Baseball
By: Steve Feitl
At 6-7, the Lawrence High School baseball team is a whole lot better than the team that was 1-4 just three weeks ago.
Never was that more apparent than on Saturday when the Cardinals turned heads around Mercer County by stunning Lawrenceville Prep School, 6-2.
The Cardinals fell in a close game against Hunterdon Central the next day, 4-2, but added to their mid-season resurgence by surviving a see-saw high-scoring affair against Princeton Tuesday, 14-12.
For Lawrence coach Brian Carter, the win over Lawrenceville (8-3) proved to both Colonial Valley Conference foes and the team itself that the Cardinals can play with anyone.
“It was a huge win for us,” Carter said. “It was really the first team we shouldn’t have beaten — but we did. They were 8-2 at the time, when we were 4-6. They were the better team on paper. But we came out and battled and it gave the guys confidence that they can beat the teams with the good records. It was a huge boost for our confidence.”
Eric Weiner had the duties on the mound against Lawrenceville, and kept the opposing batters in check, while the Cardinals waited for their moment to strike.
Things almost got away from the Cardinals in the fourth inning when Lawrenceville loaded the bases with no outs. But a double play and a pop-out followed and the underdogs escaped with only one run allowed.
“Defensively, we played as close to a perfect game as we could play,” Carter said. “They had a chance to do a lot of damage in the fourth and all they got was one run out of it.”
Meanwhile, the Cardinal bats exploded the very next inning.
Kyle Anderson led off with a single, but was caught stealing on a blown hit-and-run play. Mike Waseleski doubled and Mike Bruschini reached on an error. After C.J. Hendricks struck out, Jason Smith was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Bobby Brundage then singled to bring home two runners. Elliot Brame walked to reach base and Duane Davis doubled to cap a five-run fifth inning.
The key to the inning and to the Cardinals’ recent success has been their ability to put the ball in play, according to Carter.
“Offensively, put pressure on them,” he said. “We only struck out five times in the first six innings against Lawrenceville. When we’ve been losing, we’ve been striking out a lot. We put a lot of pressure on them because we were able to put the ball in play.”
And while the Cardinals did drop a close game to Hunterdon Central Sunday, they came back and won a barn-burner against Princeton in the home of the minor-league baseball team, the Trenton Thunder.
The team qualified to play the game at Waterfront Park in Trenton through a promotion with Thunder management where high schools that sell 75 seats for a weekday Thunder game can play on the minor-league field.
“It’s a good way for the Thunder to get people in the seats and a great way for us to play on a professional field,” Carter said. “It was fun. It was the first time a lot of the guys played on a pro field, and hopefully it won’t be the last. It was a good experience for everyone.”
As for the game itself, it was a good experience for everyone but pitchers.
Smith pitched two strong innings for Lawrence before giving up five Princeton runs in the bottom of the third inning.
Luckily for Lawrence, the Cardinals themselves had chased the Princeton pitcher for eight runs in the top of the inning. Davis nailed a base-loaded triple to clear the bases, which was followed by RBI singles by Weiner and Anderson.
But the Cardinal bats were quieted in the fourth and Princeton took another three runs off Kevin Schneider to tie the game, 8-8.
Weiner tripled in the fifth and was brought home on an Anderson triple to take back the lead, 9-8.
But Princeton struck for four in the sixth inning off Brame, and Lawrence trailed 12-11 going into the top of the seventh.
Smith got on board with a walk, as did Brundage with a single. Brian Noble then popped out to first, but Davis was walked intentionally to load the bases with two outs for Weiner.
It proved to be a mistake for Princeton. Weiner was already 3-for-4 at the time with a triple and two singles. He then added a double to clear the bases and give the Cardinals the 14-12 lead.
Anderson, who had gotten Lawrence out of trouble in the sixth, shut the door on Princeton in the seventh.
The hard fought victory proves momentum is definitely starting to swing in Lawrence’s favor. Carter can trace it back to the 8-0 loss to Steinert April 13.
In that game, the Cardinals spotted Steinert several early runs, but played them even the rest of the way and gained confidence. Since then, they’ve gone 5-3 and are looking to surpass the .500 mark by May 12 to qualify for the state tournament.
“We definitely have a little bit of momentum going now,” Carter said. “Ideally we want to peak at the end of the season, not at the beginning. We’re definitely on our way up and hopefully, we’ll continue.
“Our goal is to be .500 by May 12,” he continued. “It’s a goal but realistically, we can only take it one game at a time.”