Cougars hope to add CJ II title game to SCT date
By: Bob Nuse
Peter Mueller knows his Montgomery High baseball team could be in for a pretty busy week. But at this point in the season, it certainly beats the alternative.
"Because of the weather we could wind up playing Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday in the state tournament, then have the county game on Sunday," said Mueller, whose third-seeded Cougars have had their Central Jersey Group II quarterfinal game with Rumson-Fair Haven postponed three times. "But everyone is pretty much in the same situation at this point because of the rain. Fortunately we have some pretty good pitching depth. Usually in the state tournament you can get by with two pitchers. But this year is going to be different because of the way the games are being played so close together."
After receiving a first-round bye, the Cougars were scheduled to play their CJ II quarterfinal against Rumson on Friday. But rain pushed the game to Saturday and then to Monday. All three games were postponed due to weather problems. The teams will now look to play today, either at 4 p.m. at Montgomery High or at 7 p.m. at Jack Cust Field in Flemington. As of Monday afternoon, a decision had not yet been made.
With a win, the Cougars would advance to play either at second-seeded Spotswood or home against 10th-seeded JFK-Iselin.
Unlike the rest of the teams who are involved with the state tournament, Montgomery also has the added bonus of playing in its county tournament final. By virtue of their 13-2 win over Rutgers Prep in the semifinals of the Somerset County Tournament, the third-seeded Cougars will face 10th-seeded Pingry in the SCT final Sunday night at Commerce Bank Ballpark.
"It’s great for the kids to get to the finals for the second time in three years," said Mueller. "It was different this year with us, Rutgers Prep, Pingry and Bernards in the semis. It wasn’t the usual teams like Bridgewater, Immaculata and Ridge. I think that’s good for the tournament because it shows the other teams that anyone can win it."
David Andrew tossed all five innings and also hit a home run in the game, which was halted after five due to the 10-run rule. Now the Cougars will face a Pingry team that is in the SCT final for the first time.
"They have a good No. 1 pitcher," Mueller said. "He’s got a lot of pop on his fastball and a nice curve. This could be a real interesting week if we keep winning games. The kids have been playing well, but it’s been tough because of the rain to get any real consistency. We finally had a real practice the other day, which we haven’t been able to do very often this year."
And now the Cougars must deal with a busy state tournament slate as well. Today was the day the semifinal game was supposed to be played. But since neither of the quarterfinal games have been played, the whole schedule is being pushed back.
"Everybody is dealing with the same thing," said Mueller, who has the luxury of having three pretty good pitchers in Andrew, Ryan King and Brian Cahill. "And we’ll have to see what the weather is like the rest of the week. Who know what it will be like."
With the possibility of playing four important games in a six-day stretch, Mueller will need each of those pitchers to be at the top of their game. And by the time the Cougars get around to playing, if they get to play today, it will have been a week since they last played in a 12-11 win over Hillsborough.
"It’s been a crazy spring with the weather," Mueller said. "But you just have to go out and deal with it the best way you can."
For Montgomery, it’s better to deal with having to play for too many championships in a short period of time than to deal with not playing for any at all.

