Egg Harbor Twp. moves on in Group 4 baseball

Brandon Riggs didn't care that his team was the No. 12 seed in South Jersey Group 4.

The Egg Harbor Township senior righthander didn't care that Williamstown was the No. 5 seed, as well as the defending champion.

"The seeds, they don't mean anything," Riggs said after powering Egg Harbor Township to a 3-1 victory over Williamstown on Tuesday. "It's a new season in the playoffs."

With a sneaky fastball and sharp curve, Riggs allowed just one unearned run on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

He pitched a shutout until the bottom of the seventh, when the Braves pushed across a run on an infield error.

"He's been like that all year," Egg Harbor Township coach Bryan Carmichael said of Riggs. "He's been a hard-luck loser in a lot of our games, so his record (2-4) doesn't show what kind of pitcher he is."

Egg Harbor Township (13-8) advanced to face fourth-seeded Cherokee in Thursday's quarterfinals.

Egg Harbor Township was 1-3 after four games and 3-6 on April 21. Since then, the Eagles are 10-2, with wins over Audubon, West Deptford, Mainland and Williamstown.

"I think we're a dark horse," in the South Jersey Group 4 tournament, Carmichael said.

Egg Harbor Township jumped in front 1-0 on the top of the first as Ryan Baruffi led off with a double and scored on a single by Nick Milhan.

Dante DiPalma made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the fourth and Milhan added an insurance run with another RBI single in the seventh.

The game marked the end of the careers of Williamstown seniors such as losing pitcher Denny Bentley, a North Carolina State recruit.

"He kept us in the game," Williamstown coach Joe Smith said. "We just didn't get the key hit when we needed it."

Egg Harbor Twp. 100 100 1 - 3 9 2

Williamstown 000 000 1 - 1 5 1

WP: WP: Brandon Riggs. LP: Denny Bentley.