North tops Hun with late rally
By: Bob Nuse
Bob Boyce feels like it takes Dan Margiotti a while to get into a good pitching groove.
As far as the Hun School baseball team is concerned, Margiotti already looks to be in midseason form.
Margiotti came on and pitched three innings of scoreless, one-hit relief as West Windsor-Plainsboro North rallied to top Hun, 7-4, on Tuesday. The Knights had scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead. Margiotti held the Raiders in check the rest of the way to preserve the win for sophomore Grayson Van Dyke.
"My guys showed a little resiliency today," said Boyce, the WW-P North coach, whose team had lost to Florence, 5-4, a day earlier. "They bounced back. It was a little disappointing (Monday), because they knew they let one get away. Van Dyke threw OK, then Margiotti came in and that might be the best he’s thrown all year. He doesn’t throw much in the off-season because he plays hockey. So it takes him a month to get going.
"He’s my No. 1. I knew I would pitch him at least a couple innings today because we don’t pitch the rest of the week. I knew I wanted to get him in there a little today because he’s going to pitch against Princeton on Monday. I wanted to give Grayson a shot because he hadn’t pitched yet. But I knew either way I was going to use Dan for a couple of innings. I ended up using him for three."
The three innings were about what Boyce expects from Margiotti this year. He’s a pitcher who throws strikes and doesn’t walk many batters. He struck out four Raiders, while walking just two batters.
"It was good being out there today," Margiotti said. "For the most part, I don’t do much in the winter. I went to a Princeton camp where it was once every two weeks or something for a couple hours on Saturday. As long as I consistently throw for two weeks, I can get back into it pretty quick."
Margiotti’s effort helped pin a loss on former Knight Jono Chirumbolo, who is spending a post-graduate year at Hun. Chirumbolo, who was unable to pitcher for North the last two years due to a shoulder injury, was strong for the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth.
"Jono was throwing pretty well," Boyce said. "He’s working his way back, which is great to see. He’s a great kid and he gives it everything he has. It would have been nice if he didn’t get that shoulder injury when he was a junior. He’s just working back now. He’s got good pop on the ball and good command of the curve. He was tough."
A hit batter, a walk and a single cut the Raiders’ lead to 4-2. After another walk to load the bases, Chirumbolo left in favor of lefty Colin Cento.
An infield hit by Zach Weale plated one run. Casey Warner walked to get the tying run across, then Matt Lodato’s sharply hit ball went for an error to drive in two more and give the Knights a 6-4 lead. The win came against what has been a tough non-league schedule, which includes Hunterdon Central, Florence and several area prep schools.
"We play the most brutal non-league schedule you can imagine," Boyce said. "We could legitimately be 4-1. We play Hunterdon Central, all the prep schools, Hun and Peddie. We pick up everybody and we’ll play them."
The win over Hun gave the Knights a 3-2 record heading into Monday’s game against Princeton. It’s a good start for a team that has high expectations for itself.
"I think we have a real good team this year," Margiotti said. "And we’re a pretty young team, so we should be good for a couple years to come."

