily and weeklyawards. Station and positiondrills along with game situa-tions leading to scrimmageswill improve a child’s abili-ties.The Point Boro High

School football staff has apassion for the game of foot-ball and their unilateral goalis to make each child a betterplayer at the end of the week.Checks made out to Mr.

Henry can be sent to 1112Roberts Road, Point Pleasant08742.T-shirt sizes will be re-

quested on the first day ofcamp. For more informationemail [email protected] or call 908-489-4992.

Pantherfootball

youth camp

COURTESY OF CHRIS VENTUROSO

HOOP-TASTIC!The Point Pleasant third/fourth grade basketball team just finished the spring season in the Mid-Jersey Basketball League going 4-4. The team includes Jake Venturoso [top, from left], MattDecker, Owen Clearwaters, Brayden Girkesh [bottom, from left], Michael Ravallo and AlexVenturoso. Not pictured here are substitute players James Larsen, Nick Larsen and Shane Ryan.

WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COM FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 THE OCEAN STAR PAGE 35SPORTS

He went on to explain howthe rivalry used to be muchmore than just football, re-membering stands full of fansfor a Beach vs. Boro trackmeet. Nowadays, the twoschools do not compete inthe same divisions and thethree sports they do playeach other in are wrestling,baseball and tennis. Thisyear’s tennis match was can-celed due to inclementweather and was neverrescheduled.The petition also touches

on how easy it is to cross thebridge and play a competitivegame as opposed to travelinglong distances for a game.“Why would we send our

kids to Middlesex and South-ern Ocean County when theycould just cross the bridgeand play a game,” the petitionasks. “Play the games andthey will come! There isnothing better in sports thana rivalry game and a packedhouse. We have heard all ex-cuses why it can’t be done.That’s what they are — justexcuses. It’s time for actionfor the good of the studentsas well as the athletes.”Sulaitis said there are other

benefits that come from rival-ry games, such as an increasein local business and thebooster clubs that raise mon-ey for the individual sportsteams.Sulaitis recalled purchas-

ing apparel from local storessolely for the rivalry games inaddition to local venues likeThe Idle Hour, The Ark,Broadway Bar and Grill andFarrell’s hosting pre- andpost-game tailgates.“This is something for the

kids and also brings the twotowns together,” he said. “It’sgood for the business and thetown.”The booster programs

raise money throughfundraisers like car washes aswell as ticket and concessionsales and 50/50 raffles that goback into the team for uni-forms and equipment. Rival-ry games draw larger crowds,which means increased rev-enue, Sulaitis said.With benefits like that, as

well as an experience for theathletes that lasts a lifetime,Sulaitis said he feels addingBeach vs. Boro rivalry gamesis a win-win and not havingthem only hurts the youngplayers.“I think it’s cheating the

kids. It’s something I couldrelate to in my lifetime,” Su-laitis said. “People I’ve talkedto say it’s some of the great-est times they’ve had insports. From the cheerleadersto the band, everybody gotinvolved and they all remem-ber the great time they had.”Point Beach athletic direc-

tor Ellen Magliaro agreedwith the positives that stemfrom a healthy rivalry be-tween the two schools, butwhat she sees as most para-mount in this situation, shesaid, is that each programplays games that benefit it inthe end.“As an athletic director I

try to set up games for eachprogram that are appropriateat the time,” she said. “Youhave to do the best thing foreach program, and thinkabout at what cost it wouldtake to incorporate a rivalrygame for every sport just forthe sake of having the game.”Backed by 30 years of ex-

perience from being a coachand the athletic director, sheexplained how she goes toeach coach of each team tofigure out at what level ofcompetition they are lookingto play aso she can find thebest teams to play that willimprove the athletes whilecomfortably fitting into theschedule.

