RUDE AWAKENING
By: Rudy Brandl
DOVER Saturday’s State Group 4 baseball championship victory over Watchung Hills capped a remarkable recovery from a disastrous loss for Hillsborough High. The way this group of players and coaches responded to adversity makes them the most worthy of champions.
Back on May 12, the Raiders weren’t feeling very good about themselves. In fact, their season could have turned into a tailspin with one more loss. They had just suffered an agonizing 10-9 defeat at Immaculata, a loss that prevented the Raiders from winning a share of their third consecutive Delaware Division crown.
How could these talented players be expected to reach their goals of winning county, sectional and state titles if they couldn’t repeat as division champs? They proved over the next 30 days what makes a true champion hard work, confidence and determination.
The May 12 debacle wasn’t simply a loss to one of their most bitter rivals. It was the way the game was given away that stung so deeply beneath the skin of these proud ball players.
Hillsborough played its worst game of the season that day, committing four errors and issuing nine walks to give Immaculata a bunch of cheap runs. Despite all this, the Raiders were still in a position to win the game with a big rally in the top of the seventh.
Veteran skipper Norm Hewitt, who’s become known for his "Normie Ball" tactics of bunting and other forms of trickery to steal runs, got a little too cute and called for a suicide squeeze bunt to tie the game. Immaculata thwarted the attempt with a pitchout and tagged out Corey Swickle charging down the line toward home plate. Red-hot hitter Joe Marangella, who couldn’t get the bunt down, doubled to deep center field two pitches later but was stranded as the game ended.
Meanwhile, the HHS players showed their incredible frustration on the bench. Equipment was flying. Harsh words were shouted. The parents and other fans were chirping in the background. I sensed a mutiny and wasn’t sure what to expect for the rest of the season.
How about 10 straight victories, including eight in tournament play, to capture titles in the Somerset County, Central Jersey Group 4 and State Group 4 tournaments? That’s a dream season for any team, especially one that had to rise up off the deck and beat some of the state’s best competition to reach that glorious destination.
"We hit a low point and people started doubting us and saying we weren’t as good as we were hyped up to be," HHS junior slugger Tim Fedroff said. "We used it as inspiration to play the type of baseball we know we can play. We had to hit a low point to be the best. Now we’re on top of the high school sports world."
Hewitt, who accepted the blame for that loss at Immaculata, also deserves some of the credit for steering the Raider machine back in the right direction. He apologized to his players and the parents for costing them the game and division title. Hewitt made sure his boys were focused by the next time they took the field two days later against Ridge in the Somerset County quarterfinals.
The Raiders had opened the season with eight straight victories but suffered through a mid-season slump winning only three of the next eight. Those five losses didn’t sit well with the Raiders, who didn’t drop another game after that May 12 heartbreaker.
"We talked together and knew we were better than the way we were playing," HHS senior center fielder Brandon Shamy said. "We lost some respect and we wanted it back after that 3-5 stretch. We felt like we had something to prove and we did."
Ridge scored the game’s first run in the top of the first but Hillsborough took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Raiders briefly trailed for one inning in the very next regular season game vs. Ridge but did not ever fall behind in any of their last eight games. They scored early and often in most and steamrolled through five state tournament games. The only other close game came in the county semifinal thriller when Drew Campbell pitched and hit the Raiders to a 1-0 triumph in 10 innings.
The Raiders even made it look easy against perennial nemesis Immaculata in the county finals, riding a four-run second inning to a 5-1 victory. They used a similar recipe to win all of their state playoff games, scoring multiple runs in the first inning of the first four and three in the second inning of Saturday’s final triumph.
Hillsborough outscored its five state opponents by a combined margin of 46-11. Seven of those runs came in the Central Jersey Group 4 final at Steinert, a game the Raiders led comfortably most of the way. This was simply a hungry group of players who peaked at the perfect time.
The Raiders celebrated their historic championship with a picnic at the Hewitt’s home Sunday. The players, their parents and coaches got another chance to relive and replay the thrilling events of the previous day. During a 30-minute champagne toast that featured speeches from various people, including yours truly, the lovefest continued.
People in the community have been thanking me for covering this team. It was an honor to be associated with such a talented and classy group of young men. I’ve been covering high school sports since 1989 and have never seen such a quality ball club. Hewitt’s been coaching about twice as long and he called it the greatest team he’s ever coached.
That really says something about the 2005 Raiders, a group that refused to lose when many people didn’t think they could do it. They came together and played amazing baseball for 30 days, winning 10 straight games to capture the most prestigious scholastic prize.
Winning a state championship is something they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives. The way these boys overcame adversity and worked for it speaks even louder of their character and determination.