By: John Powers
The South Hunterdon Regional High School baseball team got off to a 0-3 start, losing to Plumstead Christian, Pa., North Warren and Somerville.
Coach Ron Peterson believes it will take some time for his mostly inexperienced team to find its legs. The Eagles fell to Christian 2-0, North Warren 6-4 and Somerville 9-1. Somerville and North Warren are South Hunterdon’s Skyland Conference Raritan Division rivals.
The Eagles were scheduled to play four home games this week with games against non-conference foes Manville Monday, which they lost to, and Morrisville, Pa., Friday and against Raritan Division rivals Belvidere Tuesday and Delaware Valley Thursday.
"You look at our team, and you see that we have eight seniors," Peterson said. "But only four of those players are returners, and three of those players are returning starters. We’re really struggling more mentally now than anything else. It’s a question of getting experience at the varsity level. Some of these kids are really playing baseball for the first time. A lot of these guys haven’t really seen varsity pitching.
He added, "We have to learn to be situational in our approach. We have to cut down on our swing. We’re striking out too much."
In the season opener at Plumstead Christian in Plumsteadville, Pa., the Eagles struck out 15 times and had just one hit, a single by senior shortstop Steve Bartzak.
In the next game against North Warren, the Eagles struck out 11 times. But they did have nine hits as sophomore third baseman Jacob Stephens and senior catcher Kyle Donnelly had two hits apiece. Bartzak, Donnelly and junior left fielder Kyle Davis had the RBIs.
Sophomore pitcher Kyle Simonye, who took the loss, went six innings, striking out five, allowing five earned runs and striking out five. Sophomore Lucas Rinz pitched the sixth, allowing one hit, one run and one walk.
"We had our chances," Peterson said.
The Eagles struck out 14 times against Somerville at Branchburg’s White Oak Park where Pioneer head coach Rick Sabol recorded his 300th career win. The Eagles were held to three hits as Bartzak, senior first baseman Joe Fenneman and senior right fielder Steve Williamson had the hits. Bartzak’s was a double, and Fenneman had the RBI.
Rinz took the loss, going three innings, giving up four runs, three earned, striking out two and walking three. Stephens went two innings, and freshman Anthony Danese had an inning.
"We’re looking for a good week coming up," Peterson said. "The one thing about this team is that there’s no quit in them."

