By: Ken Weingartner
Greg Beyer had a unique view of the Monroe Township High baseball team’s season-opening win Monday.
Rather than coach third base when the Falcons were at the plate, as he has done throughout his career, Beyer spent the entire game in the dugout.
"When this team focuses on what it needs to do, they’re very tough," Beyer said after Monroe beat South Plainfield, 9-1, to begin its campaign as the defending Greater Middlesex Conference White Division champs. "Sometimes, they just need a kick in the pants to get focused. They were very good (Monday). That was probably one of the best games one of my teams ever played.
"Just 24 more and we’ll be all right," he added with a laugh.
At least for a game, Monroe, which went 16-11 last year, showed no ill effects from losing standouts Jarred Jimenez, Nick Alberino, Marc Povlosky and Mike Doros to graduation. That group contributed nearly 50 percent of the Falcons’ run production last season.
The Falcons rapped out 15 hits, including seven for extra bases. Rich Feldhan had three hits, including a two-run homer, while Vinnie Small, Garrett Beyer, Ryan Cushman and Marc Magliaro had two apiece. Small, Beyer and Feldhan combined to drive in seven runs.
"If you get 15 hits, you should win," Beyer said. "We pounded the ball. Our approach at the plate was very good; we worked counts and even a lot of our outs were hard-hit balls. We didn’t steal any bases, but we ran the bases exceptionally well. The guys were heads up in taking the extra base when they could."
Chris Cirlincione pitched five innings, striking out seven and giving up four hits. Cirlincione, a senior, played for the Falcons as a freshman, but then moved to Florida. He is now back in Monroe.
"He was all right," Beyer said. "He threw 106 pitches in five innings, which is a little too much for me; it’s probably a little too much for him, too. But they really didn’t hit the ball well against him."
As for his new seat, Beyer experimented with staying in the dugout during the Falcons’ final preseason game and decided to do it again Monday. He could not recall sitting in the dugout for more than an inning or two in any previous regular-season game during his tenure at Monroe.
"It seemed to work out," Beyer said. "It’s hard for any team to play a perfect game and focus seven straight innings, but we were really focused and into the game for five or six innings."
Monroe was scheduled to play Sayreville yesterday and travel to Cardinal McCarrick tomorrow. New Brunswick, Carteret and Edison are on next week’s slate.
And Beyer will be on the bench until further notice.
"I’m not superstitious, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it," Beyer said. "Sometimes when something like this gets old it’s not as effective. We’ll just take it game by game."
