VIDEO, PHOTOS: Freshman caps three-hit day by breaking tie with late RBI double as Middle posts first victory

Posted: April 15th 2026

Lower Cape May's Stephen Lutjen beats the tag of Middle Township's Nathan Stocker at the second-base bag as Middle's Nick Matteucci looks on during Tuesday's baseball game.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

ERMA – The road-weary Middle Township High School baseball team picked up its first win of the season Tuesday while playing a home game on their biggest rival’s field.

Freshman Gavin McDonnell capped a 3-for-4 day at the plate by blasting an RBI double to left field to break a 6-6 tie and junior teammate Tommy Yarson later added an RBI single as Middle scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to down Lower Cape May, 8-6.

The win was the first of the season for Middle (1-6), which is making due without a home field this spring because of ongoing renovations at Dougherty Field at the Goshen Complex in Cape May Court House. The team has been practicing on a makeshift field behind the high school and playing most of its home games at the site of its opponent, although the Panthers are also using Wildwood’s Maxwell Field for a couple of home games as well.

Middle has also been navigating competing in the more difficult Cape-Atlantic National Conference after moving up from the United Conference after finishing in first place last season.

“The big thing going into the season was, we knew we were going to be facing adversity because we’re in a tougher division and we don’t have a home field,” Middle coach Chris Branigan said. “But we talked about the difference between facts versus excuses. The facts are that we’re in a tougher division and we don’t have a home field. We need to make sure we leave them as facts and not use them as excuses when the situation’s not perfect. I couldn’t be more proud of how the guys have handled it so far. I thought it might be a year-long battle but we’ve kind of gotten used to it already, which is good.”

Lower threatened in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with one out, but the game ended on a double play as Yarson, playing second base, caught a line drive and flipped to freshman shortstop Nick Matteucci at the second-base bag to double off the runner.

Middle appeared poised to make the game a rout by scoring five times in the first inning, highlighted by consecutive doubles by sophomore Kyle Mick, junior Ryan Murray and sophomore Joe Eisele. Middle posted six of its 13 hits in the game in the inning. But Lower chipped away from there and scored three runs in the fifth on a ball that never left the infield, partly due to a throwing error, to pull to within a run. Pinch hitter J.J. Brunner then tied the game in the sixth on a long double to left field that scored Connor Milligan.

That set up the bottom of the sixth, in which the RBI hits by McDonnell and Yarson put Middle ahead to stay.

McDonnell, a catcher moved into the starting lineup due to injuries, has six hits in his first 10 high school at bats.

“He’s been huge. He’s kind of been thrust into the lineup but we know the player that he is and he’s in the lineup because we’re comfortable having him there,” Branigan said. “He’s been swinging a hot bat as a freshman and that’s rare to see right out of the gate. Same with Nick Matteucci. Those two are great baseball players as freshmen playing at the varsity level. They’re a huge part of what we have going. We’re definitely excited to have them for four years.”

Mick had two doubles, a single and two runs scored, Murray posted two hits and two RBI and Yarson added two hits for Middle.

Ashton Ray went 2 for 2 with two walks and two stolen bases and Stephen Lutjen had a hit and three stolen bases for Lower (1-7).

Middle’s victory came one day after Lower edged the Panthers, 6-5, on the same field.

Middle is a rather young team. The Panthers have no seniors and, in addition to the two freshmen, have several sophomores seeing significant playing time as well.

“With a young team, we really want to go one day at a time,” Branigan said. “We had a tough schedule early on and we also dropped a couple games we felt we could have won. But they’ve done a good job putting their heads back down and going to work. We’re keeping everything positive and learning from the games we’ve been in.”