WW-P South baseball wins four in Florida
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
After the struggles the West Windsor-Plainsboro South baseball team went through last year, opening this season with a successful week in Florida helped erase whatever holdover there may have been from a 5-19 season.
”We had a good time,” said WW-P South coach Don Hutchinson, whose team won all four games it played on the trip. “We played a lot of baseball and we got a few wins under our belts, which was good for our confidence, especially after last season.”
The Pirates came home with a 5-0 record, then dropped a 4-0 decision to Nottingham on Monday in a game in which the team did not get a hit. But even that loss could not put a damper on a start that has already seen the Pirates match last year’s win total.
”It’s a much better start than last year,” said senior Ryan Brand, who had a solid four games in Florida. “It was good for us to go down there and get four wins. We had one real nice win against a good Manalapan team. We played them my sophomore year and they beat us pretty badly. So it was nice to get a win against them this year.”
One of the keys for the Pirates to start this season has been a healthy pitching staff that has been getting the job done.
”Our schedule has been favorable, but our starting pitching has really been a lot better than it was last season,” said Hutchinson, whose team is scheduled to host Steinert today and Lawrenceville on Saturday. “Even against Nottingham, we were down 3-0 after four batters but then only gave up one run the rest of the game.
”In high school baseball you generally find a way to get runs. If we pitch well we have an opportunity to win. It was good for our confidence to go down there and win games. Now we’ll see if that carries over when we play the CVC teams.”
The Pirates pitching has been solid and the offense has done enough to win games — even with leadoff man Ralph Aurora out with an injury. Brand has stepped in and done a good job at the top of the lineup in Aurora’s absence.
”I felt pretty comfortable hitting in that spot,” he said. “When I was in middle school and Little League and Babe Ruth, I was always a leadoff hitter.”
This is a South team that is not going to rely on star power to win games. Instead, everyone chips in and makes a difference.
”Last year we had Mitch Liebowitz and he went on to play in college,” said Brand, who will play soccer at Earlham College next year. “This year we don’t have that one player like Mitch, but we have a lot of guys that just like to come out and play baseball. We all want to redeem ourselves after last year and we are off to a pretty good start.
”I think we have some really good pitching this year. A lot depends on how they do and if they continue to throw strikes the way they have been. We feel like we have a pretty good defense. So when our pitchers throw strikes and they put the ball in play, we make the plays behind them.”
That was what happened in Florida. Hutchinson hopes it continues through the rest of the season.
”Evan Smith pitched a real good game against Manalapan,” Hutchinson said. “He has a good arm. As a team, we’re throwing more strikes this year and that’s really the biggest thing. We don’t have a strikeout staff, so we can’t walk people. We’ve been throwing strikes for the most part and that has been a key.
”I’m satisfied with where we are. We still have a lot of tough games ahead of us. I think, overall, the CVC is better this year. There are a lot of good teams. But if we pitch well, I know we can compete with anyone.”