Fedroff cycle powers baseball team

RAIDER ROUNDUP

By: Rudy Brandl
   Hillsborough High’s baseball bats broke out in a big way last week and helped the team remain unbeaten through its first six games of the 2005 season.
   Junior slugger Tim Fedroff hit for the cycle in Thursday’s 10-9 victory at Franklin. That was the offensive highlight of another huge winning week for the Raiders, who began with a key 3-2 victory over Delaware East Division rival Watchung Hills and continued their streak with a 12-4 blowout over Somerville.
   Fedroff’s cycle included a three-run home run in the third inning when HHS took a 4-3 lead. Franklin went back ahead but Fedroff completed his cycle and finished with six RBI. Joe Marangella and Drew Campbell added doubles in the team’s 12-hit assault.
   Adam Rothblatt singled and scored on Fedroff’s double to give the Raiders a 10-7 lead in the sixth. The home team charged back to make it interesting. Rob Kumbatovic induced a game-ending double play to notch his first save. Sean Downey picked up his first victory.
   Fedroff also went deep twice the previous afternoon in Hillsborough, belting a three-run homer in the third and two-run blast in the fourth to lift his team to a 7-4 lead. The Raiders put the game away with a five-run sixth.
   Rothblatt added a home run and Campbell contributed a double. Fedroff led the way with three hits, while Marangella had another nice offensive game, going 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and three runs scored in support of winning pitcher Mark Demetriou (1-0).
   HHS opened the week with another nail-biting victory over Watchung in a rematch of last year’s hotly-contested county semifinal game. Senior center fielder Brandon Shamy delivered the game-winning hit with one out in the bottom of the seventh when he singled to right field scoring Marangella.
   First baseman Corey Swickle blasted a two-run homer to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Watchung forced extra innings with a run in the sixth but Campbell (2-0) held the fort in the seventh and picked up the victory.
   The Raiders (6-0) were scheduled to continue their competitive Delaware East slate with games on the road at Montgomery and home vs. Bridgewater-Raritan this week.
Softballers face
state’s top team
   
The HHS softball team won its first two Delaware Division tests last week and gained a split against some tough weekend competition at the Mount St. Dominic Invitational in Caldwell.
   Hillsborough’s only loss of the week came against St. John Vianney, the state’s No. 1 team. SJV, armed with last year’s state player of the year Tricia Reingle in the pitching circle, posted a 5-0 victory in Saturday’s first game. The Raiders stormed back with an exciting 1-0 triumph over Cedar Grove in the nightcap.
   Becky Sullivan smacked a two-out RBI single to score Kim Arbonies with the game’s only run. Hillsborough knocked off a Cedar Grove team that entered the game unbeaten in eight games.
   Arbonies opened the bottom of the seventh with a single. Christine Rash bunted her to second and Arbonies moved to third on an infield out by Christine Murphy. Sullivan’s hit ended the game in dramatic fashion.
   Chrissy Yard pitched a fabulous one-hitter with 13 strikeouts to record the victory. Yard allowed seven hits but was victimized by three errors in the loss to Vianney. HHS managed three hits – one each by Candy Palumbo, Kristen Derewecki and Celia Maccini — but fanned 16 times against the state’s top pitcher.
   "It was a big tournament," HHS coach Cheryl Iaione said. "It was a good experience and the kids got a lot out of it."
   The Raiders opened their divisional slate with a thrilling 6-2 victory at Watchung Hills in extra innings. Yard’s two-run single provided the winning margin for the Raiders in the top of the ninth inning. The senior lefty finished as the winning pitcher with 10 strikeouts, helping herself with a 2-for-3 day at the plate.
   Murphy and Sullivan set the table with singles in the ninth and scored on Yard’s hit. Sullivan finished with three base hits and drove in her team’s first two runs in the second and fourth innings.
   Hillsborough’s only easy victory in recent weeks came in Thursday’s 13-0 home rout of Franklin. The team batted just four times and accumulated a dozen hits to end the game via the mercy rule.
   Yard fanned all nine batters she faced in the first three innings before handing the ball to freshman Megan McInaw, who pitched two frames of one-hit ball to complete the shutout.
   Palumbo went 2-for-3 with a double and four RBI, while Sullivan smacked out two hits and drove in two runs. Marissa Conard added a triple for the winners.
   Hillsborough (6-2) was scheduled to host Montgomery and play at Bridgewater-Raritan this week.
Track teams go 3-0
after tri-meet sweeps
   
Although the Hillsborough girls saw their county relay championship streak end at seven straight titles, they managed to extend their dual meet dominance to 54 consecutive victories after last week’s sweep of Franklin and North Hunterdon in Somerset. The HHS girls posted scores of 89-51 against Franklin and 104-36 vs. North Hunterdon.
   Dominance in the weights propelled the Hillsborough girls, who won six events. Taryn O’Connor doubled in the shot put (38-0) and discus (112-1), while Colleen Maloney prevailed in the javelin (113-0).
   Other HHS winners were Melanie Gingras in the high jump (4-10) and Robin Friedman in the pole vault (10-0). The 4×400 relay team won in a time of 4:18.
   Back in Hillsborough, the boys completed the same sweep of Delaware Division foes. Those scores were 80-60 over Franklin and 124-16 over North.
   The Raiders posted eight first places to rule the meet. Tyler Szwarc, Brian Dennis and Chris Berezansky each won two events to lead the way.
   Szwarc posted firsts in the 400 intermediates (59.7) and 110 high hurdles (14.8). Dennis doubled in the 1,600 (4:36) and 800 (2:02.4). Berezansky won the shot put (55-3) and javelin (145-2).
   Other HHS winners were Steve Theroux in the pole vault (12-0) and the 4×400 relay team of Warner Jones, Adam Mallet, Mike Bitten and Matt Bitten, who hit the wire in 3:38.2.
   Both HHS teams were set for a busy week with three competitions – a tri-meet against Bridgewater and Hunterdon Central, a dual meet at Watchung Hills and Saturday’s second annual Raider Relays at Hillsborough.
Girls pile up goals
in lacrosse romps
   
The Raider girls’ lacrosse team erupted for 37 goals in two games last week, improving to 3-1 on the season. Hillsborough rolled over Somerville (18-3) and Old Bridge (19-7) on consecutive days on its home turf.
   Krystina and Ali DeLuca combined for a month’s worth of goals in the two games. Krystina, a senior attack wing, erupted for a career-high nine goals against Old Bridge after scoring six the previous day. Younger sister Ali, a junior third home, had six vs. Old Bridge and four vs. Somerville, a game HHS led by a 17-1 margin at the half.
   Liz Tafaro and Alexa Monahan each tallied twice vs. Somerville, while Caitlyn Glowacki chipped in a goal and two assists. Krystina DeLuca also had two assists. Glowacki scored twice the next day vs. Old Bridge.
   The Raiders were scheduled to host South Brunswick and play on the road at Watchung Hills and East Brunswick this week.