By: James McKeever
Leo Danik knew that pitching was the strength of his South Brunswick High School baseball team. Now the rest of Middlesex County is finding that out. The hard way.
The Vikings entered their home game against J.P. Stevens on Wednesday (yesterday) with a 7-2-1 record and a four-game winning streak. The surge was fueled by superb pitching, with enough timely hitting and solid defense for good measure.
Consider some of these numbers:
In its past six games (before Stevens)the Vikings had surrendered a total of four runs. South Brunswick had a 5-1 record in that span.
In 10 games this season, the staff had surrendered a total of 31 runs. But, 20 of those came in two games, a 12-7 win over Piscataway and a21-13 victory over Edison. So in the other eight games the Vikings allowed 11 runs, a 1.4 average.
The Vikings have pitched three shutouts, lost a game 1-0 and played a 1-1 tie (eight innings).
The team ERA was 1.72.
"The pitching has been super," Danik said. "They give us a shot every game. They keep us in games, do the things necessary to keep you around until enough runs come. They all work hard and take it serious."
The club’s ace is Bryan Sock, who was scheduled to start on Wednesday with a 3-0 record and a 1.04 ERA. Sock beat Old Bridge 2-1 last Thursday with a five-hitter, making Nick Clemente’s RBI single and Kyle Cleffi’s RBI double in the third inning hold up.
The senior right-hander had posted 31 strikeouts, walked 10 and yielded 14 hits in 27 innings. The final scores in three of Sock’s four starts: 1-1, 1-0, 2-1.
"We’ve got to get him some runs to work with," Danik said.
Patrick Keenan, a junior lefty, shut out Woodbridge6-0 on Monday. Keenan (1-2, 1.29 ERA) scattered six hits, issued two walks and struck out five in his second strong outing in a row.
"Patrick is on the right track," Danik said. "It was just a matter of getting him regular work and for him to see a little more live hitting."
When Danik has given the ball to someone other than Sock or Keenan, he’s usually been rewarded with a solid outing. Dane Marini (1-0, 0.00, 7-IP), Sean Farrell, Ryan Webb (0 runs in 4Ò innings pitched), Travis Smart(1-0) and Anthony Clemente (1-0) have all answered the call.
Last Friday Smart worked four innings and Anthony Clemente finished the last three in a 12-2 win over Colonia. Smart gave up three hits and two (earned)runs while striking out four and walking five. Anthony Clemente walked three, fanned three and surrendered two hits.
Cleffi (2-for-5, three RBI) and Nick Clemente(2-for-3, two RBI) were the hitting stars again while Justin Makowski (2-for-4, one RBI) chipped in.
In Monday’s win over Woodbridge, Joe Clemente hit his first career home run with a solo blast. Nick Clemente and Cleffi each added two more hits and scored a run.
"I’m just hoping we can keep things rolling for the next four or five days," Danik said on the eve of Wednesday’s J.P. Stevens game. "The next seven days are crunch time and could make or break where we go in the division and in the (GMC) tournament."
EXTRA INNINGS: The Stevens game began a stretch that had the Vikings scheduled to play four consecutive days and five games in six days. Today(Thursday) South Brunswick hosts Highland Park, then travels to Piscataway on Friday for a game with heavy division and conference implications. On Saturday at 2p.m. the Vikings are home to play St. Joseph’s. Next week they play at Edison on Monday and at St. Joseph’s on Wednesday. . . . Second baseman Nick Clemente took a team-high .400 average into Wednesday’s contest, thanks to 14 hits in 35 at-bats. Catcher Tim Barnshaw was hitting .350 in 20 at-bats and was tied with Sock for the team lead in RBI (eight). Makowski (.353) and Cleffi had six RBI apiece.

