Rubbinaccio Makes Bid For No-Hitter as Braves Blank Rebels

There was no question as to who the Manalapan Braves were going to turn to in need of a victory.

Kyle Rubbinaccio threw a complete game one-hitter, including a no-hitter through six and 1/3 innings and striking out 10 in an 8-0 win over the Howell Rebels at Howell High School, on Friday, April 15.

Marco Ferrante and Rich Ricciardi each launched home runs for Manalapan, who had more than enough offense to run away with the blowout win.

"This is kind of our first game where we kind of put it all together," Braves head coach Brian Boyce said, "We hit well, pitched well. We did a lot of good things today."

Ferrante's two-run bomb to right field in the fourth inning gave Manalapan some breathing room with a 3-0 lead after a tight three innings to open.

Brian Lamboy reached base with a one-out single to left the at-bat before Ferrante drove him in.

In the fifth, Chris Baird hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Alex Decastro, who notched a one-out double earlier in the inning.

Jake Winston and Joseph Serrapica each singled with one out in the top of the sixth inning to set up Riccardi's home run to deep right field, blowing the game open at 7-0.

Serrapica opened the scoring for Manalapan with an RBI double in the second inning.

"We do a good job of trying to spray the ball where they pitch it," Boyce said, "Today was a good day for us."

Still, the star of the show was Rubbinaccio on the mound. Of his 10 strikeouts, six of those Rebels were caught looking.

"He makes my job really easy," Boyce said of Rubbinaccio, "We really don't need a lot of offense on a day when he is cruising like that. He seemed like he was getting stronger as the game wore on."

Ferrante added another RBI in the seventh inning for the Braves final run.

Manalapan will be back at it Saturday, April 16 hosting the Marlboro Mustangs at home at 10 a.m.