Andrew leads Cougar hit attack
By: Bob Nuse
While most of the pieces are the same as a year ago, the results have been vastly different for the Montgomery High baseball team.
"Last year we hit .238 as a team and we were leaving runners on base all the time," said Cougar coach Peter Mueller. "This year we’ve scored 98 runs in seven games. I think the biggest difference is the kids are a year older and a year more experienced. They’re making better decisions at the plate and they’re not letting the good pitches go by like they did last year."
The end result has been a 7-0 start for the Cougars, who earned a best-ever No. 3 seed for the upcoming Somerset County Tournament. Montgomery has scored at least 10 runs in six of its first seven games, including an 18-6 win over Timothy Christian on Friday.
Leading the way at the plate has been senior David Andrew. In the first seven games of the season he has already driven in 21 runs. He’s 13-for-25 at the plate for a .520 average, with three home runs and five doubles.
"The kid is as strong as an ox and has a lightning-quick bat," said Muller, whose team was scheduled to play at Rutgers Prep on Monday and will host Somerville 3:45 p.m. today. "He seems to hit everybody. He’s healthy this year and he’s very focused at the plate. He showed signs of being able to do this last year. But he was coming off a sophomore year where he missed almost the whole season with an injury. Now he’s had a full season and off-season and he’s off to a great start.
"He’s already halfway to the school record for runs batted in for a season and we’ve only played seven games."
Andrew has certainly been in a groove at the plate. But he also knows he wouldn’t be driving in runs unless there were guys on base to drive in.
"That’s been the biggest thing," said Andrew, who missed most of his sophomore season with a back injury. "The guys are getting on base. Last year there would be guys on base and we’d leave them there. This year we’re able to drive those guys in.
"The whole team has worked pretty hard in the pre-season and in practice. We’re doing all the things we need to do to be successful. After last year I knew what I needed to fix and this year I came in and did those things."
A year ago, the Cougars’ leader in runs batted in was Andrew with 14. This year, Montgomery already has five players with at least seven runs batted in during the first seven games. The offense hasn’t slowed down yet this season.
"I’m surprised but then I’m not surprised," said Andrew, who plans to attend Muhlenberg College, where he will play football and baseball. "Everyone is doing well and we’re real motivated. We came into the season motivated and then winning seven games in a row has helped us stay that way. I think everyone on the team knows what we need to do to win.
"Everybody on the team is real fired up about being 7-0 and we want to keep it going. It’s been a lot of fun this year."
Beyond this year, Andrew is looking forward to a two-sport career in college. He’s looking to play quarterback on the football field and also keep playing baseball.
"Originally I was going to go to Vermont to play Division I baseball," Andrew said. "But I didn’t want to stop playing football. I like both sports. Muhlenberg is close to home and I’ve talked to both coaches and I’ll be able to play both sports there. I’ve talked to the football coach and he said it’s a matter of me getting down some of the fundamentals. This was the first year we had varsity football, so I just need to get some more experience."
If he makes strides the way he has on the baseball field between last year and this year, Andrew seems to be heading towards a pretty solid college career. But first there is a final season with which the Cougars have to deal.
"We’re pretty excited," said Andrew, who is 2-0 in his three starts as a pitcher for the Cougars this spring. "The whole team is playing well right now. We think we can have a pretty good season. We just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing."
For David Andrew, that means driving in runs at a record-breaking pace.