By Wayne Witkowski
Middletown High School South baseball coach Ryan Spillane shares the commonly held belief among high school coaches that pitching depth wins championships.
His team’s many arms will be called to action this week and afterward in its bid to add to the championships it has piled up in recent years.
“Our pitching has done a great job, and we’re hitting the ball well,” Spillane said, as the Eagles carried a 13-2 record into this week — their best start since going 21-6 in 2012, when it lost its Shore Conference and NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group III semifinal games at the end of the season. “I think we’re playing really good baseball and in the field, we’re playing with confidence, believing in ourselves [and] executing the fundamentals.”
Two games against Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) this week again involve championships. The Eagles’ game against CBA on May 2 was postponed, but a Middletown South victory when that game is played will clinch a Shore Conference A North Division overall championship for the Eagles. Middletown South entered the week 9-2 in the division, while CBA had three losses.
Both teams meet again May 7 in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals.
If Middletown South loses its game to CBA in its bid for the overall A North championship, it will focus on the division’s nonpublic championship. It had the chance to clinch that title May 4 against Freehold High School.
CBA beat Middletown South, 3-1, in eight innings April 13. Senior John Zega took that loss in relief of senior Jon Martin, who was locked in a pitching duel with Lucas Dalatri, a University of North Carolina commit who held the Eagles to three hits and had 19 strikeouts over the eight innings.
“We’re a much better team now,” Spillane said.
His team avenged its other loss to Marlboro High School with a 4-0 victory March 30, as Ian Scheuer, who is headed to Manhattan College, pitched a two-hitter.
The Eagles have won 10 straight games coming into this week and allowed only 29 runs in those 15 games, with two of their four shutouts recorded in their last two games. Zega threw a two-hit shutout in a 12-0 victory over Mater Dei Prep April 30 in a game stopped after five innings when the 10-run rule was invoked. Zega also batted in six runs with three hits that day.
“It’s nice to play meaningful games at the end,” Spillane said of the big week.
Last year’s Middletown South team won 14 straight games before settling for an A North overall co-championship with CBA in a 21-9 season. Middletown South also was overall champion in 2012. The Eagles shared the A North public school championship with Howell High School in 2013.
“These guys know how to approach it, finding ways for achieving goals we want to set,” Spillane said.
It showed April 28 when junior first baseman Ben Porpora hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth inning to score pinch-runner Jeff Lewandowski, a senior, as Middletown South beat Middletown High School North, 4-3. Senior catcher Zach Schild started the winning rally with a double. Senior Joe McLaughlin got the win in relief of senior Austin Markman — an integral part of the deep pitching rotation who also bats cleanup as a .400 hitter.
Markman shares innings at second base with junior Jeremy Joyce. Zega plays third base and when he’s pitching, Joyce fills in there. Martin plays at third base for Zega if he is on the mound. Joyce and Zega also bat second and third in the batting order behind leadoff hitter and center fielder senior Tom Gannon.
Shortstop is by committee with a number of players in the mix, and three other players fill in the left and right field spots, including Lewandowski and juniors Tom Frandsen, who starts most of the time, and Dave Mangarelli.