For instance, the way thestate sets up the football sea-son makes it difficult toschedule a Thanksgiving Dayrivalry game with playoffslooming just around thebend.“There is no opposition to

the playing of these games,”she said. “I just have toschedule what is appropriateand most beneficial. Thewrestling match worked thisyear and both coaches want-ed it, so we had no problemmaking it happen.”Magliaro works closely

with Chris Ferrone, the PointBoro athletic director, whendeciding what games wouldbe appropriate to schedulebetween the Boro and theBeach.Some games, like the base-

ball game this past year, wereadded later in the season be-cause they fit. The game didnot affect the Shore Confer-ence Tournament seeding orhave an impact on the statetournament, so there was noreason to not play the game.Ferrone agreed with

Magliaro, explaining that thedivisional schedule getshanded down first and thenhe adjusts that schedule be-fore organizing non-division-

al opponents. For football,the state hands out the wholeschedule, including non-divi-sional games.“If it works and fits with

both schedules, then yeah,we’ll try and schedule thegames, because I know it willbe fun and the communitywill love it,” Ferrone said.The scheduling runs on a

two-year cycle, so the nextopportunity for bringing backmore Beach vs. Boro gameswill be the 2016-2017 athleticyear. When that time comesFerrone and Magliaro willlook at the programs on acase-by-case basis and sched-ule accordingly.Sulaitis’ petition, which be-

gan last Friday, already hasover 900 signatures with thegoal of breaking 2,000. It isavailable to be signed in mul-tiple locations throughoutPoint Pleasant.In Point Beach, those inter-

ested can sign it at Stop andShop, 7-Eleven, Joe Leone’s,Round Dough with a Hole,Dunkin’ Donuts, JerseyMike’s, Vive Fitness, PointPleasant Elks, The Spot, TheArk, Farrell’s, Broadway Barand Grill, The Offshore,VFW, The Arctic Market andMartell’s.

In Point Boro, the petitioncan be signed at The IdleHour, Colonial Ranch Mar-ket, Jersey Mike’s, BeaverDam Hardware, Gerard’s,

The Shore House and U.S.Subs.According to Sulaitis, more

and more places will have thepetition available to sign astime goes on.

Dominick Pollio covers sports for TheOcean Star. He can be reached at [email protected] or 732-899-7606 Ext 15. Follow him on Twitter@dompollio.

Games are sceduled on two year cycle, case-by-case basisRIVALRYFROM PAGE 33

COURTESY OF JOYCE WIER

HURRICANES ARE REPEAT WINNERS AT MANALAPANThe Point Pleasant Hurricanes boys U-14 soccer team recently won the Blue Division title at theManalapan Soccer Tournament for the second year in a row. The Hurricanes went 3-0-1 duringthe tournament, using a second-half comeback to win its first game against East Brunswick 5-3, before scoring two second half goals to secure a 3-1 win over Wantaugh of New York. TheHurricanes tied Center Moriches of New York 2-2 before defeating Marlboro 6-0 in the final gameto clinch the title. The Hurricanes team, which has players from both Point Pleasant andManasquan, consists of assistant coach Derrick Mack [from left], Ryan Schmitt, FrancescoCrivelli, Luke Marcoux, Matt Lyons, Mark Fingerhut, Daniel Bardsley, Evan Walters, Patrick Clark,coach Len Bardsley, Mason Mack, Alex Atno, Brian Wier, Danny Ebinger, Casey Ballou and RobertHannon.

TYING THE KNOT?WEDDING AND ENGAGEMENT FORMSARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE!

www.starnewsgroup.comor, call us at

732-899-7606

WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COMPAGE 36 THE OCEAN STAR FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 SPORTS

THE OCEAN STAR

Point Beach head basket-ball coach Nick Catania willbe holding a basketball campfor children in secondthrough ninth grade.Three clinics are available

to sign up for.The first clinic is July 6-10,

the second clinic is July 13-17,and the third clinic is August3-7. It cost $175 for one clinic,$325 for two clinics, and $425for three clinics.All clinics are held at the

Point Pleasant Beach HighSchool gymnasium.Each camp day runs from 9

a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They includestretching, ball handlingskills, shooting techniques,guest speakers and, of course,games.According to Catania, the-

camp is designed to provide afun, challenging and educa-tional basketball experience.Instruction, competition andgames are designed to ad-dress the age and maturity ofeach camper.Each player will be

coached throughout the weekwith a staff dedicated toteaching basketball in an en-thusiastic and safe way.Catania was the 2013 NJSI-

AA State Coach of the Yearand led Point Beach to theirfirst state and shore confer-ence championships inschool history. He has alsoled the team to multiple divi-sion titles.For more information on

how to join, contact Cantaniaby phone at 908-433-4708 orby email [email protected].

