Legion baseball begins districts
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Dylan Finer has geared up for a double dose of playoff action this week.
The beginning of the week, the rising senior from Hillsborough High School had playoffs with the boys basketball team. Finer and the Hillsborough Senior American Legion baseball team open district playoffs 2 p.m. Saturday against an opponent that had yet to be determined at Beacon deadline time.
”Summer has been great,” Finer said. “I’m back and forth. I’m keeping myself busy. Basketball is keeping my arm healthy for baseball. With all the running I do, with pitching you have to keep running, so the basketball is helping me. It’s keeping me busy, keeping me in shape.”
Finer is a point guard for the basketball team that is reloading after winning its first Somerset County Tournament championship and setting a program record for wins last year, then graduating an influential senior class that filled the starting spots. This summer has given the Raiders a chance to start retooling themselves for next winter.
”It’s definitely a new look,” Finer said. “This year we’re a lot smaller. We have a good group of guys. We have seven seniors this season. We’re not as big or physical, but we play well as a team. We have a new offense that’s going to help us out a lot with our new schemes. This summer’s been going pretty well.”
Finer is juggling playing basketball with being a pitcher for the Legion team, which is third in the Pyramid Baseball League. His future lies in the latter of those sports, though he enjoys whichever one he is playing at the time.
”I know my basketball potential is very limited,” Finer said. “I’m not naive to that, being a 5-10 guard. I enjoy basketball. It’s a lot of fun. Those are the guys I grew up hanging out with. “But being out on the mound pitching. . . I just love it. It’s the greatest thing in the world.”
Finer has always treasured pitching. He remembers pitching in Cooperstown as a youngster in the driving rain against a team coached by Roger Clemens in a game that didn’t end until well after midnight. Since then, he has grown into a top pitcher for the Raiders. He’s carried that into the summer before his final year of high school.
”Dylan has probably been the most consistently successful kid for us,” said Hillsborough Legion manager Matt Mosko. “He’s also playing basketball. The only (baseball) games he comes to are the ones he pitches in. I don’t have an issue with that. When he shows up for baseball, he comes and produces. It’s great to see him be successful out on the mound.”
Finer knows it is a somewhat unorthodox arrangement at this level. It’s something seen much more at the professional level.
”I talked to some of the guys about it,” Finer said. “They know I’m keeping myself busy. When I’m not there, I’m playing basketball or working, I’m not just blowing my guys off.”
Finer will be ready come playing time to be available as much as possible to Hillsborough. He’d like to help them make a district run.
”All of our guys, we’ve been playing better lately,” he said. “It’s like you can tell it’s playoffs from our attitude. We’re excited to get back out there and keep playing. The last couple summers, it ended early. We’re excited to keep playing. It should be fun to play in these playoffs.”
It was Finer that helped Hillsborough sew up a playoff berth. He was masterful in a 4-2 win Saturday over North Warren, a team that currently sits second in the Pyramid League standings.
”It felt good to grab that game from them,” Finer said. “After we lost to them the last time and I pitched (9-2), I was really motivated to prove myself against them.
”We got the job done as a team. We put up some runs. The younger guys were especially coming through. Mike Engelhardt went 3-for-3 and Jimmy Suseck had 3 RBI. They were hitting the ball real well that day.”
Finer settled down nicely in the game, and kept North Warren off balance over the final six innings to allow his offense to overtake them.
”The first time through the lineup, I actually gave up two in the first inning,” Finer said. “I wasn’t getting my breaking pitches over in the beginning. When I started getting pitches over, I was getting my curve ball over and they were watching it. Then I was in command. If I got another strike, I had them right where I needed them. I got the feeling back after the first inning.”
Finer has been working on adding to his pitching assortment. It’s not the allotment that Jeff Serin, whose “10 pitches” Finer marvels at, but he has more than enough to be effective.
”As a pitcher, I added a new pitch to my repertoire,” Finer said. “I added a slider. I started using it two games ago against Montgomery. I used it against North Warren. I want to be able to get my curve ball over for a strike whenever I need to. I’ve had command, but I want to have complete command over it. And I want to continue to develop that slider.”
Mosko has enjoyed watching Finer work. He has seen him pitch confidently throughout the summer.
”He throws pretty hard, but he doesn’t really overpower kids,” Mosko said. “He can. He’s been working on getting his off-speed, his curve and change-up, over more. That’s going to make him a better pitcher. The other day, he was throwing a 2-1 and 3-1 curve ball. They were freezing guys because they’re not expecting them. When he’s on, he can beat anyone in the league.”
Hillsborough’s pitching staff has been impressive all summer. They are deep and they have been stingy in allowing runs.
”Pitching is the name of the game,” Mosko said. “I had one guy (Brian Schmidt) get hurt, but we’re hoping we can bring him back for the playoffs. We’ve been five strong. They’ve gotten the job done game in and game out. It’s been great to see.”
Finer, Asher Masten, Chris Pudimott, Serin and Kyle Kaminsky, who pitched a 2-hitter in a complete game in 10-0 win over Ridge recently, have bolstered the pitching. Behind them, they have a solid defense.
”The defense all around has been unbelievable,” Mosko said. “We’ve probably made less than 15 errors all year, which is less than one a game. I can’t remember the last time I saw a team do that. If by chance someone does make an error, it doesn’t snowball. It’s not a contagious thing. It’s on to the next play and we’ll make it next time.”
Mosko and assistant coaches Kevin Toro and Brian Toro have tried to emphasize that point. They are also starting to see Hillsborough swing the bat a little more.
”Michael Ricca and Asher Masten, those guys have been two of the more consistent hitters,” Mosko said. “Eric Zickert had two or three doubles the other day. He’s been starting to drive the ball. Jimmy Suseck, our third baseman, has been hitting the ball.”
”If we get the right guys on base, I’m usually able to get them over to second stealing wise, they’re pretty quick. It’s a matter of getting hits. Runs have been scarce at times. If we do get four or five runs, I feel like that’s enough with our pitching and defense to get a win.”
The pitching and defense have handled the pressure of knowing there won’t be a lot of runs. The win over Ridge is the only game in their last 10 in which Hillsborough has scored more than four runs.
”We’re starting to swing the bat a lot better,” Mosko said. “We’re making more solid contact. We’re having better at bats. We’re starting to make better contact and hit the ball hard. It’s good to see they’re making these adjustments now. You want to be playing your best at the end.
”We faced (HHS graduate Matt) Hornich Friday night,” Mosko added. “He’s going on to U Del. The first time through the order, we looked like fifth graders. We were late on everything. The second time through, we ended putting the ball in play and put pressure on the defense and scrapped together a couple runs. I told them, if we carry it over, we’ll scrap out a win and we did on Saturday against the second best team.”
And with the pitching and defense — Hillsborough has been outstanding at throwing out runners — the hitting is the final piece of the puzzle as they hit the playoffs.
”The hitting is going to come around,” Finer said. “We’re still young. We’re going to keep plugging away. As long as we’re not giving up more runs than the other team, we’re OK.”
The Hillsborough squad likes its chances. It has proven all year that it can play with anyone in the league, even unbeaten Flemington.
”Flemington, the second time, we’re within reach of them in the seventh until they scored 4 runs,” Mosko said. “They’ll probably be one of the best teams in the state come finals time. It’s good to see the guys compete and not be afraid to go out there on the same field as kids that are sometimes twice the size of them.”
A challenging schedule in the Pyramid League has the Hillsborough Senior Legion team ready for the district playoffs, and looking forward to the most exciting time of the summer.