A senior-laden Manalapan High baseball team will look to build on last year’s 16-10 season.
Coach Brian Boyce has a team with seven returning starters and 13 seniors
11 who either started or were parttimers) that is looking to be in the thick of the A North Division race in ’07.
"In a very competitive A North, the Braveswill have the pitching to compete," noted Boyce.
Mark Holmes (3-3, 2.41 earned-run average), RyanHarvey (3-0), Matt Cook and Matt Steinitz are the core of the pitching staff. They are all battletested. To this rotation, the Braves have addedKevinMulvanerton, Lawrence Schoer andAnthony DiMaiuta. This gives Boyce a lot of flexibility. He can go deep into his pen to save a game or one that goes into extra innings and the depth to handle a situation where his teammay have four or five games in aweek.
Catcher Nick Turano heads up the returning starters in the field. The senior is coming off a great season in which he established himself as one off the best backstops in the Shore. He smacked 39 base hits, including 10 doubles for a .424 batting average. He had 23 RBIs and scored 21 runs. Turano was equally effective defensively and handling the pitching staff.
Craig Peterson (shortstop/second base), Pat Flanagan (outfield) and Bryan Tamalone complete the group of seven returning starters. Cook plays first when not pitching, and Harvey will see action at shortstop.
Lucas Scollo (second base) was a part-time player last year who has since moved into a full-time role this year.
Pitchers Mulvanerton, Schoer and DiMaiuta are among the newcomers that Boyce hopes will help his team contend also expected to contribute are Matt Sternlieb (outfield), Dan Frankel catcher/designated hitter) and Rich Mannino (infield).
In a division as balanced and loaded asA North, Boyce knows the little thingsmatter.
"[The Braves] will need to take advantage of their deep pitching staff, get timely hitting and demonstrated consistency in the field and theywill challenge in every game."