Mustangs showing fight, resiliency

Baseball team not quitting in winless season

by John Beisser, Sports Writer
   Despite remaining winless on the season, the Manville High baseball team continues to scratch and battle each time out.
   The most recent evidence of the Mustangs’ grit and resiliency came in last Thursday’s home game vs. Delaware Valley, a team that had defeated Manville by a count of 17-4 earlier this season.
   Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 7-0, the Mustangs were well on their way to their 14th consecutive defeat. Instead of rolling over and going out 1-2-3, Manville fought back to make a game of it. A walk and a pair of singles by Dennis Petrone and Joe Burnett loaded the bases for Angel Ortiz, arguably the Mustangs’ most potent hitter all season.
   Within the blink of an eye, Manville had cut the deficit to 7-4 as Ortiz unloaded a tape measure grand slam home run to the left-center field.
   ”That was some shot. It had to be 400 feet,” MHS rookie skipper Dan Sferrazza marveled. “It was a high, arcing blast but let me tell you, it got out of there in a hurry. It actually hit the football video booth and ricocheted back onto the field.”
   Earlier in the week, Manville dropped a 15-1 decision to North Warren in a game that stood at 7-1 until the Mustangs allowed eight runs in the final frame.
   ”That was a relatively close game most of the way and it was a much better game that the final score showed,” Sferrazza said. “In fact, we’re playing everybody much tougher the second time around. There’s no question we’re much improved since the beginning of the season and I give the guys a lot of credit.”
   Perhaps no one reflects the frustration of this tough season more than senior Brian Rock. A three-sport standout in football, basketball and baseball, Rock was one of the cornerstones of the 2008 Mustangs at the beginning of the season. He was the team’s starting center fielder, No. 3 hitter and a tough left-handed pitcher as well. But his high school baseball career came to a crashing end back on April 8 when he dislocated his left shoulder in a collision at home plate.
   It’s not a stretch to suggest that a healthy and productive Rock could have meant the difference between winning and losing in several games this season.
   ”It was a big blow to lose Brian, no question,” Sferrazza said. “He’s not only a talented player but a real leader. He’s a vocal guy who enjoyed being pushed and who wasn’t shy about motivating his teammates. He was a captain and one of our top guys.”
   For Rock, whose older brother Tom was also an exceptional athlete for the Mustangs prior to his 2007 graduation, the spring of 2008 has been the toughest stretch of his athletic career.
   ”It’s been horrible not being able to play,” Rock said. “You feel so useless and helpless. I get an MRI on it tomorrow and that will determine if it needs surgery. It has gotten better since it happened, so we’ll see. If I get the go ahead, I’m hoping to play American Legion ball this summer. In the fall, I’m going to attend Raritan Valley and then in a couple years I’d like to play Division 3 baseball somewhere.”
   While Rock continues to rehab the shoulder and hope the MRI shows no surgery is needed, his teammates were slated to play a pair of road games. The Mustangs will meet South Hunterdon on Tuesday (May 13), a team that beat Manville by a slim 7-4 margin earlier this season, before meeting Hackettstown on Thursday (May 15). Next week, the Mustangs are scheduled to play home games vs. Belvidere and Somerville.
   ”That home run by Angel should give us a little confidence on offense,” Sferrazza said. “Joe Burnett’s been pitching pretty well for us and Anthony (Palovick) has done a nice job. The guys just keep battling and that’s all I can ask.”