Baseball: Colonia Pounds Middlesex, 10-1, for 7th Win in a Row

COLONIA, NJ -- Although he'd made a few relief appearances, sophomore Tyler Chiola had never started a varsity game on the mound before Thursday.

It certainly didn't hurt that the Colonia right-hander had his older brother, Casey, behind the plate; that Casey was able to provide Tyler with a scouting report on Middlesex High School's hitters; or that Tyler was presented with an early lead.

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But Tyler Chiola still had to go out there and pitch, and the 10th-grader ended up throwing a complete-game three-hitter while Colin Kroner went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in to lead the Patriots to a 10-1 victory over Middlesex.

It was Colonia's seventh win in a row, and it was built upon Tyler Chiola's consistent command of the strike zone, a lineup that got at least one hit out of all nine spots in the batting order, and a defense that sparkled all over the diamond.

The Patriots (10-4) came into the game with a team batting average of .200, but they have been able to win most of those games thanks to a team earned-run average of 1.87 and an infield that saves plenty of runs with guys like shortstop Matt Fasulo, 3B/2B Tim Gomez and second baseman Cory Pascarella making all the routine plays and a lot of the really tough ones every single game.

But after going nine innings in a 6-5 road victory over Middlesex on Tuesday, Colonia needed to mine the deeper end of its pitching staff on Thursday. Coach Mike Scialfo turned to Tyler Chiola, and Chiola came up with a gem.

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"My brother was the catcher when we played (Middlesex) on Tuesday, and he gave me a scouting report that they couldn't hit the off-speed pitches as well, so I threw lots of curveballs today," Tyler Chiola said. "I don't have the speed of some other pitchers, so I throw more curves, and I knew if I threw strikes, my infield would have my back."

Chiola struck out two batters, walked one, threw a total of 85 pitches, and, in one stretch between the third and sixth innings, he got 10 outs in a row, beginning with a slick 6-4-3 double play from Fasulo to Pascarella to first baseman Dylan Chiera.

"Defensively, we were great again," Scialfo said. "This was Tyler's first start, and we didn't know what kind of length we'd get out of him, but we got him the early lead and, even after you do that, you still have to throw strikes, and he did."

Colonia built a run in the bottom of the first when DH Jake Harvatt sliced a line drive single to left field for an RBI after Chiera had walked with one out and Kroner was hit by a pitch. In the second inning, the Patriots erupted for five more runs, and the lower half of the order got it all going. After Pascarella reached on an infield single leading off, Tyler Chiola singled in front of the left field, who came in too far on the ball, which took a high turf hop over his head, allowing Pascarella to score and Chiola to go to second.

No. 8 batter Nick Minue followed with a perfectly placed bunt single between the mound and third base, and Joe Massimino followed with a soft line single over the head of the drawn-in second baseman for an RBI. Casey Chiola smacked an RBI single through the middle, Chiera's comebacker led to a fielder's choice out at third base, but Kroner followed with a booming two-run triple to right-center to give Colonia a 6-0 lead.

Kroner's two-out RBI single in the fourth scored Massimino, who had doubled, to give Colonia a 7-1 lead.

"Our coach talks to us about hitting 24/7 and emphasizing things like swinging down. We work on hitting an hour-and-a-half each day," said Kroner, a sophomore right-handed batter whose also been one of Colonia's best pitchers. "Our coaches put a lot of trust in us. They love us. I have been working on keeping my shoulder in and going to right field. I had nine hits all last year, so I spent a lot of the off-season working on my hitting."

All three of Kroner's hits were to right field on Thursday, including an RBI single in Colonia's three-run sixth inning. Fasulo capped the scoring that inning with an RBI double to deep left field to make it 10-1, but even if Fasulo had gone hitless, he regularly excels at run prevention in the Patriots' airtight infield.

"We have fielded the ball well all season," Scialfo said. "Tim Gomez doesn't always bat for us, but whether he is playing second base or third base, like today, his defense is fantastic. He is so valuable."

Nobody in Colonia's lineup is batting .300, but the Patriots have scored 64 runs during their seven-game winning streak, and, on the eve of the start of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament next week, their bats might be catching up to their gloves and their arms, making them an interesting sleeper candidate in the tournament.

MIDDLESEX (5-12) 001 000 0 --  1- 3- 2
COLONIA (10-4)     150 103 X -- 10-12-0
WP-T. Chiola
LP-Reynolds

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