Hoop Skillscamp to be held

been playing baseball on aweekly basis since the end ofMay with the Point Beachvarsity baseball field as theirhome field.According to its website,

www.abccl.com, the ABCCLhas three main purposes: “Toserve as a convenient, acces-sible and quality resource forcollege baseball players tostrengthen their skills andcompete with their baseballpeers. To provide collegebaseball coaches with an or-ganized, constructive exten-sion to their school programsduring the traditional sum-mer ‘off-season’. To act as avenue for all college playersto improve and showcasetheir talent before intercolle-giate and professional evalua-tors.”The Ocean Giants team

draws players from DivisionI, II and III colleges in Mary-land, Washington D.C., Penn-sylvania, Rhode Island, Vir-ginia, New Jersey and NewYork. Players must be currentcollege players with confir-mation by a published rosteror written notice from thecollege that the player holds aroster position.The local team features

Deven Del Priore, a PointBoro High School graduate,as well as graduates of Man-asquan High School.While on the team, the

players usually hold downsummer jobs in betweengames, family time and un-winding from the school year.Angelo Fiore and Joe Mazza,who both coached the PointBeach high school baseballteam, have the pleasure of

coaching the Ocean Giantsteam for the summer.The collegiate team has

worked their way to a 6-6record while putting up withpostponements due to in-clement weather as well asplayers having to work.“It’s been going real well.

We have a lot of talented kidson the team,” Fiore stated.“One of the hardest parts iswhat we were talking aboutwith the work schedules.When we have everyone herethat’s supposed to be here-your number one lineup-we’re extremely competitiveand one of the better teams inthe league.”

On Tuesday night theirgame against the New JerseyAngels ended in a 0-0 drawafter five innings of play. Theumpire called the game dueto it being too dark, luckilyjust before the sky opened upand rain came down.On the mound to start the

game for the Giants was JoeSerrapicca of Manalapan whoplays for Fordham University.Serrapicca pitched three in-nings, striking out three bat-ters while only allowing onehit.Lou Marotta of Manalapan

pitched the other two inningsand also only allowed one hitwhile on the rubber.

Offensively the Giantsmade some headway withfour hits and a few walks buthad trouble translating thatinto runs. They came closestto scoring in the bottom ofthe third inning with runnerson third and second and twoouts put away.Evan Worth of Toms River

stepped to the plate and lineda single to right field. The NJAngel outfielder scooped upthe ball and fired it home be-fore Matt Osgoodby of Briellecould reach home plate forthe Giants.The 0-0 draw is the first tie

of the season for the OceanGiants. With more daylightthey may have been able to

put together a win but theylook ahead to the rest of thesummer season.“The number one goal for

the summer season is to wina championship,” Fiore ex-plained. “On top of that youwant to make sure every kidgoes back to his college withall the work they were re-quired to get in.”Fiore went on to explain

other goals that include theplayers getting developmen-tal work in, the team trying tostay above .500 and thenwhen the playoffs comearound in late July is whenthe Giants will kick it intohigh gear.Fiore enjoys the summer

season and how it can bringtogether the town, saying,“It’s good for the community.We have neighbors that comeout here with the opportuni-ty to watch division I, divi-sion II and division III ballplayers. Theses kids are thetops in their high schools go-ing on to play in college. It’sgood for the kids to stay local.It’s just an all around goodfeeling; a good atmosphereand you see great baseball.”Yesterday the team trav-

eled to take on the New Jer-sey Angels on their field butthat game occurred too latefor this issue of The OceanStar. Check back next weekfor coverage.The Giants’ next game is

Sunday against the NewBrunswick Matrix. It is a dou-ble header at NorthBrunswick Community Parkand is set to begin at 10 a.m.

Dominick Pollio covers sports for TheOcean Star. He can be reached at [email protected] or 732-899-7606 Ext 15. Follow him on Twitter@dompollio.

College players stay local, work summer jobs, play baseballGIANTSFROM PAGE 33

STEVE WEXLER THE OCEAN STAR

The Ocean Giants came close to putting a run on the board during Tuesday’s five-inning game at homebut fell just short ending in a 0-0 draw.

WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COM FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 THE OCEAN STAR PAGE 37SPORTS

THE OCEAN STAR

The Point Pleasant Borofootball and wrestling pro-grams will hold their secondannual golf outing at GamblerRidge Golf Club, Cream Ridge,on Monday, July 27.The outing starts with regis-

tration at 11 a.m. with a shotgunstart at 1 p.m. A cocktail hourand dinner will follow at theElks in Point Pleasant startingat 6:15 p.m.Individual golfer cost is $100;

foursome cost is $400. Individ-uals can purchase tickets forjust the dinner and beveragesfor $35.Features of the golf outing in-

clude a longest drive and clos-est to the pin contest, a hole-in-one contest and mulligans forpurchase. The golf outing ismade possible through thesponsorship of the Point Pleas-ant Wrestling Club.Money raised from the golf

outing will assist in purchasingequipment for the teams.For more details regarding

the golf outing or for abrochure, call Sean Henry at908-489-4992 or email him [email protected] interested can also con-tact Pat Brady by phone at 732-773-4532 or by email [email protected] more information, visit Pt.Boro Football and Wrestling onFacebook.

Annual golfouting setfor July 27

Catholic pitcher whorecorded one strikeout in thefirst two innings.In the top of the third the

Boro defense secured threeouts on the first three battersand then put their bats on the

ball for the first action of thegame.It started after Josiah Glid-

don was hit by a pitch andawarded first base and team-mate Ryan Carne followed itup with a hard line drive backto the mound that knockedthe glove right off the hand ofthe Donovan Catholic pitch-er.

The Griffins managed anout but it brought Point Boroback to the top of the orderwith two men on base. FrankGraziano hit a liner up themiddle that brought homeGliddon for the first run ofthe contest and moved Carneover to third.After Graziano stole sec-

ond, Bill Feehan followed

with an RBI single to rightfield to give Boro a 2-0 leadwith only one out.Next up in the lineup was

lefty Sebastian Severio, whotook his time at the plate andeventually smacked a doubleto the left field fence to drivein two more runs. DonovanCatholic put a stop to Boro’soffensive outburst with agroundout and a strikeout toclose the third inning.The Griffins responded

with a run in the fourth in-ning on a line drive single inthe gap between left and cen-ter field but Point Boro re-mained resolute in their de-fense, not giving up anymoreruns in the fourth inning aswell as the rest of the game.Falconetti added three

strikeouts to his total, two ofwhich came in the top of theseventh and final inning forhis first win of the season.“I was just feeling good the

whole game, I like pitching,”Falconetti said after thegame. “I’m going to keep ontrying to win all the gamesthat come my way.”

Falconetti also said he feltcomfortable on the moundknowing the rest of his teamwas behind him contributinga strong defense as well as afew necessary runs.“We struggled a little bit

but I feel we did what we hadto do and got a couple runsacross,” he stated.The 4-1 victory at home

moved the Panthers to 3-0 onthe season but they were notfinished with baseball for theweek just yet.On Tuesday the Panthers

were supposed to play MysticIsland Post 493 [Pinelands]but the game was canceledunder the threat of rain.Yesterday the team had a

bye and they will get back toaction on Monday againstToms River East. The game isaway and scheduled to beginat 5:45 p.m.

Dominick Pollio covers sports for TheOcean Star. He can be reached at [email protected] or 732-899-7606 Ext 15. Follow him on Twitter@dompollio.

Strong pitching coupled with lively bats secures Boro winPANTHERSFROM PAGE 33

STEVE WEXLER THE OCEAN STAR

Bill Feehan steals second, beating out the throw from Donovan Catholic’s catcher during Monday’s winat home. Feehan finished the day with an RBI single in the third inning.

WWW.STARNEWSGROUP.COMPAGE 38 THE OCEAN STAR FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 SPORTS

As we come towards theend of June the word in thestriped bass community isthat this has been anotherpoor spring run of big bass.The bunker run that coin-cides with the big bass

migration also has not beengood.

