SJ Tigers win  8-3 against the Aston Cruisers

Sunday, August 2, 2015 marked the regular season finale for the South Jersey Tigers, who culminated an impressive inaugural debut in the SJMSBL "A" Division with an 8-3 win over the Aston Cruisers. The Tigers finished 11-5 overall and will be a 3-seed headed into the SJMSBL playoffs.

Pitching keyed Sunday's win. Mike Terlizzi handled the bulk of the work, throwing four innings without allowing an earned run. Nicky Ripoli finished things off with three shutout innings. And starter Rob Kuestner threw a pair of innings without allowing an earned run.

As for the season, it can best be described as a solid success. Among the highlights:

-The breakout performance of catcher Al Acevedo who leads the team in hitting.
-The complete game pitching efforts of Ripoli vs the Black Sox and Kuestner vs the Vipers
-Herm Gardner's ball breaking, which is definitely "A" division caliber - just ask his usual foil, Tommy Gardiner
-The power supply provided by Allen Forsyth and Terlizzi
-Jim Capalbo's Rico Brogna-esque season-long work around 1st base
-Carlos Cotto's many defensive plays and his perfectly played rundown in the season finale.
-The efforts of the injured Eddie Munoz and Joe Luca who left it all out on the field
-The welcome late additions of Willie Rivera and Jeff Cochran

-The great game stories written by Rob Kuestner
-Finally, last - but certainly not least - the calming leadership of Jose Hernandez. Jose deftly (That's a SAT word Herm, look it up) handles league issues, player issues and Rob Kuestner's many phone calls with a smile on his face. And his much better half Millie takes great team photos too

In all, a strong debut for the Tigers. Here's to an even better playoff run!