By: James McKeever
When a pitcher for the South Brunswick High School baseball team sees a fly ball jump off the hitter’s bat, he has a good idea where the ball will end up: In the glove of an outfielder.
"Our outfield has been unbelievable,” said Vikings coach Leo Danik. "They catch everything in sight. The other day (pitcher) Bryan Sock saw a ball go up in the air and he just started pointing. He knew it would be caught. That gives the pitcher a lot of confidence.”
According to Danik, his outfielders have accounted for two errors all season long, and both came in the first two games of the year.
Joe Clemente anchors the strong defense in center field. Kyle Cleffi, who alternates between left and right, provides a big bat in the middle of the order. Corey Griffin and Anthony Amato catch everything hit their way and are always ready when called upon.
"Our outfield is one of quickest around and we have great communication,” said Joe Clemente, a junior whose triplet brothers Anthony and Nick play on the team. ""Each of us covers a lot of ground and we get a good jump on the ball. Communication is a big key. So is team unity. We’re pretty good friends off the field … the four outfielders and the team in general. We’ve been playing together for a long time.”
Joe Clemente found his home in the outfield when he was eight years old. Playing the infield at that age, he admits that he was afraid of a groundball hit right at him. So he drifted into the outfield and was hooked.
"I’ve always been a center fielder since I was eight. I was always pretty fast,” said Joe.
Going into Wednesday’s game against Old Bridge, Joe was batting .327 with a .429 on-base percentage batting near the top of the order. He also had four doubles and five RBI.
Danik compares Joe to some of the outfielders he saw with some great Edison High School ballclubs from 1989-98, when Danik was an assistant coach under Jim Muldowney.
"Joe is a throwback to the old Edison days,” Danik said. "He’s the kind of a kid who says when a ball is hit his way "Get out my way. I’m going to get it.’ He wants to be in that position. He’s extremely aggressive. All four of our outfielders are aggressive. They’re fighting for that ball, which is what you want. Joe’s a gamer."
Cleffi usually starts in right field with Amato in left. But Griffin sees some time off the bench he started in the Vikings’ 4-1 win over Edison on Monday and chipped in with two hits and plays right field, with Cleffi shifting over the left.
Cleffi, a junior, took a team-high .464 batting average into Wednesday’s game. He led the club with 26 hits (two doubles, two triples) and was second in RBI with 14. Evan Mahoney led with 18.
"He’s been hitting the daylights out of the ball,” Danik said of Cleffi, whose father played on South Brunswick’s 1980 sectional champion. His uncle coached the Vikings for 10 seasons in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Cleffi’s on-base percentage was .475; his slugging percentage .464.
Amato, a senior, was hitting .256 in 43 at-bats while Griffin, a junior, was at .278 in 18 at-bats.
"We take a lot of pride in our outfield play,” said Joe Clemente. "We’re always talking to each other and backing each other up. We know each other very well and we know where the other guys will be.”
South Brunswick took a 10-5-1 record into Wednesday, with a six-game winning streak. The game completed South Brunswick’s Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division schedule. With today’s (Thursday’s) game against Monroe postponed, the Vikings will return to action on Saturday in the opening round of the GMC Tournament. There’s a good chance the Vikings will get a bye into Monday’s second round of the tournament.
The quarterfinals will be played at South Amboy’s Waterfront Park and Perth Amboy’s Rudyk Park (doubleheaders starting at 4 p.m.) on Wednesday, May 15. The semifinals will once again be held at East Brunswick Tech’s Tiger Field on Saturday, May 18 at 12 and 3 p.m.
Second baseman Nick Clemente has been hitting the ball at a .420 clip (second on the team). Nick Clemente, shortstop/pitcher Dan Rodriguez (.382, team-high 23 runs) and first baseman Justin Makowski had 12 RBI. Catcher Fred Brown had driven in 10 runs and led the squad with 11 walks.
Bryan Sock pitched a two-hitter vs. Edison on Monday to push his season record to 5-1 and lower his ERA to 0.95. In 44 innings Sock has 54 strikeouts. He’s walked 22 and allowed 25 hits.
