It’s been a season of peaks and valleys for the young Brookdale Community College baseball team. However, after all was said and done, the peaks outweighed the valleys, and the Jersey Blues stood at the summit of the Garden State Athletic Conference. They are winners of the GSAC regular season crown and are the No. 1 seed for the Region XIX Tournament this weekend in Lincroft.
Johnny Johnson’s Blues, 29-11, finished the GSAC season with a 10-2 mark, securing their first conference title in three years. For Johnson, it’s a sign that the Blues have returned to a familiar perch.
"We’re back to where we want to be," he said.
The top seeding in the region means a first-round bye for the Blues, and it is just what the doctor ordered.
"The bye is big for us," said Johnson. "It gives our kids a rest and that’s a positive. We’re a little banged up right now."
Johnson put his young Blues through a very demanding early schedule in Florida in mid March, facing nationally ranked Division II teams (BCC is in Division III), and it took its toll.
"We had some ups and downs," said Johnson. "We played a high level schedule that the kids weren’t used to. I think it wore us out a bit and the kids hit the wall.
"The kids played at a high intensity level for 40 games. That’s like two high school seasons," he said. "They were mentally drained. The rest will help us."
During the rest, Johnson can set up his pitching rotation for the weekend tournament which begins Friday. The Blues lost in the final game of the region tournament the last two years because they ran out of quality arms. The three-day tournament requires each team to play four of five games. It’s a marathon requiring pitching depth, and the Blues have that this year. That’s what Johnson had in mind when he went out and got pitching and more pitching.
Brookdale doesn’t know who it is playing on Friday morning at home (the first round was played over the weekend) at 11 a.m., but Johnson knows who is throwing for the Blues, sophomore Alex Perez.
The left-hander went 6-1 during the regular season with a 1.23 earned run average. In 46 innings he struck out 73 hitters. He was the region’s most dominant hurler.
Freshmen Tom Polito (4-1) and Brian Rabbit (3-1) have pitched well as the second and third starters, and will play big roles this weekend.
So will the rest of the staff that includes Kyle Botula (5-1) and Mark Leanza (6-0). It will be all hands on deck.
The way that Brookdale has been scoring runs lately, the pitching staff may not get tested like it has in the past.
When he put this team together, Johnson had one idea in mind, speed.
"This is the most athletic team we’ve had," he said. "We look for players who can run.
"We set the school record for stolen bases this year with 158," he added.
Lead-off hitter Michael Pierre brings a dimension that Brookdale hasn’t had — a player who can beat you with his legs. The speedy freshman, who makes infielders rush throws, set a school record with 41 stolen bases. He is batting for average (.435) and power (16 doubles, four triples and three home runs). He is the region’s most dangerous lead-off hitter.
Stephen Eschevarria bats behind Pierre and is the perfect No. 2 guy, spraying the ball around the field, and he is batting .396. With table-setters like Pierre and Eschevarria getting on base in front of him, Daniel Martinez has been cleaning up while batting third in the order. He has 45 RBIs (tops in the region) and six home runs. He’s batting .385.
Marc Savard has moved to the cleanup spot. After a slow start, the freshman has been coming on strong. He combines power (16 doubles, four home runs) and speed (18 stolen bases), and his batting average is up to .407.
Jon Forte, the only sophomore among this group, is batting .400 with six home runs and six doubles.
Johnson is quick to point out that the Blues have been getting production from top to bottom in the lineup. The ninth batter, shortstop John Kokotajlo, is an outstanding contact hitter who has come up with many big hits for the Blues.
"From one to nine everyone is contributing," said Johnson. "In the past we’ve relied on two or three guys to carry us, but this team is good one through nine."
When the Region XIX Tournament begins in Lincroft on Friday, there will be only four teams in the field. Play begins at 11 a.m. with games at BCC and Christian Brothers Academy. The morning winners will play at 2 p.m. at Brookdale in the winners’ bracket and the losers go to CBA for an elimination game in the afternoon in the losers’ bracket.
On Saturday all the action is at Brookdale. The winners’ bracket survivor from Friday will play at 2 p.m. against the winner of the morning game, which pits Friday’s losers’ bracket winner and the loser of Friday afternoon’s winners’ bracket game. Saturday morning’s loser goes home and the winner advances to Saturday afternoon’s game.
Since it’s a double-elimination format, the losers’ bracket winner must win twice against the undefeated winners’ bracket team. Should the winner’s bracket losing team finish on top Saturday afternoon, they are the champions; if they lose, the two teams return to Brookdale Sunday morning in a one-game showdown.
The Region XIX champion moves on to the Inter-Region Tournament in Mercyhurst, Pa., May 10-12. The winner there goes to the National Junior College World Series in Millington, Tenn., May 25-June 1.