Baseball: South Brunswick Upsets Lawrence, 6-5, as Fantel Homers in His Third Game Back from Injury

LAWRENCE, NJ -- The South Brunswick baseball team handed Lawrence just its second loss of the season on Saturday, beating its Mercer County opponent on the road, 6-5.

Senior first baseman Ethan Fantel went 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored for the Vikings (9-10). The left-handed hitter is 7-for-11 with two home runs in three games since returning from a frightening injury.

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Colin Perna was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the victory, and Brian Culhane pitched two innings of shutout relief with one hit allowed, no walks and three strikeouts.

In an April 4 game, Fantel was struck in the face with a line drive while he was pitching and he suffered multiple fractures of his orbital bones. Fantel missed 16 games but has been his old self since returning to the lineup a few days ago.

"While he was out, Ethan worked tirelessly to stay prepared and be ready for his eventual return," South Brunswick coach Mike Pallitto said. "During this time, he proved to be a great teammate. He showed up to every practice and every game, provided encouragement to his teammates, assistance to his coaches, and was always the first guy out of the dugout to chase down a foul ball."

South Brunswick will play at home as the No. 8 seed against ninth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the first round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament on Monday afternoon. Fantel, who will continue playing baseball when he attends Ithaca College next year, will be in the lineup, hoping to stay hot.

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"In Ethan's first at-bat since coming back, he hit a two-run home run to jump start our offense," Pallitto said. "We certainly missed him while he was out of our lineup and are very grateful for his hard work and efforts to come back."

South Brunswick has won three games in a row and five of its last seven.

"Happy to help the team win this game and stay hot rolling into our county tournament," Fantel said in a Tweet on his (X) account after the Vikings defeated Lawrence (17-2).

The winner of Monday's game will advance to the GMCT quarterfinals Wednesday at North Brunswick Community Park.

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