WW-P North baseball pulls upset
By: Bob Nuse
Casey Warner will be the first to tell you he did not start the season well.
But, just about any coach will tell you, it’s better to end the season playing well than it is to start the season playing well.
Warner shook off a tough start to his senior baseball season and now appears to have everything clicking at just the right time. On Saturday, Warner tossed a complete game as his West Windsor-Plainsboro North team upset Steinert, 7-2, to advance to the semifinals of the Mercer County Tournament.
"I did start off slow," said Warner, who allowed just three hits and one earned run over seven innings. "I broke my ankle in the winter and that kept me out until the middle of March. I had two or three weeks in March where I could not pitch. Then in my first game in April, I pitched against Hunterdon Central and they knocked me around in the first inning. I only pitched into the second inning that day."
Warner took a couple of weeks off from pitching after that game, and has been solid since his return. The win was his fourth straight on the mound since the outing at Hunterdon Central, and helped the Knights improve to 12-7 overall.
With the win, North advanced to the MCT semifinals, where they will face second-seeded Nottingham today at 3:30 p.m. at Mercer County Park. With a win, the Knights would advance to Thursday’s championship game at Waterfront Park against the winner of the other semifinal between Hamilton and Notre Dame.
In other MCT action on Saturday, the Hun School, which was the No. 1 seed, dropped a 7-5 decision to Hamilton when the Hornets scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning. Sean Munley had a couple of hits and drove in three runs. Princeton dropped a 2-1 decision to Notre Dame in its quarterfinal when the Irish pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh. Colin Sarafin allowed just two runs on five hits for the Little Tigers. WW-P South lost its consolation game to Allentown, 5-1, to drop a game under .500 at 10-11.
For North, the win puts them within one more win of reaching the MCT final for the second time in three years.
"We’re definitely excited about it," said Warner, who was a sophomore on the last North team to reach the MCT final. "We had lost to Steinert earlier in the week, so it was great to come back and play well against them and get a win. Our lineup did a great job of coming up with the two out hits.
"Zach Weale had a big home run in the second inning and I think that really got us going. From that point the offense was clicking and we were able to get some runs early."
The Knights built a 7-1 lead by the fourth inning and Warner took care of the rest. While he did walk seven batters, he was always in control of the game.
"I feel like after that first game I pitched, each game since then I’ve come back and gotten better," Warner said. "We were able to beat Hamilton and Lawrence and those were a couple of good wins. I thought we played well (against Steinert) and that made Mr. (Bob) Boyce happy.
"I did start the season slow, but I’ve been getting stronger and this was probably my best game. I think it also helps us that we’re getting Dan (Margiotti) back and he should be able to pitch on Tuesday. My arm has been getting stronger and I was able to pitch a complete game."
With Warner pitching well and Margiotti set to return after a layoff for an injury, the Knights are certainly deep enough in their rotation to not only make a run at the MCT title, but through the Central Jersey Group III tournament as well.
"Our rotation is getting back to normal," Warner said. "We have a lot of guys who can pitch that we have confidence in. And having Dan back will be a big help."
And, if the Knights keep playing well, they could find themselves making a return trip to Waterfront Park.
"We made it two years ago when I was a sophomore," Warner said. "That was a lot of fun and we’d definitely like to get back there. We had three goals at the beginning of the season. We wanted to win the Mercer County Tournament, states and our division in the league. We’re right there with Nottingham in the league. I think we’re one game behind them. So we still have a shot to do well there."

