By: Sean Moylan
Joe Giambrone has always been a wonderful dad.
He taught his four sons (Joe, Tommy, Chris and Stevie) how to play baseball almost before they could walk. Moreover, he taught his daughter Jackie, the youngest in the family, how to use her speed to become a terrific softball player. Throughout Little League, travel ball, high school baseball and softball and American Legion Baseball, the Giambrones have traveled together as a loving, sports’ family, always ready to lend support to one another. They’ve eaten more than a few family meals in snack bars at each other’s games and the name "Giambrone" has already been permanently imbedded in Florence baseball folklore.
While Joe Giambrone has a superior knowledge of baseball he never has interfered with any of his sons’ coaches plans, because he is a coach himself. Rather, he has always picked his spots to help out. When rain threatened to destroy the Florence Flashes’ infield before a playoff baseball game a few years ago, it was Giambrone who hopped in his car, drove to the local store and bought every bag of cat litter they had at the market. Then he came back and spread the litter on the infield and raked it until the game was eventually called because of rain. But even then he never complained. He just made plans to see his sons, Tommy and Chris, play the next day.
Last week Joe Giambrone suffered a heart attack and had to have two separate operations. Thankfully he is feeling better. In-between those operations, Stevie, Joe’s youngest boy, was scheduled to pitch in Florence’s game versus Palmyra on Friday. With his loving father on his mind, Stevie was in no mood to play baseball. But since his dad had requested that he pitch, Stevie went out and had one of the great games of his young career as he demolished Palmyra, 13-1, almost single-handedly, with both his arm (seven innings pitched, nine strikeouts, two hits allowed) and his bat (2-for-2 with five RBI) in Friday morning’s contest.
"Stevie (Giambrone) wasn’t going to be there but he wanted to win it for his dad, said Florence Coach Ryan Pandolfini, who has Stevie’s brother Chris on his coaching staff.
Following the contest, S. Giambrone rushed to St. Mary’s Medical Center in Pennsylvania where he gave his father the game ball. Other Flashes helped in Giambrone’s quest for the special win. Joe Spahn singled, doubled and drove in three runs while Anthony Cardone had two hits and swiped four bases. Chris Foehr (triple, single, two RBI), Anthony Krause (RBI) and Cory Haluska (RBI) also came up big in what was an emotional victory for everyone.
Last Wednesday, Pandolfini was singing the praises of Jimmy Martinson, who tossed a complete-game, seven-strikeout gem in Florence’s 6-3 home victory over Holy Cross.
"He (Martinson) threw unbelievable," said Pandolfini, who was proud to see Martinson get the job done against such an elite team. At the plate, Martinson was 2-for-3 but he was also helped by Giambrone, who singled and doubled in two official trips to the dish. Krause added a triple while Cardone had three hits.
"Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit," added Pandolfini. "It was the first game where we didn’t make an error."
On Tuesday, Florence thumped Westampton Tech 12-1 on the road as Krause (seven innings, eight strikeouts, two walks) earned his fourth victory of the year without a defeat.
"It was a 9-1 game until the seventh when we scored three runs," said Pandolfini, whose team did everything but shorten the game via the 10-run rule.
Giambrone collected a double, single and a pair of RBI while Jeff Perro, Martinson (two RBI) and Foehr each had a pair of singles. Cardone picked up a base hit and three RBI and Spahn, who will be playing football at the College of New Jersey next fall, singled and drove in a run. Florence had 11 hits in all.
The Flashes are 9-2, but 5-0 in the conference. Florence is scheduled at Trenton Catholic Academy today (Thursday).
NBC
Not much has gone wrong for the Northern Burlington High School baseball team in the past few weeks other than it has had scheduled games versus Trenton Central High School and Steinert postponed due to poor weather and scheduling problems. Furthermore, the way the Greyhounds have been playing lately they want to get in as many games as possible.
NBC’s latest conquest its fourth in a row came last Friday when it thumped the Burlington Township Falcons, 10-0, at Northern Burlington. The Greyhounds scored six in the second and four in the fourth inning and Andy Hoyer threw shutout ball to make it a five-inning affair.
"Andy (Hoyer) threw a one-hitter," said NBC Coach Rick Doppler. "It was a big win!"
While Doppler expected a victory because he had his ace on the hill, what made the win so special was that NBC finally played error-free baseball. Moreover, after three straight one-run wins, NBC finally blew out an opponent. Hoyer fanned five while walking just one batter over five frames. His performance was helped by yet another offensive explosion. Will Ethington (two runs) Dustin Ghaul (2-for-3, RBI) and Chuck Krichling each collected a double for the Greyhounds. Meanwhile Dustin Ghaul (2-for-3, RBI), Matt Vereb (single, RBI, two runs), Zach Traino (RBI) and Jeff Valli (RBI) also did well at the plate for the winning team. Hoyer’s record for the season is 3-1.
The Steinert road game has been postponed until next Tuesday. A scheduled make-up date for the Trenton game, originally scheduled for last Wednesday, has yet to be announced. The Greyhounds are scheduled to host Moorestown today (Thursday). NBC is scheduled at Ewing on Saturday and at Rancocas Valley on Monday.
BRHS
With a homer, double, single, two runs scored and two RBI, Mike Medina was Scotties’ main power source in a 12-6 victory over the Wild Cats at Maple Shade last Thursday.
"Mike Medina had as big day for us," said Joe Sprague, the coach of the Bordentown High School baseball team. "And Shawn Carter (two RBI) had a big two-out, RBI single in the third."
Meanwhile, Kevin Malloy improved his record to 4-1 with the win. He struck out 10, while walking just two batters over the course of his fifth complete game of the season. Of the six runs he gave up, only two were earned. He also aided his own cause with a pair of hits and a run scored.
"That was a good game for us. We hit the ball well and we only had just one bad inning," said Sprague, whose team surrendered five runs in the sixth. Brandon Fraser, who is batting over .500 and should reach the 100 hit mark for his career in a couple of weeks, was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI. Taylor Martucci (a single, two runs, RBI), Kenny Eckelmann (run, RBI), Joe Eckelmann (1-for-2, two runs) and Kyle McGonigal (run, RBI) also provided plenty of punch in the Scotties’ 11-hit onslaught. Sprague, however, has been particularly impressed with the way Sean Malloy (a double, two RBI, run) has been swinging the bat as of late.
Lately, the Scotties’ primary problem has been getting in their games. The Clayton Tournament scheduled for this past Saturday was postponed until May 6. Bordentown was scheduled to have played Maple Shade again this past Monday, but that contest was moved to May 8 because of bad weather. This past Tuesday’s scheduled game versus Medford Tech will also be re-scheduled. Bordentown (5-4) is scheduled to host Cinnaminson today (Thursday) and Burlington City on Monday. On Tuesday it is scheduled at Holy Cross.

