Manville teams set for CJ 1 action

Diamond teams begin at home

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   Manville High’s spring athletes will begin state competition today and continue throughout the weekend, hoping to extend their seasons into next week. The competition will be familiar for some, new to others and challenging for all.
   This is the first season during the 2002-03 scholastic calendar in which all MHS athletic teams will participate in NJSIAA competition. The softball team begins Central Jersey Group 1 playoff action at home today vs. South River, the baseball team hosts a CJ 1 quarterfinal contest tomorrow against the winner of a Bound Brook-Shore Regional preliminary and the track and field athletes compete in the sectional meet Friday and Saturday.
   While both MHS diamond teams obviously need a victory to advance to the CJ 1 semifinals May 27, the Manville track athletes must place in the top six at the sectional level in order to move on to the State Group 1 Championships in Egg Harbor the following weekend.
   The Manville softballers got back on track with three victories last week and enter the CJ 1 tourney in a similar situation to last year. The girls survived a road test at Spotswood as the fifth seed in last year’s sectionals and were eliminated at top-ranked Middlesex. Manville once again finds itself in the Middlesex bracket but this time as the fourth seed and host to No. 5 South River.
   Manville has plenty of history with South River in sectional competition, although not in softball. MHS girls’ teams have been eliminated by South River in soccer twice and basketball once within the last four years. The Lady Mustangs were knocked out of the CJ 1 basketball tournament by South River last winter. Although this is a different sport, payback will be on the minds of the softball players since many of them also competed on the basketball court.
   The rest of the CJ 1 softball bracket includes No. 2 Shore Regional, which will face the winner of third-ranked South Amboy and sixth-seeded Dunellen in the other semifinal. Shore Regional eliminated the Manville girls in the soccer playoffs during the fall season.
   Manville (14-3) could settle a bunch of different scores by winning this tournament. The girls could start by easing the pain of some past frustrations against South River, continue by avenging last year’s sectional elimination loss to Middlesex and conclude with a little payback against Shore Regional.
   The bracket has changed but some of the scenarios are similar to last year for the MHS baseball team. Last year, the Mustangs played well enough prior to the state cutoff to get one home game. This year, the second-ranked Mustangs will play at least twice in Manville, maybe all the way through the tournament if No. 1 Highland Park stumbles.
   Manville’s state playoff run has ended on the Friday before Memorial Day the past two years. The Mustangs were bombarded in their state playoff home game last spring but veteran skipper Steve Venuto is expecting his troops to make a little more noise this time. MHS could face No. 7 Bound Brook, which it has handled easily twice this month, or No. 10 Shore Regional, for the right to advance to the CJ 1 semifinals.
   Third-ranked Bernards, the defending sectional champ which advanced all the way to the State Group 1 semifinals last year, is waiting for a possible semifinal showdown. Highland Park figures to see fourth-seeded Middlesex in the other semifinal in what has turned out to be a very impressive bracket. The semifinal winners will meet May 30 for the CJ 1 title.
   "I’m excited about it," Venuto said. "Bernards will be tough. We’d like to get to the finals."
   The Mustangs (12-3) had one regular season game at St. Mary’s before the start of the CJ 1 playoffs. Venuto figured to send junior ace Eddie Gryzeski (6-0) to the mound for Friday’s state game.
   Manville’s track and field athletes will try to survive sectional competition this weekend in nearby Hillsborough. Head coach Tony Treonze is happy to be competing closer to home after making the trip to Neptune the past few years. However, Treonze and the Mustangs will still have to make the long journey to Egg Harbor the following weekend.
   The MHS athletes became familiar with Hillsborough’s new facility at last week’s county meet, so they’ll be more comfortable against competition from smaller schools at the CJ 1 meet. Treonze is optimistic about his team’s chances to advance athletes to the state meet.
   "I think we’ll do pretty well in the weights, especially in the shot," Treonze said. "It’s still going to be tough to place in other events."
   Senior weight man Chris Greene has increased his shot put distances in each meet during recent weeks. He’ll be a threat to score in the discus and javelin as well, but could be a favorite in the shot put.
   Junior Amy Cutler set a school record in winning the long jump (17-0¼) at the Mountain Valley Championships. Cutler then hit 16-7 to finish second in the county, so she’s primed for another big day this weekend. Cutler has participated in Egg Harbor the past two years.
   Other MHS athletes slated to compete in CJ 1 include senior Chris Wass (long jump), senior Kile Galasso (shot, discus), senior Jimmy Noble (shot, discus), junior Nghi Nguyen (distance) and sophomore Mike Andreyko (distance).
   Sectional medalists will earn a spot in the State Group 1 Championships in Egg Harbor. The top six finishers in each Group will advance to the NJSIAA Meet of Champions in South Plainfield on June 4.