BRHS baseball turns to youth for playoff chase

By: Sean Moylan
   Eventually, making the playoffs nearly every year will take a little bit of a toll on a sports program.
   Two years ago the Bordentown High varsity baseball team took a long playoff ride and almost won a Central Jersey championship with Danny Sasso as its ace. And last year, the Scotties played very well before losing a playoff game to an excellent Florence team.
   The Scotties lost a lot of great players to graduation last spring, including super-slugger and flame-thrower Brandon Fraser, smooth-fielding center fielder Taylor Martucci and veteran catcher Sean Malloy.
   "We graduated 10 seniors," added Joe Sprague, who is in his 5th season as the Scotties’ baseball coach.
   While Sprague likes the current talent on the team, he’d like to see the weather break so his club can practice outside more.
   "The team looks very good in the gym. We took 300 ground balls today. We’re very young and a lot of our kids haven’t played varsity baseball before," said Sprague.
   While Sprague is still in the process of getting his rotation in order, he does know that senior captain Kevin Malloy will be his ace. Last year Malloy posted a 7-2 record and was an All-Conference All-Star pitcher. He’s also an excellent shortstop and outfielder. Juniors Kyle McGonigal and Kenny Eckelmann are also team captains.
   Last year, McGonigal, a third baseman, batted in the 280’s while Eckelmann, an outfielder, hit over .300 as a leadoff hitter. While Eckelmann may see some time on the mound, right now it looks like senior Peter Pulhac will be Bordentown’s second starting pitcher.
   Shawn Carter (a sophomore first base-designated hitter), Bill Berrios (a sophomore shortstop), Tim Gola (a junior outfielder), Derek Chorba (a sophomore second baseman), Tyler Sheehan (a junior second baseman), Kevin Ashe (a senior outfielder), Spike Pascual (a sophomore outfielder), Eric Papp (a senior infielder), Matt Vaneekoven (a senior infielder), Tommy Potts (a freshman shortstop), Cory Mahoney (a senior outfielder), Kyle Moya (a junior catcher) and Myron Pickett (a senior outfielder) are in the varsity mix too. But with two weeks left before the start of the season, Sprague may still add a player or two to the varsity roster.
   Chris Glenn is back as an assistant baseball coach while Ron Jones has taken over as the Scotties’ junior varsity baseball coach. This year, Fraser is helping out as Sprague’s volunteer assistant. Sasso, who is pitching at Rider, is also working with the club in his spare time.
   "Our goal is to make the playoffs," said Sprague.
   Bordentown has the talent.