HHS baseball expects benefits from youth movement

By: Sean Moylan
   When Don Hess won Coach of the Year this fall for his Hightstown High girls’ varsity soccer Jim Peto was his assistant. And Peto was Mike Russo’s assistant when he took home the CVC Wrestling Coach of Year honors over a month ago.
   So when Hightstown started baseball practices a couple of weeks ago, Peto joked that maybe he should be called an assistant, rather than the head baseball coach. Or perhaps it’s just time for Jim Peto to win Coach of the Year himself.
   Of course, all of that is a long ways off. Hightstown will not even play its first regular season game for over a week. Nonetheless, Hightstown made sacrifices last season to make sure that this season could be a very good one.
   "We went young last year. We made that decision as a coaching staff," noted Peto, whose team, while winning just four games, developed its raw talent.
   Moreover, some of Peto’s better players like seniors D.J. Congo, John Marion, Marcus McCleod and others got even more valuable experience playing for the Hightstown American Legion baseball team over the summer. So this season Hightstown doesn’t just want to get much better, it expects to get better.
   Peto has set two major goals for his baseball team. The first and most realistic of which is for Hightstown to finish over .500 and make the playoffs. The other goal is for the team to win the Valley Division. The Rams have some talent. They just need to get it done on the field.
   Congo is a superior defensive catcher who gunned down almost 50 percent of the baserunners who tried to steal on him last season. He also calls all the games and is a tremendous hitter. Marion, an infielder, will be the workhorse on the mound for Hightstown. McCleod is a flame-throwing starting pitcher who can also play left field. And Hightstown’s other senior leader, Ricardo Calamari, is a stellar right fielder with a world of ability.
   Another player who could see action as a starting pitcher is junior Pedro Yciano, who is a hard-throwing lefty. The other juniors on the Rams varsity roster are Mike Alter (center fielder), Kevin Bailey (first base/pitcher), John Behler (catcher), Jared Edgerton (outfield), James Noebels (pitcher/third base), Charles Press (second base), Shaun Schachner (outfield/pitcher) and Tom Septak (third base/shortstop).
   Alex Kabak (second base), Nick Luberto (shortstop), Kevin Manochio (third base/shortstop) and Kenny Tarr (outfield) are the varsity sophomore players.
   "Defensively we should be strong," said Peto, who will be assisted by Dan Venet. Mike James will coach the junior varsity team while Wilson Hernandez will coach the freshmen.
   Poor weather has prevented Hightstown from playing in enough scrimmages for Peto to make any decisions as to a final lineup. Nonetheless, all the aforementioned athletes should see at least some varsity action. It’s already been such a successful year for Hightstown sports, and Peto, who is in his third year as the varsity head baseball coach, would love to see his team add to that success.