By: James McKeever
It must have felt like a blast of cold water to the face. After starting the season 2-0, the South Brunswick High School baseball team lost to East Brunswick 11-1 last week.
The Vikings didn’t let the feeling linger though. Two days later they dealt North Brunswick a 9-3 defeat last Saturday. It was a good sign to head coach Leo Danik.
"It said a lot about these kids to bounce back like that," said Danik. "The mood of the guys on Friday was a little depressing. We made five errors against East Brunswick and you’re not going to beat anybody playing like that. But they bounced back and beat a rival on Saturday."
Ryan Webb pitched four innings and Eric Bednarski worked three hitless innings in relief to keep the North Brunswick hitters in check. Webb walked four, struck out two and scattered six hits before tiring in the fifth. Bednarski walked two and struck out two.
In a nine-hit display of offense that included four doubles, Brad Barksdale went 2-for-4 with two RBI, Matt Forthun was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI while Kyle Breese (double) and Rob Kohutanycz each knocked in two runs.
After North Brunswick cut into South Brunswick’s 5-0 lead with three runs in the fifth, the Vikings answered with a four-run sixth.
On Monday South Brunswick faced a talented St. Joseph’s team and fell short 4-3. That gave the Vikings a 3-2 record overall, 2-2 in the GMC Red Division heading into a division game today (Thursday) at home against Old Bridge. The Vikings host Woodbridge on Saturday at 11 and play again at home on Tuesday against J.P. Stevens.
"We need to learn how to win those kind of games," Danik said one day after the St. Joseph’s loss. "We hit the ball hard we outhit them 8-4 and Travis Smart pitched a great game. We put the ball in play but it just wouldn’t drop for us at key times. Plus we made two big-time mistakes in the field and you can’t do that against a team like St. Joseph’s."
After giving up three runs in the first, Smart surrendered just one run the rest of the way. A senior right-hander, Smart pitched a four-hitter in six innings of work, with one walk and four strikeouts.
"He only threw 71 pitches," Danik said. "He deserved a better fate."
Trailing 3-1, the Vikings scored once in the second and pulled even on Forthun’s solo homer in the fourth. St. Joseph’s broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth.
"The kids came back with a really good practice (on Tuesday). They knew that they could play with those guys (St. Joseph’s)," Danik said. "We’re still pretty much a very young baseball team. The next two weeks will tell a lot about us."
On the season, Forthun is 6-for-9 in four games with two doubles, one home run and three RBI. John Haas, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI against St. Joseph’s, is 4-for-9 overall with a couple of RBI. Haas drove in the only run against East Brunswick with a home run.
Webb is batting .385 (5-for-13) with two doubles and two RBI while Barksdale is at .375 (6-for-16) with two RBI. Breese leads the team with eight RBI.

