ROBBINSVILLE: Ravens open with tourney win

Baseball team starts fast

By Bob Nuse, The Packet Group
   The Robbinsville High baseball team got the season off to a good start with by winning the Papa Bear Invitational at Moorestown last weekend. Then the Ravens got their Colonial Valley Conference season off to a good start with a 14-4 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Monday.
   ”It was a nice way to get out of the gate,” Robbinsville coach Tom Brettell said. “We like to play a lot of games and that’s not always easy, especially with the weather early in the season. It was nice to be able to play a couple of games and get two wins.”
   The Ravens opened the tournament with a 6-1 win over Moorestown as Sam Barum tossed six shutout innings and Chris Karousatos finished up on the mound. Offensively, Sam Sparella and Steve Kowalski each had two hits. They followed up that win with a 14-8 win over Delran in the championship game. Ryan Casey had two hits and drove in five runs to pace an offense that also saw C.J. Gearhart and Ryan Fleming get two hits apiece. Fleming drove in four runs.
   ”We’re just trying to take the season one game at a time,” Brettell said. “We started with three wins and next we have Hightstown (scheduled to be played on Wednesday). We try not to look any further ahead than the next game.”
   The Ravens followed up the tournament win by topping WW-P South in their conference opener. Fleming, Kowalski and Matt Samel each had two hits and Matt Mindich added a home run for the Ravens.
   ”Any time you can open up your conference schedule with a win it is nice,” Brettell said. “In our league, on any given day any team can beat any team. You can’t take any team lightly because it is a very good league. We have Hightstown and then after that we’ll see what the season will bring.”
   Last year the Ravens won the Central Jersey Group I title. This year they hope to have the same kind of success.