The Marlboro High School baseball team does not have to wait until next spring to build on its late-season momentum from the 2009 campaign.
In American Legion play this summer there has been a definite carry-over from the five-game win streak the Marlboro baseball team went on at the end of the scholastic season.
The American Legion season ends this week with the Mustangs, playing as Marlboro Post 338, in a position to qualify for the state tournament. On July 13 (after deadline) the Mustangs (10-4) hosted Freehold Township (7-4-1) in a game that could have clinched a post-season berth for the Mustangs.
Howell (10-2), Manalapan (7-3), Colts Neck (6-2) and Bayshore (CBA) Colts (5- 2-1) were vying with Marlboro and Freehold Township for four playoff spots. The early summer rains put a lot of teams behind schedule. The regular season can end no later than July 16.
The state playoffs are scheduled to start on July 18.
Regardless of where Marlboro ends up, Coach Jim Ferraro is pleased with what has transpired. He said he is trying to rebuild the high school program and said 10 wins in American Legion ball is proof that the team is headed in the right direction.
Pitching and defense, which were Marlboro’s strengths during the 2009 high school season, remain the team’s foundation. The difference has been on offense.
After losing several one- and two-run games in the spring, this club has been winning with clutch hits and good at-bats.
“The hitters taking a more aggressive approach,” Ferraro said. “We’re doing the small things like moving runners up.”
Kevin Vitale, Scott Donaghue and Cosmo Iacobellis are all hitting above .400 for the American Legion squad.
Marlboro has been aggressive on the base paths as it looks to manufacture runs. With a pitching staff that has been stingy, the Mustangs have not had to worry about scoring six or seven runs a game.
Matt Wekerle (who is also one of Marlboro’s leading hitters), Donaghue, Craig Helfgott, Matt Lorenzetti and Jake Eckhaus are the team’s starting pitchers and Jordan Golomowski has earned three wins in relief.
This is a pitching staff in which everyone except Eckhaus throws over 80 mph. Eckhaus, a lefty, provides a change of pace and gets hitters out with off-speed pitches.
Marlboro’s pitchers know they have a strong defense behind them.
Wekerle and Helfgott start at third and at shortstop, but when they are on the mound the Mustangs do not suffer in the field. Donaghue can take over third base and Aaron Rosen can play second or shortstop. John Bobrow has also shown skill at second base.
Catcher Elliott Drucker and Iacobellis in centerfield anchor a solid defense.
Ferraro, who took over as Marlboro High School varsity baseball coach this past spring, learned all he needed to about the team when the losses were piling up in April.
“We were losing a lot of one-run games and I saw that they were not quitting,” he said. “They were hustling and we were coming up a little short at the end. Then we had five-game win streak.”
That win streak proved to be no illusion based on the way the Marlboro Post 338 baseball team has performed this summer.
Marlboro’s American Legion team is very young, with a number of players who are contributing this summer getting set to begin their junior year at MHS.
“Our biggest strength is our chemistry,” said Ferraro. “We have very, very good chemistry.”
With success on the field to go along with that team chemistry, the Mustangs should be a squad that Shore Conference A North Division opponents will have to reckon with in 2010.

