Red-hot HHS moves into SCT quartefinals
By: John E. Powers
The inning started innocently enough – a groundball to Somerville third baseman Tyler Holderbaum, which Hillsborough sophomore center fielder Brandon Shamy just beat out. Shamy’s hustle led to a seven-run first inning last Saturday that spurred the Raiders to a 9-6 win in the first round of the Somerset County Tournament.
Hillsborough, the No. 6 seed, will play at No. 3 Montgomery Saturday afternoon with intentions to advance to the Commerce Bank Ballpark and the SCT semifinals for the second straight year.
The way the Raiders are playing the way they played in last week’s terrific 4-0 run who knows how far they can go?
"We’re playing with confidence right now," Hillsborough head coach Norm Hewitt said. "I’m impressed with our attitude. You know how many games we’ve come back from? We’ve had one after another after another."
The confidence was built after three dramatic one-run wins in the week against Skyland Conference Delaware Division opponents. It started with a 2-1 win over Watchung Hills, continued with a 10-9 comeback victory over Bridgewater-Raritan in a game in which the Raiders trailed 9-2 and then culminated with a dramatic 9-8 win over previously-unbeaten North Hunterdon, the four-time defending division champion. That win was saved when Shamy made an outstanding catch in center field with two runners on.
All of this was accomplished with ace junior right-hander Eric Eden possibly lost for the season with an injured right shoulder and freshman right-hander Rob Kumbatovic, the No. 2 starter, recovering from bruised ribs.
Considering all of it, the 4-0 week was really impressive.
So when the Raiders fell behind Somerville 3-0 in the first inning Saturday after a Rob Porcaro three-run homer, the Raiders weren’t ruffled. The 9-6 win raised their record to 8-3 and ensured them a spot in the upcoming Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs. The cutoff date for the states ends with this Friday’s games when teams have to have at least a 500 record to qualify.
Several players took center stage in the win over Somerville. Shamy was 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, three RBI, a stolen base and a run scored. He started the big first inning off with his infield hit, then capped it with a two-run double that made it 7-3.
Senior catcher Mike Gara had two RBI doubles and freshman left fielder Tim Fedroff went 2-for-2 with a run scored, a stolen base and a run scored.
"The ball looks like a softball to me right now," Fedroff said.
Sophomore shortstop Joe Marangella made several good plays. Junior lefty Joe Sasso earned the win by pitching 2Ð innings of hitless relief, striking out three. Righty Will Miska and then was followed by Kumbatovic and Mark Benson before Sasso came in with two outs in the fifth and the Raiders leading 8-6. Sasso got Jon Pernini to ground into a fielder’s choice off a comebacker to the mound with runners on first and third.
"Willie was off and he was disappointed in the way he threw. I thought he could challenge the hitters better and so did he," Hewitt said. "He didn’t feel like he had much strength today. We went to Rob and he’s coming off two weeks of not throwing and his strength isn’t there. And then Mark gave up only one run, but Somerville was hitting all fastballs and we needed somebody with a breaking ball."
Sasso restored order. Of Somerville’s seven hits, three were homers, by Porcaro and solo shots by Matt Magliaro and Ryan Carrigan.
"He came in and threw the ball over for strikes," Hewitt said. "Coach (Thad) Reviello told that Chris’ changeup was breaking six or seven inches and that’s what we needed. As it was, they didn’t hit any hard balls. He was able to get popups and weak grounders."
Sasso’s philosophy was simple.
"I felt good, the change was working really well and kept them off balance," Sasso said.
Kyle Gardner’s RBI single pulled Somerville to within 7-6 in the third, but Shamy came through with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 8-6. He hit the first pitch the sophomore Carrigan, the rangy righty, threw.
"I just went up there with confidence, I wasn’t really hitting the ball well lately and I wanted to make a difference," Shamy said. "I was just trying to get on base today."
Fedroff, the sweet-swinging lefty, had another big game.
"The way we’ve been hitting lately, being three runs down wasn’t much," Fedroff said. "We got the momentum back and we held on to it. We try to get the momentum and it’s not too often we give it up."
Balance was the key of the successful week. Miska, a junior, threw a one-hitter to beat Watchung. RBI singles by Kyle McKenna and Sasso and a suicide squeeze by Mark Demetriou highlighted the comeback win against Bridgewater-Raritan and Shamy, senior second baseman Tony Crivello, Fedroff and Marangella had two hits apiece in the North game. Gara and Jason Scala squeezed two runs home.
"When we first started out, we were winning, but we weren’t sure if we were supposed to win," Hewitt said. "The young kids might be asking, ‘when is this going to end?’ Now it’s a whole new approach. You can see it."

