BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Johnny Johnson has to feel good about his Brookdale Community College (BCC) baseball team on the eve of the Region XIX Tournament.
The Jersey Blues have done everything asked of them and more. Brookdale earned the top seed for this weekend’s tournament in Lincroft by winning the Garden State Athletic Conference title. During that run, they came up with an historic winning streak. The Blues ripped off 33 straight victories during the season, snapping the previous record of 21 straight set during the 1990 season.
“We started to think about the streak when we were closing in on the school record, which was 21,” said Johnson, who added that he didn’t think the school record was possible.
The 2005 Jersey Blues not only topped the school record, but shattered it. They kept winning until the streak reached the ridiculous stage of 33 straight. It’s a mark that is nothing short of fantastic, considering that in baseball you can’t send your ace to the mound every day, and there’s the fact that you are playing every day. A team simply can’t bring its “A” game all the time playing that frequently, and Brookdale doesn’t make it easy for itself by scheduling quality nonconference opponents. Yet, Brookdale overcame the odds and did not lose for more than a month.
“It was the greatest experience I’ve had in baseball,” Johnson said. “I’ve never seen kids play that hard and be so focused for so many games.
“If one phase of our game wasn’t working, the other picked it up,” he added. “When we weren’t hitting we’d get good pitching; if we struggled pitching, we got the hitting.”
Johnson put the credit to the streak on the shoulders of his 10 sophomores.
“I’ve always said that a good team has to ride its leaders, and we have gotten good sophomore leadership all year,” he said. “We have a good corps of kids and there is no quit in them.
“We have good chemistry on the team,” he added. “Our sophomores took charge and they taught the freshmen how to play the game. They know that freshmen hit the wall at 20 games.”
During Brookdale’s record-setting streak, the team’s will to win was never more on display. The team’s unbending resolve was forged in playoff failure last spring.
“After we lost that last game, our sophomores [then freshmen] got together and talked about their goals and said that this would never happen to them again,” Johnson said.
That sheer determination to win the Region title produced that record-winning streak and a 36-3 regular season mark in a season in which the team didn’t take an inning off. They will carry that same single-mindedness into this weekend’s tournament, without the burden of the streak. Gloucester snapped the Blues’ win streak on April 23, scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 14-13 win.
Johnson said the loss itself didn’t upset him as much as the way they lost it. Errors had opened the door for the home rally.
The upside of the loss, Johnson said, is that his players are more relaxed and not feeling the pressure of a long win streak. They can simply focus on the task at hand, winning this weekend.
Johnson, whose team is ranked No. 3 in the nation among Division II junior colleges, likes his chances for several reasons, most of which, is the pitching.
“Our pitching depth will help us through this tournament,” he said.
In this double-elimination tournament, teams can’t rely on one lights-out starter to carry them.
Brookdale has three solid starters, including Matt Coulson (8-0) and Billy Lawson (7-0), who are both undefeated.
In a school known for its offensive fireworks, this year’s club could be as good as any before it. Certainly, it’s the best offense that Johnson has coached.
“We’ve had good hitting teams before, but we always had three of four guys who carried us,” Johnson said. “These guys, from one through nine, are all hitters.
“We’ve been getting timely two-out hitting all year,” he added. “We’ve come up with one big hit after another.”
Leading the charge is sophomore John Romano, the No. 1 hitter in the country. He was leading the nation in six offensive categories at the start of the week, and added onto those impressive numbers against Middlesex when he smacked two three-run home runs in a 16-3 Brookdale win. He had seven RBIs on the day and was 4-for-4, lifting his average to .506.
Joe Arminio, Dave Lorber, Robbie Hein, John Marzela and Joe Schiettino have put up impressive numbers themselves, batting more than .400 for a team averaging more than eight runs a game.
Brookdale’s third strength is the defense, which has allowed its pitchers to be so impressive this year.
“Our defense has been outstanding,” Johnson said.
Brookdale begins play in the four-team double-elimination tournament Friday at 11 a.m. against an opponent to be determined by early-round play. It takes three wins to capture the championship. The final is Saturday with a game on Sunday, if necessary.