Cougars will play for SCT title
By: Bob Nuse
By this point, the Montgomery High baseball team is ready for anything the weatherman throws its way.
After a seven-day layoff, the Cougars finally got to play a Central Jersey Group II tournament game on Tuesday, posting a 1-0 win over Rumson-Fair Haven. With that win, the third-seeded Cougars earned a shot at second-seeded Spotswood on Wednesday. But in the second inning of that CJ II semifinal, the game was halted due to rain and lightning.
Montgomery went back to Spotswood on Thursday, where a win would land the Cougars in today’s CJ II final at Steinert against the winner of the other semifinal between Carteret and Raritan.
The Cougars topped Rumson behind the pitching of David Andrew, who allowed just four hits in tossing the shutout. Montgomery scored the only run of the game when Pete McLaughlin and Kevin Faust had back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning.
"Rumson was a real good team," said Montgomery coach Peter Mueller, whose team improved to 17-4 with the win. "Their pitcher was tough, but Dave was on top of his game and he pitched great. He really took care of business. We were able to squeeze a run across the plate and that was all we needed.
"We had some other opportunities to score here and there, but we didn’t take advantage of them."
The third-seeded Cougars went back to second-seeded Spotswood knowing they were going to have a challenge on their hands. And with a win, another challenge would be waiting in the sectional final. On top of all that, the Cougars are scheduled to face Pingry Sunday night at 7:30 at Commerce Bank Ballpark in the Somerset County Tournament final.
"It’s going to be a crazy few days," Mueller said. "With the rainout (Wednesday) we could wind up playing Thursday, Friday and Sunday. But that’s the way it goes. It beats the alternative of not playing at this point in the season."
With so many important games in such a short period, the Cougars will need some big efforts from their pitching staff. Andrews provided the first of those efforts on Tuesday, as he limited Rumson to just five baserunners. The senior will likely get the nod on Sunday when Montgomery faces Pingry in the SCT final. Ryan King, Brian Cahill and Faust will be called on to also pick up the pitching chores.
"We’re fortunate that we have a good pitching staff," Mueller said. "We’re going to need everybody if we keep on winning."
So far this spring the Cougars have managed to keep winning in spite of the weather-related roadblocks they’ve faced. It made Wednesday’s postponed game just another bump in the road.

