By: Sean Moylan
When Chris Kubik threw a no-hitter in Hightstown Post 148’s 11-1 five-inning win over North Trenton 148 last Friday night at Mercer County Park, Ethan Perro’s mission versus the Trenton 93 Schroths on Sunday at Wetzel Field was a "simple" one.
He wanted to pitch a great game just like his Allentown High teammate had just done.
All Perro did was no-hit the Schroths 11-0 in five frames to match Kubik’s brilliance. Although Kubik actually surrendered a run, it was unearned and he was facing a little better team than Perro matched up against on Sunday. So the performances were very even.
"It’s good when you can get back-to-back no-hitters in the Mercer County American Legion League," added Hightstown’s manager Rich Scheid.
The victory over North Trenton was Hightstown’s first of the season as its came alive for the first time since its opener against Lawrence 414. Hightstown pounded out 12 hits as catcher Zach Katcher erupted for a double and a single, two runs scored and a pair of RBI. He also stole a base.
Kyle Gormley (1-for-3, three RBI and a run), Logan Gallagher (2-for-3 with a double and RBI), Matt Hill (1-for-3, run, RBI), Mike Kapuscienski (1-for-3, run, two steals, two RBI), Kevin McCarey (2-for-3, two runs), Perro (1-for-3, run), Curtis Schickner (1-for-3, two runs, steal, RBI) and David Reichmann (1-for-3, run, RBI) all did their job at the plate. But the undisputed hero of the contest was Kubik, who fanned four batters.
"He had good command and he worked ahead of the hitters," said Scheid of Kubik. "Kubik gave up a run on a double steal with runners on first and third in the third."
Kubik walked a batter and a runner reached on an error. Otherwise, he was flawless.
On Sunday, Perro’s bid for a perfect game was also spoiled in the third inning when he hit the Schroths’ second batter of the frame. After that he too was flawless.
"Ethan’s gotten off to a good start. He’s got 17 strikeouts in 15 innings," noted Scheid. "Perro pitched five good innings and we took advantage of some sloppy defense." In three games, Perro is 1-0 with a 1.87 ERA.
Since returning from an illness, Kapuscienski has been crushing the ball for Post 148. In Sunday’s contest he enjoyed a 3-for-4 day at the dish with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Gallagher also smacked a two-bagger, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice. Katcher and Schickner each doubled and knocked in a run too. Kubik helped out his Allentown buddy with a single, RBI and run scored. Hill scored two times.
With three hits including a solo homer, Hill was the star of Hightstown’s 9-6 non-league win over Morrisville at Philadelphia Biblical College this past Saturday. Schickner drove in a pair of runs.
"Marcus McLeod got the win and Brian Greubel got the save," added Scheid.
This past Tuesday night Hightstown beat Bristol 4-1 at Mercer County Park. Ryan Pierson hurled four innings to earn the win. Kubik, McCleod and Kapuscienski all got in some work on the hill as well.
"No one really hit the ball well," said Scheid, whose team was able to win its fourth game in a row because of stellar pitching. Scheid likes to use non-league games to give some of his less used pitchers, like Kapuscienski, who is known more as a position player, more innings on the hill.
Hamilton Post 31 defeated Hightstown 5-2 at Mercer County Park on Wednesday to snap Hightstown’s four-game winning streak
"Logan Gallagher made a couple of nice plays in the field (at shortstop)," added Scheid.
On one of those plays, Gallagher made a great scoop and appeared, to many, to have gunned out the runner at first. Unfortunately, the runner was ruled safe, which led to Post 31 scoring a first-inning run. But that wasn’t the reason Hightstown lost. The pitching of Hamilton’s Mike Murphy was.
That kid Murphy was tough. He had command of three pitches," added Scheid. "Michael Bertuccio started for us but he didn’t have his best command."
Bertuccio, nonetheless, gutted out four plus innings and allowed just five runs against a team which has won the MCALL championship a dozen years in a row. And Scheid believes Bertuccio deserves a lot of credit and recognition for his fine play this season. Greubel came in for Hightstown and twirled three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while fanning four batters and walking no one. He has yet to allow a run this season.
"He’s been very impressive," said Scheid of Greubel, who will get a start sometime this weekend.
Gallagher blasted a two-run dinger in the fifth and Reichmann and Matt Hill had Hightstown’s only other hits of the contest.
This Sunday at Moody Park, Gallagher, Bertuccio and Kapuscienski will play for team for Team (Fred) Walters in the 2007 MCALL Intraleague All-Star game. Scheid will be one of the coaches for that team. Perro will play for Team (Tom) Parker.
While West Windsor-Plainsboro looks pretty strong, there appears to be more parity in the MCALL this season. Any team can beat any team on any given day. But at 2-6 (4-7 overall), Hightstown’s margin of error is a little smaller for one of the playoff spots.
"We have to get to .500," said Scheid, who is taking it one game at a time. "The pitching is there. Offensively you have to do it night in and night out in this league."
Kubik, Perro, Greubel, Michael Bertuccio and Gallagher had a combined ERA of 2.38 entering Tuesday’s contest versus Bristol. And any time a team has good pitching, it has a good chance of winning.
Hightstown was scheduled to have to hosted Mitchell Davis 182 yesterday (Thursday). Hightstown is scheduled to play Hopewell 339 at Princeton Day School today (Friday). Hightstown is scheduled to host West Windsor-Plainsboro on Saturday and Roselle on Sunday. On Monday, Hightstown is scheduled to play Lawrence 414 at Lawrence. Then on Wednesday, Hightstown is scheduled to host Ewing 314.
JR. LEGION
"Overall, we’re starting starting to jell as a team and we’re playing well together," said Rick Kerr, the manager of the Hightstown Post 148 Junior Legion baseball squad.
On June 12th, the Hightstown Post 148 Junior Legion team posted an 8-3 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro. Brandon Yarusi surrendered just two hits in five innings to pick up the win. Brian Greubel, who also plays with Hightstown’s Senior Legion squad, and Dan Westfall each had two hits and knocked in a pair of runs.
Then last Friday, Steinert beat Hightstown, 11-5.
"We just had a couple of walks and a couple of miscues in the field that turned a 4-3 game into an 11-5 loss," added Kerr. Even so, Hightstown’s Alex Kabak had two base knocks and two runs scored.
This past Sunday, Ed Ras pitched Hightstown to a 10-4 road win over Bordentown. Ras struck out 11 batters during his complete game eight-hitter. Steven Braun was the hitting star for Hightstown with two hits, including a two-run homer and four RBI. Greg Hunter was 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBI.
"Ryan D’Angelis gave us strong leadership and hard-nosed play," noted Kerr.
With a 4-1 overall record, the Hightstown Post 148 Junior Legion baseball team is off to a strong start.

