to fast starts this spring
Trio of local teams off
to fast starts this spring
By richard jerome
Staff Writer
JEFF GRANIT Monroe third baseman Steve Rumolo stretches for the ball during the Falcons’ game against Allentown on Friday in Monroe.
It’s been an up-and-down year so far for the East Brunswick High School baseball team.
The Bears are 4-5-1 after a 7-4 victory Tuesday against John F. Kennedy of Iselin. Head coach Tom Hockenjos said the problem for his team is putting offense and pitching together.
"When we score runs, the other team scores more," he said, pointing to a 19-14 loss to Piscataway and a 9-7 defeat by J.P. Stevens. "And when we get a good pitching performance, we often don’t score."
The Bears’ mound staff has been anchored by senior fireballer Danny Lanzano, who has all the team’s victories (he’s 4-0-1). Lanzano also has a sharp curve in his repertoire, but has so far relied on heat.
The rest of the hurlers include senior lefty Sean Coll, junior Andy Anderson, Matt Merrigan, a junior southpaw, and sophomore Matt Metsch.
Behind the plate, EBHS features its top power hitter, sophomore Chris Assinato, who earlier this year slugged three homers in three consecutive games. Junior Matt Tornabene is the current starter at first, with Anderson at second, Metsch at short stop and senior Andrew Tesoriero holding down the hot corner. He was the team’s leading hitter last season, posting an average of .344.
The top batter so far this spring has been center fielder Bob Manetta, a senior in his third year of varsity play who is hitting .410 out of the lead-off spot.
Coll, who plays right field when not pitching, has also put in some healthy stick work, with a .380 mark. Andrew Silver, a junior, plays left.
Rounding out the squad are senior Nick Jiacomiazzo, backup catcher Billy Krapf, a sophomore, junior outfielder Zack Tardiff, and Danny Storm, an outfielder and pitcher.
The Bears have a full plate this week, with yesterday’s match against Woodbridge, a game with St. Joseph’s of Metuchen today, one with Edison tomorrow, and another game against Woodbridge Saturday.
Despite the Bears’ inconsistent play so far, Hockenjos remained clear on what his team’s goals are as the season progresses.
"We’d like to get over .500 and make the state tournament," the coach said. "We haven’t gotten there in a couple of years, and I know the seniors would like to get a chance."
Hockenjos is assisted by Jeff Elias, jayvee coach Tom Husar and freshman coach Greg Marino.
Notes … While the Bears are struggling to get past the .500 mark, a trio of other local teams have found their stride, and are cruising through the regular season.
The fourth-ranked Spotswood Chargers are 9-1 following Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Middlesex, and sit atop the GMC’s Blue Division standings. The Chargers lost their first game of the year on Friday, 7-6 to Middlesex, but came back four days later to enact some revenge against the Blue Jays. In between, Spotswood beat New Brunswick 15-5 on Monday.
Spotswood is getting quality starting pitching to complement its strong offensive arsenal, with both components being led by Greg Slavicek. The hard-throwing lefty is 3-0 with an ERA under 1.50, and has struck out 37 hitters in 25 1/3 innings. In his last outing against Middlesex on Tuesday, he went the distance for the win, striking out 10.
At the plate, he has been equally impressive, hitting well over .500, and leading the team in every offensive category other than RBIs, where Colin Feneis has the lead.
Meanwhile, the Sayreville Bombers have picked up right where they left off last season, when they won seven of their final 11 games.
The Bombers dropped to 7-3 with a 12-7 loss to North Brunswick on Monday, but have played well in the early going. Like Spotswood, Sayreville is getting quality pitching and some timely hitting, with junior Mark Poore setting the tone on the mound with three wins and an ERA under 3.00, and a slew of players hitting over .300, including Kyle Masterson, Keith Simplins, Poore, Jeff Toth, Tim Ballard and Rob Galante.
Sayreville’s solid play has them within striking distance of No. 5 Carteret for the lead in the GMC’s White Division race. Carteret is 10-0 thus far and appears to be the team to beat in the division.
The Old Bridge Knights have also looked strong of late, bouncing back from a 0-2 start to win five of its next six games to get to 5-3, including a 5-3 win over J.P. Stevens on Monday.
Among those wins was an impressive 1-0 shutout of top-ranked South Brunswick and a 10-4 win over No. 2 Piscataway. Old Bridge’s secret to its success — pitching. The Knights have three studs in Dan Zeffiro (who beat South Brunswick), Tom Cifrodella and Mike Rossi, which should help them maintain their winning ways over the next few weeks.
Offensively, Old Bridge has been led by Charlie Kruer, who is hitting over .500; Steve Mantani and Gerard Haran, both over .400; and Cifrodella, who is hitting over .300.
Both the South River Rams and the Monroe Falcons have struggled out of the blocks this spring, with the Rams playing to a 2-7 mark entering yesterday’s game with Metuchen, and the Falcons at 1-10 prior to traveling to Colonia yesterday. Both teams were coming off losses on Monday, with the Rams dropping an 8-1 decision to Middlesex, and Monroe falling to Perth Amboy, 9-4.
South River is getting the hitting with several players well over the .300 mark, but has struggled with its pitching. Dan Kosco and Tim Dexter have been getting the majority of the work on the mound in the early going, and both have good stuff, which should bode well for a South River turnaround.
Meanwhile, Monroe’s early struggles are a bit of a mystery as head coach Greg Beyer’s squad returned a solid nucleus of players from last year’s 10-11 team. The Falcons appear to have difficulty adjusting to a White Division schedule after making the jump from the Blue Division.
— Doug McKenzie contributed to this story