On certain days the bunkerhave stretched for miles andthen on other days it wouldbe difficult to make bait. Inyears past, that is pre-Sandy,from the middle of May righton through all of June we hadno problem finding bunkerand catching bass some-where between the Hook andIsland Beach on any givenday. There were always 25 to35 pound bass to be caught oneach outing. Things are dif-ferent now. Whether it isfrom boaters not promotingcatch and release over thelast five years, or a migrationthat is taking place outside ofthree miles, or some post-Sandy effect, either way ithas not been a good seasonagain.

Big bluefish have also beentough to come by along thebeach and it now seems thatthese gators are starting toset up offshore. They shouldhold for another week or soon their five to 15 mile lumpsand ridges before they movemuch further out for theirsummer spawn. There willthen be a lull in the action forabout two weeks before theyreturn back inshore.

With warmer ocean tem-peratures in the last weekfluke fishing has improvedand boats are catching shortsand keepers in the three tofive pound ranges. Sea bassfishing is also very good.Recreational and charterboats that went out this past

weekend reported near boatlimits for all anglers onboard.

Steve Perna of theBerkeley Striper Club report-ed the following winners ofthe 12th Annual BerkeleyStriper Club Spring Catchand Release Striped BassTournament:

Shore Division: 1-RyanSherwood-46.5; 2-SteveGeorge–45; 3-Bruce Caporale44.5; 4-Steve Seeberger-40; 5-Shawn DiVincenzo-39. 6-Sean Seraphin-37; 7-ScottyPullen-35; 8-Chris Butcha-32;9-Dave Arnold-27 submittedfirst; 10-John Kravchak-27submitted second.

Boat Division: 1-SteveSaniewski-39; 2-Ray Kerico-36.5 submitted first; 3-RyanBrown-36.5 submitted sec-ond; 4-Bob "Blackcloud"Hryszko-36.5 submittedthird; 5-Paul Haertel-25; 6-George Strathern-18.5; 7-10 -

open. The remaining fourplaces in the boat divisionwere drawn randomly at theawards ceremony from thenon-winning boat divisionentrants.

Inclement weather andstrong winds during the tour-nament kept many boats atthe docks for most of theweek. The winner of thegrand prize drawing for theVan Staal reel, CTS Rod &Pelican cooler which waspicked at the awards ceremo-ny was Bill Lipmann.Congratulations to all thewinners. And congratula-tions to Ryan Sherwood forrepeating his 2014 win in theshore division for 2015.

A few bluefin tuna havebeen reported caught up onthe troll between thePrincess Wreck and theChicken Canyon in the lastweek. This fishery shouldimprove this upcoming weekas more tuna move up fromthe south. Trolling will be theway to target them by pullingReel Seat spreader bars,cedar blues, jets, or feathers.Trolling ballyhoo on JoeShute’s will also produce.

Bob over at Fisherman’sDen in Belmar reports: “Nota great weekend but a fewbright signs. Tommy Cook ofthe Shark River Surf Anglershad a 27 pound bass in thesurf on a plug. We saw somenice fluke in spite of theweather but shorts outnum-bered keepers 10 to 1. We alsogot some reports of kingfishin the surf on worms. Not the

best fishing for this time ofyear but any fishing is betterthan sitting home.”

Captain Howard Bogan ofthe Big Jamaica out of Briellereports: “The Big Jamaica issailing everyday at 7:30 a.m.Night bluefish Friday andSaturday 7:30 p.m. We alsoare offering four hour FamilyFun Afternoon Fishing Trips4:30-8:30 p.m., $35 ($70value). Schedule your adven-ture for Sunday throughWednesday.

The boat leaves Bogan’sBasin in Brielle at 4:30 p.m.You may catch bluefish, seabass, fluke, and more duringyour trip. This special rateincludes a rod and tacklerental, bait, soft drink, and ahot dog.”

Captain Joe Bogan of theJamaica II out of Brielle

reports “We are sailing HalfDay Fluke/Sea Bass 8:00amand 2 p.m. daily exceptMondays when we sail allDay Fluke/Sea bass at 7:30a.m.”

Announcements ofInterest: June 26-28, theGreater Point PleasantCharter Boat AssociationMako Mania Tournament,Manasquan Inlet. Check outwww.makomanianj.com. July1-31, Sea Bass changes to 2fish daily bag limit measur-ing 12.5 inches. July 10,Manasquan Fishing Clubmonthly meeting, Women’sClub, 62 Main Street,Manasquan, 7:30 p.m.

