Bats wake up against Allentown

Lawrence baseball

By: Jim Green
   The Lawrence High School baseball team’s bats finally caught up.
   The Cardinals had received fine pitching for the majority of their first five games, but offensive struggles left them with a 1-4 mark. On Monday, though, both phases of the game finally came together as Lawrence notched a 10-8 win at Allentown.
   Senior catcher Nick Scozzari homered, and five Cardinals had multiple hits, while junior pitcher Mike Darbee hurled 6 2/3 solid innings for his first win of the year. The Cardinals improved to 2-4 and put themselves in position to try to make a run at qualifying for the state tournament by the May 13 deadline. Lawrence has at least 12 games left before the deadline, depending on how far they advance in the Mercer County Tournament, which is slated to start April 30.
   "All things considered, we have to be happy," Lawrence coach Brian Carter said. "We’re a totally different team than we were against Princeton (which beat the Cardinals 5-4 in their season opener). If we catch a break there, we’re 3-3. We’re still right there. We’re at least in the hunt."
   The win over Allentown snapped a two-game losing streak for the Cardinals, who lost to strong teams from West Windsor-Plainsboro North and Notre Dame after beating Trenton on April 7.
   "They’re all big, but the second win is big, because now they know the first one wasn’t a fluke," Carter said. "We swung the bat well. He (Allentown’s Matt Grinkevich) was a good pitcher, and we hit him well.
   Scozzari had been hitless in his previous two games before belting his home run over the fence.
   "He’s been struggling," Carter said. "That’s the best-case scenario to break out of it. That’s got to get him to relax a little bit."
   Sophomore Christian Cox was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored, junior first baseman Joe Eldridge was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in his first start, junior second baseman Matt Casale was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, senior shortstop Tom Carnevali was 2-for-3 with a double, three runs and two RBIs, and sophomore third baseman Jason Zegarski had two hits and an RBI.
   "Our 6-7-8-9-1 guys really did a great job," Carter said. "They had 11 hits combined."
   The Cardinals jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the top of the fifth, and Darbee worked through 6 2/3 innings with five strikeouts before giving way to sophomore Taylor Smith, who got a pop out to end the game, picking up his first save.
   "Darbee did a great job again," Carter said. "He went deep into the game and did very well."
   Smith and freshman Dan Ciccone have provided Carter with some quality options out of his bullpen, backing up solid starters Darbee and Mike Sheehan.
   "They really complement Darbee well," Carter said. "He has a different arm angle. They’re a good contrast. The two of them (Smith and Ciccone) have been doing a good job out of the bullpen."
   Against Notre Dame on Friday, the Cardinals dropped a 16-7 decision at LHS. Cox went 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs, senior left fielder Mike Frascella had two hits and three RBIs, and sophomore designated hitter Matt Russo went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
   Cox has done a remarkable job replacing graduated star John Haggerty, batting a team-high .455 with eight runs scored and four RBIs. Frascella is hitting .333 with seven RBIs and three runs, while Carnevali and Scozzari both are hitting .294.
   With more than half his roster returning next season, Carter has hope not just for the rest of this season, but for future years, as well.
   "We’re not trying to get a team of seniors to improve over the course of the year," he said. "The nucleus of this team will be back next year. We know we’ll be together for a couple of years. We know whatever strides we make as a team will help us in the future."
• NOTES: The Cardinals, who were scheduled to face Skyland Conference power North Hunterdon on Wednesday, will be home against Northern Burlington at noon Saturday. They then will have road games against West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Monday and Steinert on Wednesday.