MUSTANG ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High baseball team and especially pitcher John Anderson have April 25 circled on their calendars. That’s when the Mustangs will get another shot at New Providence.
Last week’s season opening 1-0 loss in New Providence was a tough one to swallow. Anderson pitched a beautiful game but allowed the game’s only run on a balk in the bottom of the third inning.
"The thing that gets me is that I did it to myself," Anderson said. "It wasn’t a hit or even a walk that beat me. I turned my shoulder a quarter-turn and that determined the ballgame."
Anderson and MHS skipper Steve Venuto didn’t argue the call. It was just an unfortunate fluke but the Mustangs came back strong to blank Dayton in a 10-0 mercy rule game two days later.
Manville pitching was outstanding last week. Anderson was simply outdueled by Tony Wargo, but he’ll get another shot at the Pioneers.
"It’s one of the best games I’ve been around," Venuto said. "It’s a shame we lost. It was a great game, a great pitching duel. John pitched a gem."
Anderson struck out five and walked only one while allowing five singles. Ryan Silverthorn had one of the hits with one out in the third inning. He moved up on another base hit, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on the balk.
"He moved his shoulder," Venuto said. "I couldn’t even argue."
The Mustangs actually had more base runners than the Pioneers but left them all stranded. Anderson and Eddie Gryzeski singled in the first and sixth innings, respectively, and Justin Jurkowski smacked a double in the top of the third for the game’s only extra base hit.
Wargo walked two batters and three more Mustangs reached on errors. None of the eight base runners crossed the plate. Manville left runners on second and third in the sixth.
Even Jurkowski, who pitched a no-hitter against Dayton, couldn’t resist talking about his team’s other game last week.
"We’ll get New Providence again and it’s here," Jurkowski said. "They didn’t get a run against us. We gave it to them."
Girls erupt late
to beat Dayton
The MHS softball team broke open a tight game with 12 runs in the top of the fifth and posted a 17-5 victory on the road at Jonathan Dayton Regional in Springfield. It was the first victory for new head coach Ed Knapp.
Leading 5-3, the Lady Mustangs tacked a dozen runs on the board in the top of the fifth inning. Manville had scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth in its opening loss to New Providence. This time, the Lady Mustangs piled it on even more.
"We hit well and played the game very well," Knapp said. "They played with the confidence I’m looking for. They were very patient hitters."
Manville took advantage of 12 walks and hit the ball to take advantage of all the free passes. Kim Kaminski, Lisa Lavenia and Jessica Droz were the big hitters for Manville, combining for eight hits and nine RBI. Lauren Kohler and Heather Mathieu each walked twice and scored three times for the winners.
Kaminski and Lavenia both went 3-for-3 with three RBI and Droz smacked her second big double in as many games, a two-run hit that highlighted the breakout inning. Droz finished with two hits and three RBI.
Amy Ortman allowed eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts in picking up her first pitching victory of the season for Manville (1-1), which was set to play road games at North Plainfield and Bound Brook the next two days.
"They’re fairly pivotal for early season games," Knapp said. "It allows us to measure ourselves against two of the better teams we face."
Track team takes
fourth at relays
The MHS boys’ track and field team placed fourth out of eight teams at the Mountain Valley Conference Relay Championships at Governor Livingston.
Manville was led by the victorious long jump and discus relay teams and scored 55 points in the meet. New Providence (108), North Plainfield (102) and Bound Brook (69) finished ahead of the Mustangs.
Franklin Andreyko (21-3) and Chris Gonzales (17-11) combined to win the long jump relay, while Mike Fasano (108-8), Jimmy Noble (102-7½) and Chris Greene (95-6¾) teamed up in the discus.
The Mustangs scored in seven other events, taking second in the shot put (116-11¼) with Fasano, Greene and Kile Galasso. The javelin relay team of Scott Kagan, Noble and Greene took fourth (312-0).
On the track, Manville finished third in the 4×800 and distance medley, fourth in the intermediate hurdles and sixth in the 4×400. Ryan Gilmore and Fasano placed third in the high jump relay.
The 4×400 team featured Matt Nile, Gonzales, Mike Zala and Mike Andreyko. Chris Wass, Gilmore, Steve Michtich and Nghi Nguyen ran the distance medley. Michtich, Nile, Nguyen and Wass competed in the 4×800 and Andreyko, Kagan and Zala ran the intermediates.
"I kept them going," Manville coach Tony Treonze said. "We got involved in a lot of events. We were there all day and the conditions were terrible. It was cold and rainy, but we did a nice job."