Hun trying to defend prep baseball title

Young Raiders putting inconsistency behind

By: Justin Feil
   The Hun School baseball team that entered its Prep A state tournament opener against Peddie on Thursday has a vastly different look, so much so that the defending champions could be featured on ABC’s "Extreme Makeover" program.
   Most noticeably removed? Those age lines that otherwise might be irritating, but in this case mean the Raiders lost a lot of experience. Hun is hoping to overcome the inconsistency — call it their good and bad hair days — that has come with the youth as it goes for a second straight crown.
   "I’ve never fielded such a young team," said Hun 30-year head coach Bill McQuade. "Right now, we’re starting one freshman, three sophomores, four juniors and a senior. We only have one senior and no PGs on the team. Some of our juniors were JV players last year, so even they don’t have varsity experience. It’s been a struggle at times.
   "There have been flashes of brilliance, and we can be as bad as we are good. Most of the time, it’s caused by a couple walks, a couple errors and we let up."
   The Raiders know that going down the same path that had them at 7-7 entering Thursday’s play won’t earn a repeat crown in the double elimination tournament that continues Saturday and Sunday. Hun, which is seeded second to Lawrenceville, has won twice in a row just once this season, but one of its lone returners, Matt Stillitano, thinks the Raiders will get a boost as defending champions.
   "It brings out something inside all of us," said the junior, who took over the regular shortstop duties halfway through last year. "It brings out something we need. We’re definitely happy we won it last year and we’re going to use it to our advantage this year."
   It could take as few as three wins to clinch another title if they go unbeaten. It could take as many as four in a row out of the losers’ bracket. What it means is that the Raiders will have to get wins from someone other than Steve Garrison, who was 4-1 going into the Peddie game, and they’ll have to deliver at the plate.
   "Our team has a problem with doing things at different times. We don’t do things at once," Stillitano said. "But we’re confident about it now. Because we’re young, it has something to do with that. We don’t bring it every day. We need to start bringing it. We all know we can win states again. We have beaten these teams. If we bring it to the table for three games, we’ll be fine."
   The Raiders have beaten Peddie, Blair and Lawrenceville. They’ve also lost to Peddie and Lawrenceville. And they’ve lost games, like Tuesday’s 5-3 defeat at the hands of South Brunswick, in which they had the ability to win.
   "We jumped out to a 2-0 lead and then we took Steve out because of a little back thing, but he wasn’t going to pitch the whole time anyway," McQuade said. "It was like the air went out of us. We didn’t do anything again until the last inning. Those are the ups and downs we’ve had. We talk all the time about staying focused. They’re having a hard time sustaining anything. We haven’t been able to string together back-to-back wins.
   "It’s frustrating. They haven’t learned fully what it takes. States will be a great experience though. If we ever get on a three-game win streak, I hope it starts (with Thursday)."
   And any winning streak will almost certainly include some stellar play from Stillitano. The Ewing resident’s experience as one of four regulars who returned from last year’s championship team shows.
   "Matt does a nice job for us," McQuade said. "Offensively and defensively, he’s getting better. He’s been a leader on the team. Gene (Pavitt, a sophomore) has been our most reliable hitter probably. Those are our No. 2 and 3 hitters. I can usually count on Stilli’ or Gene to deliver a big hit, and it’s usually Steve that they’re driving in. He’d have more RBIs, but I need someone on base."
   "I just learned from all the guys last year how to lead the team," Stillitano said. "Tommy (Monfiletto), Mark Kvarta and Steve have stepped up and taken over too. I knew I had to go in the three spot, even though it’s a tough spot to hit in. I wanted to stay consistent. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that. I’m willing to do whatever. I’ll advance a runner over if that’s what we need. As far as fielding goes, I’m trying to be consistent. Everyone makes errors, but I’m trying to just pick up after one and go on."
   It’s a lesson that the entire Raider team is learning.
   "Everybody is now more focused on getting the next one," Stillitano said. "You can go all around the field and everyone has the same attitude. That’s from Coach (Dan) O’Dea and Coach McQuade. Hopefully we play good defense. The Lawrenceville game (a 4-3 win), we played great defense. In all our wins, we’ve had to play great defense, and in the Notre Dame game that we almost won, we had to play great defense. Hopefully we hit the ball well, too."
   It’s still two weeks before final exams at Hun, but the Raider baseball team will get an earlier test of what it’s learned this spring when it goes for the Prep A title, and chance to show that deep down inside, despite the new outward appearance, it has what it takes to win again.
   "Our confidence is there," Stillitano said. "Everybody is going to put everything behind them. We all know we’re defending champs. And (Wednesday) at practice, it was like we should win this. It’s going to be hard. It’s not going to be a walk in the park. But we can do this."