New Egypt High School’s record-laden baseball season ended earlier than the team wanted when it lost to Shore Regional High School, 5-1, in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I semifinals last week.
“We had a pretty good season and we should’ve won a lot more games, but we lost some close ones sometimes because of stupid mistakes,” said shortstop Mike DeAnni, who pitched against Shore Regional in a 1-1 standoff through six innings before New Egypt errors helped let in four runs.
New Egypt advanced in the state tournament with victories over Henry Hudson Regional High School, 8-0, and Keyport High School, 11-1.
DeAnni and six other seniors leave with a 19-7 record after a 2-3 start, which ties the school record for victories. They were also on a Burlington County Scholastic League Freedom Division championship team, the school’s first since they were freshmen. In that slow start, the Warriors lost their division opener to Riverside High School and swept through the rest of the league schedule.
There were also some individual milestones set by Reid Anderson, who hit five home runs this season and 11 for his career, both school records, and also set a school record with 89 career RBIs. Anderson, a senior heading to Millersville University in the fall, batted .370.
Connor Lindsay tied a school record for pitching victories in a season with his 8-0 record, and he also set a school record with a 0.80 ERA this season. Lindsay also led the team in hitting with a .430 average. He’ll pitch for Montclair State University, where first baseman Kevin Smith is also headed.
It made for a memorable inaugural season for baseball coach Jeff Pierro, who succeeded Rich Carroll, the coach from the program’s inception 10 years ago.
“We played up to our competition and scheduled bigger schools [for non-league games] in the Liberty Division that helped us,” Pierro said. “It was a great group of kids to be around with seven seniors who gave everything.” That included an impressive 5-3 victory over Burlington Township High School, which was still playing in the NJSIAA Group III tournament on June 4.
There also was a 6-5 victory at 20-win Cinnaminson High School, a game in which New Egypt scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning for a 6-3 lead, only to survive a Cinnaminson comeback in the home seventh.
DeAnni, who was 3-3 on the mound and batted above .400, and Bill Raab, who came back late from an injury to win three games, also helped handily. Both are headed to Rutgers University-Camden, which plays in the New Jersey Athletic
Conference with Montclair State.
“It’ll be fun to be going up against my friend Connor at Montclair,” DeAnni said.
“He’ll really be missed [at New Egypt],” Pierro said.
Left fielder Kevin Mason is going to Albright College and right fielder Steve Orlofsky also plans on continuing his education in college, but he will not play baseball.
There is a good nucleus returning to New Egypt, some of them playing on the Allentown American Legion team that reached the state district finals last summer before losing to West Deptford.
They open their 24-game season at 7 p.m. June 6 at Mercer County Park against Princeton under manager Matt Zagari and coach Pierro again this year.
Austin Lindsay, Connor’s younger brother who is rated in the top 100 underclassmen in the state on www.diamondnation.com, is a solid shortstop and pitcher who will take over DeAnni’s role. Quentin Hatt played at second base. Both juniors will play on the Allentown Legion team.
Connor Lindsay, Smith and Anderson will also be playing for that Legion team.
Sophomore left-hander Chris Simms did some pitching this spring, and junior Bryan Ashley and sophomore
Trevor Buckelew both can pitch and play in right field. Sophomore Dan Fernicola can play at first base and third base.