Cougar baseball tops Mendham, again
By: Bob Nuse
Yogi Berra would love the Montgomery High baseball team.
As Yogi used to say, this year’s state tournament is déjà vu all over again for the Cougars.
Just like last year, Montgomery opened North Jersey, Section 2 Group III tournament play with a win over New Brunswick. Just like last year, that set up a second round game at Mendham. And, just like last year, the Cougars won on the road to earn a trip to the sectional semis.
"It was a good, solid win for us," said Montgomery coach Peter Mueller, whose team improved to 15-7 with the win. "We came out real hot and it was similar to last year when we played them. The tournament so far has been eerily similar to last year, opening up with New Brunswick and then Mendham. And then they threw the same kid (Fred Orchard) against us they threw last year. It turned out that last year their team was almost all juniors, so they had nearly the same lineup.
"We got up, 6-0, and knocked him out their starter, and then they brought in the same kid (Tim Miller) to relieve they did last year. The only difference was that this year we let them get back into the game at the end."
Montgomery led 6-0 after three innings and added two more in the fourth to make it an 8-0 lead. After Mendham scored twice, the Cougars added two more runs to make it a 10-2 lead.
"I didn’t know if it was going to be good or bad that we were playing these same teams," said Mueller, whose team will play at second-seeded Morristown today at 4 p.m. "On one hand, they might come out pumped up and looking to knock us off after what we did last year. But on the other hand, they might be a little intimidated because we did beat them last year. So I wasn’t sure what to expect."
The Montgomery offense was led by John Englemann, who had three hits and drove in a pair of runs. James Boyer added two hits of his own and scored three times for the Cougars. Gary Stefanski also drove in a pair of runs for the Cougars.
On the mound, Matt Kovacs tossed the first six innings for Montgomery, allowing five runs on seven hits. David Blitzer closed the game out in the seventh to help the Cougars advance.
"All the remaining seeds are higher than we are," Mueller said. "Morristown is tough. They’re every bit as good as the teams in our conference. Matt Kovacs threw six good innings for us. He mixes up his curve and change real well, and then he has some nice zip on his fastball."
For the second straight year, Montgomery has beaten the same opponents to get this far. That’s where the similarity will end however. Morristown is a new foe, and waiting in the wings would be either Cranford or Nutley in the sectional final.
"I think it is a testament to our conference that we are able to play well against these teams in the states that are higher seeded," Mueller said. "We’re not fazed by anything we see because we’re so tested from having played our conference schedule. We play four or five teams in the top 20 in our conference, so we feel like we’re prepared for anything."
And sometimes it feels like they’ve already gone through the exact same road.

