Sloppy Cardinals lose 11th straight game

Baseball

By: Jim Green
   The one problem Lawrence High School baseball coach Brian Carter has when sending ace right-hander Dave Waseleski to the mound is that he also takes one of his best gloves out of the infield.
   With Waseleski unable to pitch and catch the ball at the same time, the Cardinals never had a chance Monday at Hamilton. Lawrence made five errors — including three in the first two innings — on the way to a 14-3 loss. The Cardinals fell to 0-11 overall and 0-9 in the Colonial Valley Conference.
   Waseleski — clearly shaken by the lack of defensive support behind him — gave up all 14 runs on 10 hits and three walks over four innings before the game was called midway through the fifth due to the 10-run rule.
   "He (Waseleski) pitched will enough," Carter said. "He didn’t pitch well, but he pitched well enough for us to be competitive. They (the Hornets) didn’t hit too many balls harder than we did."
   In addition to having Waseleski on the mound, the Cardinals were without starting shortstop Matt Johannessen, a senior.
   "I don’t know where Johannessen was today," Carter said. "But he’s usually our shortstop."
   Because of Johannessen’s apparent unexplained absence, the Cardinals were forced to move third baseman Mike Frascella, a sophomore, to short. Frascella, who had some difficulty in the field during the early innings, had never played shortstop before.
   "To ask a sophomore to play shortstop for the first time is a little tough," Carter said. "Those balls he (Frascella) had trouble with in the first inning, if he had them at the end of the game, he would have made the plays."
   Carter said he was waiting until he learned of the circumstances surrounding Johannessen’s absence before he would determine if any disciplinary action would be taken. He did have a stiff warning, however.
   "We dealt with things like this early in the season," Carter said. "I said, ‘I’m going to coach the guys who want to be here.’"
   The Cardinals might have been able to keep close to Hamilton early if they had Johannessen’s steady glove.
   After Waseleski walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first, Frascella had two consecutive balls hit to him. He booted the first, putting runners on the corners. The next batter also hit a groundball to Frascella. But the first-time shortstop, suffering from a moment of indecisiveness, delivered a late throw to first that allowed all three runners to move up safely.
   The floodgates were open. Hamilton’s cleanup batter, first baseman Matt Sharples, smacked a double to right-center, scoring both runners to give Hamilton a 3-0 lead. Waseleski recovered to strike out the next hitter, but by the end of the frame Lawrence trailed 5-0.
   The Cardinals, meanwhile, put their leadoff batter on base in each of the first three innings, only to have each runner erased by a double play. And in the bottom of the third, errors by senior second baseman Jared Smith and junior third baseman Ryan Robbins helped Hamilton tack on four more runs for an 11-0 advantage.
   Carter felt his players might have gone into the game feeling defeated. Lawrence lost to Hamilton 12-2 in the Hamilton Hall of Fame Tournament on April 13.
   "We haven’t been in this same situation in the past," he said. "When (former ace John) Schneider was on the mound, we knew we could compete with anybody. It should be the same when ‘Was’ (Waseleski) is on the mound.
   "If nothing else, everybody should realize that, when ‘Was’ is on the mound, we can battle and compete with anyone."
   The Cardinals finally showed some fight in the bottom of the fourth, plating three runs after their first two hitters were retired.
   Senior catcher Charlie Park and Waseleski started the rally with back-to-back singles. Senior right fielder Jordan Antieri then doubled to left-center, plating both runs. Junior first baseman Ian Black capped the outburst with an RBI single.
   "Their (the Cardinals’) overall intensity wasn’t there from the start," Carter said. "The intensity wasn’t even there that (the fourth) inning. But the guys that were up at the plate got some things going, which was good to see."
   It seemed as though Lawrence had averted the mercy rule. But Hamilton answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the frame, pushing the lead back to 11 runs. The Cardinals received a pinch-hit single from junior Joe Ragazzo in the top of the fifth inning but were unable to score.
   It was the second consecutive loss by the 10-run rule for Lawrence, which dropped an 18-4 decision at North Hunterdon on Friday.
   Junior first baseman Kyle Gafgen had a triple and three RBIs against the powerful Lions. Junior left-hander Justin Ross, who suffered his third loss of the season, went 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Senior catcher Charlie Park added a triple.
   "They (the Lions) are a great team," Carter said. "They’re going to go far in the states. We were just overpowered."
   Carter, though, was unsure as to why his players lacked competitiveness throughout the Hamilton game.
   "Maybe they (the Cardinals) are young," he said. "Maybe they’re not competitive. We still have some questions we need answered this year."
   The Cardinals will be searching for those answers Saturday, when they visit top-seeded Steinert in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament. Waseleski (0-4) will again take the hill in search of his first win.
   "That (the county tournament) is a separate season in itself," Carter said. "Everyone goes in on the same plane. Everyone’s even."