Franklin’s first inning barrage knocks out Anderson
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High baseball team never had a chance in Saturday afternoon’s Somerset County Tournament preliminary round game.
Visiting Franklin, a deceptive 14th seed, came out hitting the ball hard against MHS ace John Anderson and took the Mustangs right out of it. The Warriors rapped out seven hits to score eight runs and cruised to an 11-1 victory in five innings.
"They hit my pitchers and we had a bad game," Manville skipper Steve Venuto said afterward. "That takes the wind right out of your sails. It’s tough for any team to come back from that."
Matt Goetz and Zach Kushner smacked hard singles to left field to open the contest. Both runners stole to move into scoring position, leaving men on second and third for Mike Kotlarz, who hit a ground ball to third base.
Junior third baseman Robert Snyder fielded the ball and had Goetz hung up on his way to home plate. Snyder ran up the line with Goetz but tossed the ball over catcher Jimmy Thomaszfski’s head so Goetz scored the game’s first run without a play.
"You do that play all the time in practice and drills and I’ve made that play every time," Snyder said. "This is my fourth county tournament game and I really shouldn’t be nervous. I just couldn’t come up with it. I was really surprised he went down the line as far as he did. I knew I could get him, but my release was high and I guess I lost focus."
While Snyder’s error gave the Warriors a free out, it certainly wasn’t responsible for most of the damage. Franklin continued ripping the ball after that, starting with Mike Yackanin’s two-run single to left. Yackanin was gunned down trying to take second on the relay throw and Anderson retired the next batter on a ground ball.
Anderson (1-4) couldn’t get anybody else out. Rafael Padilla and Artie Mifsud laced consecutive doubles to make it 4-0. Joey D’Imperio walked and Rusty Hunt smacked an RBI single to chase Anderson.
Relief pitcher Justin Jurkowski was greeted by a three-run bomb off the bat of Goetz, who hit the first pitch over the left field fence for an 8-0 bulge.
"It’s not like they were little bloop hits," Snyder said. "They came out swinging the bats. You don’t see teams come out and turn on the ball against John like they did."
Yackanin retired the side in order in the bottom of the first and Franklin added a run in the second before the Mustangs got on the board. Joey Pohl belted a triple to center field and came home on a single by Jurkowski.
Both teams loaded the bases in the fourth but couldn’t score, which was much more critical to Manville’s cause. Orlando Rodriguez and Anderson laced consecutive one-out singles to right field and Jurkowski walked to load the bases with two outs for Snyder, who grounded out after a long nine-pitch at-bat.
"I’ve been swinging a good bat and making good contact," said Snyder, who entered the week as the team’s second-leading hitter for average. "I worked my way back to a full count so I knew I’d see a fastball. He just got me a little bit on the handle."
Franklin put the game away with two runs in the top of the fifth against Jurkowski, who pitched well after allowing the three-run homer in the first. Kushner smacked a two-run single to left field to give the Warriors that magic 10-run cushion.
Manville got a base hit from Thomaszfski in the bottom of the frame but couldn’t score to keep the game alive.
"I was definitely worried about Franklin," Venuto said. "I don’t care if they were 2-7. They play nice competition against all those big schools. I don’t think they’re 10 runs better than we are, but it was just one of those days."
Manville (5-4) has five games remaining before the state playoff cut-off. This week’s slate includes a road game at Bound Brook and home games vs. Roselle Park today and Highland Park tomorrow. The Mustangs then travel to Jonathan Dayton and North Plainfield next week.
"We want to get in bottom line," Venuto said. "When you lose, you have to come back more focused and ready to play. You can’t blame anybody. I want to see what kind of a team I have now."