Rutgers Prep serves notice with 10-0 thumping
By: Rudy Brandl
Different pitchers on a different day can produce a different result.
Manville High is hoping that baseball rule comes into play this Saturday when Rutgers Prep comes to town for Somerset County Tournament action. Prep shocked the Mustangs last Friday afternoon with a 10-0 mercy rule drubbing on their home field just two days after the county seeding committee ranked Manville seventh and Prep in the No. 10 position.
The Argonauts (10-1) may have proved the county coaches wrong for now, but the Mustangs (7-1) won’t have to wait long to avenge their first loss of the 2003 season. If the Mustangs can find a way to overturn last Friday’s beating, they’ll be moving on in the Somerset County Tournament.
MHS skipper Steve Venuto will likely send junior right-hander Eddie Gryzeski (3-0) to the hill, while Prep figures to counter with ace Erick Chandler. Prep junk-throwing lefty Zak Atriam allowed two hits in five innings to win last Friday’s game, while Manville junior Sean McCarthy (2-1) took the loss.
"We’re not going to throw the same guy Saturday and they’re going to have a different pitcher," Manville senior third baseman Robert Snyder said. "Most likely, they’ll throw their best pitcher and we’ll throw our best pitcher. It will be a different game. Anybody can beat anybody on any day."
Venuto echoed that sentiment in his post-game speech in the MHS dugout. The players were obviously disappointed after losing their first game of the season. They had looked forward to this first county test and the game turned into a blowout. Venuto made sure everyone left for the weekend with their heads up.
"You can’t dwell on the past. It’s over, forget about it," Venuto said. "We won seven in a row before. We can do it again."
It was a frustrating game for the Mustangs for several reasons. MHS was playing without starters Justin Jurkowski and John Saladin, so the club was far from full strength. The team stranded three runners in the first two innings while the game was still scoreless, wasting leadoff singles by Gryzeski and Steve Anderson that turned out to be the only hits of the day.
Prep erupted for five runs in the top of the third, added one in the fourth and chased McCarthy with four more in the fifth. The Argonauts really hit the ball in the third, ripping four straight base hits for a 3-0 lead.
Brian Scanlon opened with a single and Nick Venezia followed with a long RBI triple to center field. Atriam singled to left for a 2-0 lead and Chandler’s RBI double to left-center produced the third run. Chandler scored on a two-out hit by Chris Yorlano.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs couldn’t get anything going against Atriam, who mixed pitches and changed speeds. Atriam finished with eight strikeouts and one walk, retiring the final 10 batters in a row.
"He didn’t throw that hard, but he threw strikes and did what he had to do to get people out," said Snyder, who went hitless for the first time all season. "We just couldn’t get anything going."
Snyder felt the Mustangs were a little sluggish in the previous day’s 12-6 victory at Newark Technology. The carryover effect cost the team against a much stronger opponent.
"We just let them 10-run us without their best pitcher," Snyder said. "There’s no way that team is 10 runs better. I feel like we can beat them."
The Mustangs will get a chance, once again on their home field. Venuto is hoping the seeding committee is right this time.
"They were the better team today, so we’ve just got to do a better job next time," Venuto said. "They have a good team and they should get respect in the county. I’m disappointed because I don’t like to lose, but it’s baseball. It just happens. You win seven in a row, but some days you’re flat."
The Mustangs should have plenty of motivation for the county game. Manville wants to prove it can win a tournament game against a good team. If the Mustangs can regroup mentally and play their game, it should be an exciting contest.
"Your goal is to win every game, but you’re not going to win every game," Snyder said. "Everyone felt good and we didn’t want to get too full of ourselves, but we didn’t think they’d 10-run us."
Maybe the lopsided loss will help the Mustangs regain their focus and play better ball when the action heats up in May.
"It was a nice run, but we still have a long way to go," Venuto said. "We have to move on."
EXTRA BASES McCarthy’s three-run homer and five RBI supported Gryzeski’s pitching in the team’s 11-3 victory over Dayton in Springfield … Jon Gangwer added a double, triple and three RBI and Snyder roped a double in the 14-hit attack … Gangwer and Jimmy Thomaszfski each had three hits to account for half the team’s total in the 12-6 triumph at Tech, while Snyder went 2-for-5 with his first home run of the year … Anderson pitched five innings of four-hit ball with seven strikeouts and three walks to pick up the victory on the mound … the Mustangs face Oratory Prep and Roselle in Sky Division action this week.

