Sadin’s absence hurts team
By: Rudy Brandl
HAMILTON The Hillsborough High baseball team has been a tired bunch in recent weeks, worn down by a combination of grueling games and a shortage of pitching.
If there was one thing the Raiders couldn’t afford in last Friday’s Central Jersey Group 4 championship game at Steinert, it was the loss of a key player and leader. When the team found out that senior catcher Matt Sadin would not be able to play for violating school policy, it made it that much tougher to compete against the defending State Group 4 champions.
"It’s like going to war without one of your main leaders," said HHS senior left-hander Mark Andrews (8-1), who suffered his first loss of the season. "He’s one of the hearts of this team. He pushes us and leads us. It was tough without him."
The Raiders (18-6) were sloppy on defense and couldn’t get anything going on offense. They committed four errors to help Steinert (27-3) take an early lead and cruise to a 5-0 victory for its second straight sectional title. The Raiders blasted the Spartans by a 14-7 score in the sectional final in 2005 en route to the State Group 4 crown, but the Hamilton school exacted its revenge in this year’s CJ 4 final.
While HHS head coach Norm Hewitt acknowledged Sadin’s absence was a factor, he wouldn’t use it as an excuse. He still took great pride in his team’s run to the sectional final.
"We got here when a lot of people didn’t think that we would," Hewitt said. "No excuses, no regrets. We don’t use anything as an excuse."
Sophomore Matt Mosko was pressed into service behind the plate in the season’s biggest game. Mosko had started a May 22 regular season game vs. Franklin, but the task was much taller in Friday’s CJ 4 final against one of the state’s best teams.
"It was very unexpected, I was in shock," said Mosko, who found out on the bus ride to the game that he’d be starting. "Playing on jayvee, I was so much quicker. This is a tough game to find out what the varsity level is all about."
Andrews also had to adjust to a new battery mate for the first time all season. It wasn’t easy for the southpaw, who had struggled in his last two starts and needed the comfort level of his regular catcher.
"It was a lot harder than I thought it would be," Andrews said. "I’m so used to having Sadin back there. It was hard to get used to."
Andrews retired the first two batters but Steinert put together a two-out rally to take a 2-0 lead. Mike Mattonelli and Ryan Murphy stroked base hits and Matt Visdock smacked an RBI single to left to make it 1-0. An errant relay throw allowed the runners to move up to second and third. Murphy scored on a passed ball for an unearned second run.
Steinert scored another unearned run in the third when a botched rundown allowed Joe Mastrangelo to reach second base after a walk. Mastrangelo moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Murphy. Consecutive doubles by Mike O’Donnell and Tristen DeFazio made it 4-0 after four innings.
Meanwhile, the Raiders couldn’t generate anything offensively against right-hander Rich Balgowan (7-1). They had their best chance in the top of the fourth when Corey Swickle and Sean MacDonald hit consecutive singles with one out. Swickle and MacDonald were stranded when Mike Hansford hit a fly ball to center and Matt Zygmund was caught looking at a called third strike.
The Raiders only managed two more hits the rest of the way an infield hit by Swickle in the sixth and leadoff double by Hansford in the seventh. Corey Towey singled in the first inning for the team’s only other base hit.
"Everyone was sitting back looking for a pitch to drive," Swickle said. "We just couldn’t get the bat on the ball and produce any runs."
Steinert chased Andrews in the sixth when O’Donnell blasted a solo home run to make it 5-0. Zygmund came on in relief to strike out the side but the damage had been done.
"My kids have faced some tough situations all year and we played a very good team today," Hewitt said. "We had to get through some pretty good teams to get here. We accomplished a lot this year, but we’re tired."
EXTRA BASES The Raiders were eliminated from the Delaware East Division race with last week’s 4-3 loss to Montgomery. Despite the loss, which sent Hillsborough’s division record to 11-2, the team was still planning on finishing its regular season schedule with a home and away series vs. Watchung Hills and a road game at Immaculata’s Cust Baseball Academy in Flemington this week.

