Battled in MVC race, CJ 1 tourney
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High baseball team provided tremendous excitement for its faithful fans this spring.
Forget about the rather ordinary 10-7 record. That doesn’t do the Mustangs justice.
Manville started fast, clinched a berth in the Central Jersey Group 1 playoffs early and remained in contention for the Valley Division title until the second week of May. The Mustangs hit a dry spell and fell out of the Valley race but still played exciting baseball down the stretch.
Veteran skipper Steve Venuto got a chance to do some managing this year. He even used his favorite play, the suicide squeeze, to win a ball game early in the season. Venuto juggled his pitching staff the best he could and rotated his role players into the lineup to complement the regulars.
The Mustangs played at some beautiful facilities this spring, losing games to Immaculata at HealthQuest Park in Flemington and North Plainfield at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University. Although MHS was eliminated from the CJ 1 playoffs in a bitter defeat at Highland Park, that game epitomized the drama of the 2001 season.
"It was most exciting for the kids and the parents," Venuto said. "We made it exciting for people to watch baseball. We kept fighting back and we were in the games until the end."
Manville never quit and was only blown out twice all season. Venuto started the season with a sweep of perennial Union County nemeses New Providence, Dayton and Roselle Park. The Mustangs dropped a controversial home game to Bernards but came back a few weeks later and drubbed the Mountaineers in the first round of the Somerset County Tournament.
The Mustangs were at their best when big John Anderson was on the mound. The junior right-hander was dominant in most of his outings, especially at home. Anderson didn’t pitch in the regular season game vs. Bernards but went the distance in the county clash, scattering six hits in an 8-1 victory.
Anderson ran his record to 5-0 with the county victory but absorbed three straight losses the following weekend. The lost weekend started with a costly defeat at Bound Brook, when Anderson came on in relief and was tagged with the deciding run. Anderson was hit hard by Immaculata’s sluggers the next day and wasn’t sharp at Berra Stadium against the Canucks.
Those three losses didn’t send Anderson to the tank. He regrouped and pitched a solid game vs. David Brearley the following week and the Mustangs were confident heading into the post-season.
Anderson made some early mistakes at Highland Park but kept his team in the game by shutting the door in the last few innings. Unfortunately, the Mustangs ran out of innings and their season ended with an 8-7 loss.
"I took that one hard over the weekend," Venuto said. "It was sad. I love these kids and that was one of the best groups I’ve had. It was such a tough loss, but that’s part of athletics."
Venuto is happy to have Anderson returning for his senior year. Anderson will anchor a staff with three returning pitchers. In fact, pitching is the only area where the Mustangs will be experienced in 2002.
"He’s got to be dominant next year," Venuto said of Anderson. "That’s what we need from him."
Anderson and sophomores Robert Snyder and Justin Jurkowski give Venuto three solid options for next year. Senior Gregg Sndyer didn’t pitch much this year since Venuto preferred to keep his great glove over at first base. Anderson got the most work, but Snyder and Jurkowski showed flashes of brilliance.
Robert Snyder’s best outing came in an early season one-hitter at Roselle Park. The sophomore right-hander also did a fine job defensively at third base and became a pleasant surprise at the plate later in the season.
Jurkowski, the club’s regular shortstop, impressed Venuto with his pitching poise and precision late in the season. Jurkowski will log many more innings as a junior.
The rest of Venuto’s varsity roster will be lost to graduation. Several players who made a major impact on the program during the last few seasons are graduating this week.
Leadoff hitting second baseman Jason Perone sits right at the top of that list. Perone ended his stellar four-year career with 107 base hits, second only to his brother John, who graduated in 1998. Jason led the Mustangs in runs (20), hits (31), doubles (10), stolen bases (17) and batting average (.517).
Gregg Snyder, the No. 2 batter in the lineup, ranked second in runs (13) and batted .377. The three-year varsity player also led the club with four sacrifices.
Center fielder Bryan Galumbus put up big power numbers batting either third or fourth. Galumbus led the team in RBI (13), slugging percentage (.913) and triples (5) and was second with 12 steals.
Left fielder Nick Conti also had a productive season at the plate. Conti made major improvements over last season by batting .341 with 12 runs, 15 hits and three doubles.
Other seniors starters who will be missed include catcher Tom Kosensky (.231), DH Robert Upshaw (.224) and the right field platoon of Mark Andreychik (.240) and Scott Jurewicz. Reserve outfielder Greg Liszczak (.250) and backup infielder and courtesy runner Jeff Morella will also graduate.
Aside from the three pitchers, Venuto figures to have Eddie Gryzeski, Joey Pohl, Jimmy Thomaszfski, Chris Hardgrove, Anthony Conti and Orlando Rodriguez in the varsity lineup next spring.
"We’ll have strong pitching, but we’ll have to fill the other shoes," Venuto said. "We have a lot of big shoes to fill. This year’s team could hit, but now we’re going to have a lot of people going through what these guys did last year."
Venuto can only hope that the young players remaining in his program mature as well as the Class of 2001. This senior class fueled quite an exciting ride for the Mustangs.
NOTES Manville had several players named to the All-Mountain Valley Conference team … Perone, Anderson, Galumbus and both Snyder brothers made the first team … Robert Snyder was edged out at third base so he qualified as a utility player … Kosensky, Upshaw and Conti were honorable mention selections … Anderson (.435, 11 RBI) and Robert Snyder (.346) led the MHS underclassmen in the hitting department this spring.