Monroe Township High School first baseman John Yofreddo (33) waits for the ball to arrive during a pickoff attempt of a Marlboro High School baserunner during the May 23 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals played in Marlboro. The Falcons lost 2-1, but they will have one more chance to win a championship on May 30 when they play John F. Kennedy Memorial High School (Iselin) in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament finals at the Somerset Patriots’ TD Bank Park in Bridgewater. ROY DEBOER A t the conclusion of a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Marlboro High School on May 26, members of the Monroe Township High School baseball team jogged out to right field and began running wind sprints.
This is a time-honored tradition at Monroe, and the fact that the Falcons (13-12) carried out this ritual despite the loss, which eliminated them from the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV sectional, signaled that there’s still more baseball to be played.
Monroe gets one more chance to win the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament championship on May 30, when it meets John F. Kennedy Memorial High School at TD Bank Ballpark in Franklin Township, home of the Somerset Patriots minor league team. Then the season is over.
Missed opportunities sent the Falcons packing in the state tournament. Monroe stranded 11 runners and could only push across a run in the first inning. A combined solid pitching effort from starter Andrew Cohen, who went 4 2/3 innings, and Zach Gorham, who hurled the remaining innings, kept Monroe close. Only a misplayed ground ball in the bottom of the fifth inning enabled Marlboro to score the eventual winning run.
“When you don’t execute, you don’t win,” Monroe head coach Pat Geroni said. “We had runners in scoring position a bunch of times but didn’t get those guys home. That was the ballgame.”
Geroni started Cohen, the lanky fireballer who overcame a bout of mononucleosis following his sophomore year and pneumonia this past offseason to become a quality pitcher. Cohen didn’t display his best stuff against Marlboro, according to Geroni.
“[Cohen] has over 70 strikeouts,” Geroni said. “So when he didn’t get his first until the bottom of the third, I knew Andrew didn’t have his good stuff. Still, he’s a tremendous pitcher who is only going to get better. With his frame, Andrew can put on another 20 pounds, which will help him.” Cohen is headed to Gloucester County College following graduation.
The Falcons are hoping they don’t suffer a repeat of their performance when they take the field for the GMC finals with their No. 1 hurler on the mound, Danny Marsh (4-1, 46 strikeouts). While the senior doesn’t own the same strikeout ratio as Cohen, he is a proven winner that Geroni believes can get the job done.
“[Danny’s] the guy you want to have the ball when everything is on the line,” Geroni said. “He’s been our rock — the guy you want on the mound when you need a big win. My only regret is I don’t have him for another year.”
Monroe has not been a team that produces runs compared to teams in recent years, but players throughout the lineup can hit. Senior third baseman Jonathan Rodriques has been the top run producer, with 12 RBIs to go along with his team-leading .333 average on 16 hits. Senior shortstop Jeff Htam leads the Falcons with 18 hits and is batting .305, while Cohen has lashed out 14 hits for a .318 average. Senior right fielder Chris Hernandez has 13 hits and is batting .260, and freshman catcher Anthony Tagliaferro has sparkled defensively and is hitting .281.
“Our strengths have been our pitching and solid defense,” Geroni said. “But the lack of hitting has cost us during the season. Now that we’re playing in the tournaments, we have to rely on chemistry, a sense of urgency, discipline and focus.”
“I truly feel that playing in the GMC has helped us with [our current run],” he added. “We feel we’re now battle-tested. We’ve been involved in 16 games when we have entered the sixth inning tied, and we’ve won four games by 1-0 scores. We don’t have blazing speed or guys that scare you like some other teams, but we do have great pitching and great defense.”
Now Monroe gets one more chance.