Reversal of roles fine with MHS

King relieves in Cougar baseball’s SCT win

By: Bob Nuse
   All of a sudden, the Montgomery High baseball team finds itself in the favorite’s role.
   After a weekend of upsets in the Somerset County Tournament, the third-seeded Cougars are the only one of the top four seeds that will play in Monday’s SCT semifinals at Commerce Bank Ballpark.
   Montgomery reached the semifinals with a 2-0 win over sixth-seeded Hillsborough on Saturday behind the combined shutout pitching of David Andrew and Ryan King. The Cougars will face 10th-seeded Rutgers Prep, which eliminated second-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan on Saturday. In the other semifinal, fifth-seeded Bernards, which knocked off No. 4 Ridge, will take on eighth-seeded Pingry, which eliminated top-seeded Immaculata.
   "It came down to pitching and defense for us," said Montgomery coach Peter Mueller, whose team improved to 12-2 with the win. "We knew Hillsborough was a hot team coming into the game and we expected it to be low scoring. It was anybody’s game and we knew we were going to have to play well to win it. David threw five great innings for us and then Ryan came in and did the job the last two innings."
   Montgomery got all the scoring it would need in the fourth inning when Chris Szalay and Kevin Faust hit back-to-back singles to drive in the only Cougar runs of the game.
   For King, finishing out the game was a little different role than he’s used to this season. While he is 3-0 as a starter, he hasn’t had to move from his usual third base position to the mound very often.
   "It was different," said King, who has driven in 14 runs this season. "Dave did a great job and when I came in I just tried to do the best job I could to keep the lead. We have three starters this year and we’ve pretty much split it up. I was a little nervous coming into the game in this kind of situation. You come into the game and everything is focused on you.
   "Dave had pitched great and when I came in I just tried to hold them. I didn’t want to give up the lead after what he had done the first five innings."
   King certainly rose to the challenge, hurling a pair of scoreless innings as Andrew improved to 4-0 on the season. The win puts Montgomery back in the SCT semifinals, where the Cougars hope to reach their second final in three years.
   "We’ve been doing very well this season," King said. "It would be great to get back to the finals. We made it my freshman year and I remember going and watching that game from the stands. It would be great to get back there and play in the game. That team had so many great players and it would be great to do something that they accomplished.
   "I admired a lot of those players and we’ve just tried to continue what they started for us."
   King realizes it is no accident he and his teammates have been doing so well. They all put in a lot of time getting ready for this season and it has paid off with 12 wins in 14 games.
   "We lost seven seniors from last year, but we all worked very hard in the off-season to get ready for this year," King said. "We went to Zoned in Bridgewater three times a week and people lifted and worked out. We also did a lot of team bonding. This team gets together so well on and off the field."
   King has slipped nicely into his role as the Cougars’ third baseman and one of the starting pitchers. Last year he was a reserve second baseman, but has had little trouble with the move to third.
   "I’ve felt pretty comfortable there all year," King said. "Last year there was a senior ahead of me at second base, so I just got in once in a while and did whatever I could do to help. This year they asked me to play third and I was happy to be able to do it. I’ve played all over the place. I’ll go wherever the coaches need me to play."
   On Saturday, that meant five innings at third and the last two on the mound. For Ryan King, it was just another good day in what is becoming a very good season personally, and for the Cougars as a team.