By: Ken Weingartner
Craig Mazor knows what it’s like to be successful on the baseball diamond. After this season, he knows what it’s like to struggle. And it’s obvious which of the two he prefers.
"It’s been rough," said Mazor, a junior on the Monroe High baseball team, which fell to 2-18-1 with a 6-3 loss Tuesday to East Brunswick. "It’s a young team, so we kind of knew it could be a rough year. Just about the whole team didn’t play varsity last year. But I thought we’d do better. It’s been a rough year for everybody. But next year will be better."
Mazor was the team’s top returning hitter, having batted .368 with 21 runs, 16 RBI and 16 stolen bases in 2002. This year was rough from the start he missed the preseason recovering from a broken right shoulder he suffered during wrestling and couldn’t swing a bat until a week into the regular season. His offensive numbers dropped dramatically, he’s batting around .280 with eight RBI.
"I didn’t play in one scrimmage," Mazor said. "My arm’s hurt most of the year. It hurts right now. I wish we could play some more because I’d like to get some more at-bats. And last year, we had six seniors who were all good hitters. We had T.J. Woolfolk setting the table at the top of the order and I had five solid hitters behind me.
"I liked playing last year," he added with a laugh.
In addition to having a young team, Monroe was hurt by moving from the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division up to the White Division, Mazor said. Nonetheless, the Falcons notched their second win of the season by beating a team from the Red Division the top division.
Last week, MHS routed J.P. Stevens 11-1 in a game shortened to five innings by the "mercy rule." Scott Basarav got the win, allowing just three hits, while Jarrod Jimenez and Mazor both went 3-for-4.
"We kind of got used to (losing)," Mazor said. "We’ve just been kind of going out and having fun and playing younger kids for next year."
Mazor said the team’s defense was primarily to blame for the trouble this year. "And we don’t have a big pitching staff," he added. "We don’t have a hard-thrower to bring in and close out games."
Injuries also were a factor. In addition to Mazor’s injury, the team lost top pitcher Scott Modzelewski and catchers Frank Steinhauser and Bobby Stern for parts of the campaign.
Even though many players were making the jump to varsity, Mazor expected the team to perform better. He said he found the transition from junior varsity to varsity to be fairly easy.
"The pitchers can actually pitch at the varsity level," he said. "The balls not going all over the place, they throw strikes. If you’ve got a good swing, it’s easier."
Mazor is looking forward to next year. "I’ll be playing with kids I’ve played with my whole life," he said. "We’ve all been together on Monroe’s travel team, and we’ve won a lot. We know how to play together. We all know each other well. It should be good."
And that’s the way Mazor prefers it.