Jim Freda covers fishing for Star NewsGroup. He can be emailed at [email protected].

FISHING TIPS BY JIM FREDA

Bluefish are tough to come byTIP OF THE WEEKFROM JIM FREDA

When fishing for fluke,

don’t be afraid to use a

long 10-inch neatly

trimmed strip of mackerel

or squid on a Spro bucktail

to attract some of the

doormats that may be

lurking on the bottom.THE OCEAN STAR

With an objective to intro-duce the game of lacrosseand its skills to the futureplayers of Point Boro highschool, Boro head coach GuyLassen is running a boyslacrosse camp.

The camp is for both expe-rienced and non-experiencedplayers. It will teach the rulesof the game and fundamen-tals necessary to play this fastand dynamic sport. Instruc-tion will include basic ballskills such as passing, throw-ing, scooping ground balls,along with the basic strate-gies of the game.

Scrimmages will also takeplace as each player acquiresthe skills needed to compete.

The lacrosse camp datesare July 13-16 8 a.m.-noon andAugust 24-27 8 a.m.-noon.

Contact Point Boro headcoach Lassen at [email protected] for reg-istration forms and more in-formation.

Boys lacrossecamp set forJuly, August

Fagen returns tocoach hockey team

BY LEN BARDSLEYTHE COAST STAR

MANASQUAN — There havebeen very few years that JimFagen has not had some con-tact with the Point Beach-Manasquan High School icehockey program so it makessense that he is returning fora second stint as head coach.

Fagen was confirmed bythe Manasquan Board of Edu-

cation on June 16 after JimDowd stepped down follow-ing one season behind thebench.

Fagen played his first Man-asquan High School club icehockey game when he was inseventh grade and was part ofthe first varsity team his jun-ior year before graduating in1998.

Fagen, who organizes theManasquan High Schoolalumni hockey game – afundraiser for the Jim GirardScholarship Fund – is a histo-ry teacher at the high school.

Fagen was head coach forthe Warriors from the 2008-2009 season through the 2011-2012 season.

He was an assistant coachtwice for the Warriors beforehe took over as head coachfrom Tim Grable.

Fagen guided the team to afour-year record of 36-46-6,with his final two years theteam going 26-18-2. Under hisguidance they reached theDowd Cup final in his thirdyear behind the bench.

Fagen resigned after an 11-12 record during the 2011-2012season to spend more timewith his family due to an ill-ness in the family.

Fagen’s schedule is now alittle more open and he looksforward to trying to providethe program with some sta-bility.

“I am back, it is good, I amexcited,’’ said Fagen.

Fagen admits he didn’tthink he would be returningwhen he first walked awayfour years ago.

“My hope was that I leftthe program in a good spotand the opportunity wouldnot come up,’’ said Fagen. “Asthings unfolded seeing thatconstant turnover that kindof bothered me looking fromthe outside. I didn’t think itwas fair to the kids.’’

The Point Beach-Man-asquan ice hockey programwent through three coachesin three years since Fagenstepped down.

Fagen hopes being in thebuilding and seeing the kidson a consistent basis canhelp.

“I see most of themthroughout the day and thatis a big component to thesuccess of the program,’’ saidFagen.

Len Bardsley covers sports for TheCoast Star. He can be reached at [email protected] or 732-223-0076 Ext 29.

Fagen’s first stint ashead coach ended afterfour years following the

2011-2012 season

PRAYER TO ST. JUDE

O Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr,great in virtue and rich in miracles,near Kinsman of Jesus Christ, faith-ful intercessor of all who invoke yourspecial patronage in time of need, toyou I have recourse from the depth ofmy heart and humbly beg to whomGod has given such great power tocome to my assistance. Help me inmy present and urgent petition. Inreturn, I promise to make your nameknown and cause you to be invoked. Say three Our Fathers, three HailMarys and Glorias. Publication mustbe promised. St. Jude pray for us allwho invoke your aid. Amen. ThisNovena has never been known to fail.This Novena must be said for 9 con-secutive days. WW