When the new season swings into action April 1, Metuchen’s St. Joseph High School baseball team will look to work its way into contention for a shot at defending its Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title. The Falcons won the annual event in 2008 with an exhilarating 3-2 victory over Old Bridge in the title game. Unfortunately, St. Joe’s could not maintain the momentuminto the state tournament, where it lost to Holy Spirit 1-0 in the opening round.
The task will be a tall order for a team that lost eight seniors from last year’s title team, including its top two pitchers Sean Hille and Sam Fourre. The Falcons will rely on four returning seniors, Chris Vielak, Make Hamel, Joey Esposito and George Gonzalez, to lead the way.
Vielak is expected to be the team’s No. 1 pitcher and shortstop this season with Hamel his primary battery mate.
“Chris is a very athletic kid and he should be hitting near the top of the order,” St. Joe’s head coach Paul Esposito said. “He hits to all fields and has good speed. He can hit the ball gap to gap consistently and he gives us a lot of options.”
Hamel appears ready to take over behind the dish after serving as the team’s designated hitter and occasional outfielder.
“We had the good fortune of having two all-county catchers the past couple years,” Esposito said. “Now, Mike gets his first opportunity behind the dish. He’s a very consistent line-drive hitter and should be one of our primary run-producers in the middle of the lineup.”
Gonzalez is slated to start at first base with Esposito being one of the team’s top two hurlers with Vielak.
“We’re counting on Joey to give us ace stuff,” Esposito said. “He can throw four pitches for strikes, which is excellent at the high school level. He knows how to get guys out.” Gonzalez provided the Falcons with the game-winning hit in the county finals game against Old Bridge.
“He’s had a very good spring,” Esposito said. “We’re counting on him for a big season at the plate. He brings home run power to our lineup.”
Senior Ron Desantis will also provide upper class leadership. Desantis is likely to see mound time out of the pen or as a spot starter when needed. Classmate Matt Karabian could also be used on the mound. Karabian will likely fill in for Vielak at short stop when Vielak takes the hill.
Seniors Eddie Stivers and John Langton should see time in the outfield and as designated hitter respectively. Talented juniors VictorDiaz and Phil Gianakos will play at second and third base, respectively.
“Victor and Phil could also be strong pitchers for us,” Esposito said. “Pitching should definitely be our strength this year. It’s very exciting. We have experienced guys back and some nice young arms. Desantis gives us the luxury of bringing in a lefty when we want, which should make us even stronger.”
The team will open the season April 1 against East Brunswick before heading south to play in the All Catholic East Tournament in Miami, Fla. The event, hosted by Christopher Columbus High, will bring together top Catholic teams on the East Coast.
“We’re very excited to go to Miami,” Esposito said. “We’ll be playing quality teams and we’ll be putting our chips on the table to see what we’ve got. We have the arms to play with anybody.”