By: John Powers
The struggles continue for the South Hunterdon Regional High School baseball team.
So does the quest for improvement and the Eagles’ first win of the season.
The Eagles, who fell to 0-9 after a doubleheader loss to Skyland Conference Raritan Division-leading Hackettstown Friday night, got bad news when sophomore pitcher Lucas Rinz was lost for the season with a broken ankle suffered while sliding into third base.
"It was one of those slides where you’re not sure whether to slide or not," South Hunterdon coach Ron Peterson said.
The Eagles were scheduled to play at Pennington this past Monday and were to play host to Raritan Division rival Somerville Tuesday. They then play at divisional rival Belvidere Thursday and play a Hunterdon-Warren Tournament preliminary game Saturday.
The Eagles lost to Hackettstown 9-2 in the first game of the doubleheader Friday at HealthQuest Park in Raritan Township, then dropped the second game 10-0 in a mercy-run loss that ended after the Eagles went out in the top of the fifth.
"I thought we had our best effort of the season in the first game," Peterson said. "I thought that maybe we could take some of that momentum and use it going into the second game, but unfortunately it didn’t happen."
Sophomore right hander Kyle Simonye (0-4) took the loss in the first game. The Tigers led 8-0, but the Eagles scored twice in the top of the sixth. Senior outfielder Kyle Donnelly had an RBI.
"I think we’ve improved in our approach in hitting," Peterson said. "We were swinging the same way at 0-0 pitches like they were 0-2. You can’t do that. It’s a learning curve; you just wish it could happen faster."
The Eagles had just one hit in the nightcap. Junior Karl Miller took the loss on the mound. Earlier in the week, the Eagles lost to North Warren 13-3 in a six-inning mercy-run loss. Senior shortstop Steve Bartzak and junior outfielder Kyle Davis had two RBIs apiece.
The Raritan Division has turned into a strong one. While Voorhees, a perennial contender for the Raritan Division title, was moved to the Delaware West Division this year and is 1-7, Somerville (7-5), Hackettstown (10-2) and North Warren (6-4) have winning records. South Hunterdon could see Voorhees Saturday in a Hunterdon-Warren preliminary game. But the Eagles did have a game with 3-11 Belvidere.
"It’s an opportunity," Peterson said. "But the bottom line is that for us to win, we need to have a perfect game."

