By Anthonoy Williams, Special Writer
With the high school sports scene drawing to a close, it’s time to welcome back the “Boys of Summer,” as the Bordentown Legion Post 26 Senior Baseball Team gets ready to kick off its 2012 campaign in the Mercer County American Legion Baseball League.
Led by manager Tom Dolan, in his 14th season, Post 26 is coming off of its third league championship in five years, a second place finish in the district tournament, and a second place finish in the New Jersey American Legion State Tournament.
Bordentown is looking to improve on last year’s success, finishing 31-11, but in order to do so, it is going to have to find a way to replace the loss of Chris Pula, 20, who attends West Chester University and Sal Garofalo, 20, of North Hanover who attends Burlington County College. Both players were an integral part of the team’s late season run and continue to be a factor on the diamond, as both Pula and Garofalo are starters on their college teams.
Coach Dolan is well aware of the challenges that face his squad, but is very optimistic about his team’s chances of having another great season.
”We’ll be very competitive this year with a lot of veteran pitching,” Coach Dolan said. “We also picked up a lot of young pitching to complement our senior guys, so we should be in every game.”
Leading the way for Bordentown is a strong contingent of returning starters, including college and prep stars Taylor Steen 19, of New Egypt who attends Chestnut Hill College; Gavin Stupienski, 18, of Columbus who attends Hun School; and reigning Mercer County Pitcher of the Year Joe Gutowski, 19, of Bordentown who attends Burlington County College. Also returning for Post 26 are Ryan McGowan, 18, of Columbus who attends Notre Dame Catholic High School; Heath Fillmyer,18, of Florence who attends Florence High School; Dan Hornyak, 18, of Columbus who attends Northern Burlington High School; and Mike Kendall, 18, of Columbus who attends Northern Burlington High School. So far, Bordentown has shown a lot of promise in the pre-season, winning its first two scrimmages and outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 25-4.
The team’s second win came against Post 382 from Bristol, the defending Pennsylvania American Legion State Champions and the same team that knocked Bordentown out of the Regional tournament last season by a score of 9-5.
After one more scrimmage on Sunday, June 3, Bordentown will kick off its season at Mercer County Park on Monday, June 4, where the team will get things started against Hightstown Post 148 in a bid to repeat as MCALL Champions.
Several teams stand in Bordentown’s way of defending its crown, and it is common knowledge that it is going to take a lot of teamwork to make it happen.
”It’s going to be tough to repeat, but we have the talent to do it,” Coach Dolan said. “Hamilton Post 31 (Steinert) has proven to be a thorn in our side over the years, and West Windsor-Plainsboro, who finished second last year, is returning most of their young team, so it should get interesting as the season progresses.”
Coach Dolan won’t be leading the troops into battle alone, as he has almost enough assistant coaches to field their own team and receives a lot of support from past Post 26 players. Neil Cumming will be returning for his 13th season with Post 26, and will be bringing along his son Kevin for the sixth consecutive year.
Keeping the family theme going, Tom and Steve Giambrone will be entering their sixth and second year, respectively, with the team, while Chris Hoyer will be a part of coaching staff for the 10th straight year, continuing to coach beyond his son Andy’s participation with the team. Chuck Krichling and Russ Stupienski will both help out again, returning for their second season as assistants, and hope to keep the youngsters motivated.
Post 26 will also be hosting its annual Comedy Night fund-raiser on Saturday, June 16, at the Bordentown Elks, featuring local comic Joe Bublewicz from Yardville.
Tickets are $30 a piece and include free beer, wine, and soda. Proceeds, from the fund-raiser, help to offset the travel and lodging costs of the team’s annual 4th of July Tournament trip to Rhode Island.
Coach Dolan estimates that 250 to 280 people will be in attendance; so don’t wait to purchase your tickets.
More information about Bordentown Post 26 and Comedy Night can be found at www.leaguelineup.com/BordentownPost26.
