By Jimmy Allinder
However and whenever this season ends for the J.P. Stevens High School baseball team, it will certainly be among the most memorable.
The Hawks began the campaign winning five of their first six games until they ran into a roadblock, dropping the next six games to fall to 5-7. J.P. Stevens then proceeded to go on a different streak, winning its last 11, and were 16-7 overall and 8-3 in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Red Division as of May 16.
The latest victory was a 6-0 victory over 24th-seeded New Brunswick High School in the preliminary round of the GMC Tournament, which advanced the ninth-seeded Hawks to a first-round game at eighth-seeded Old Bridge High School May 16.
“I never encountered anything like how this season has gone, and I have been coaching most of these kids since they were 7 years old,” J.P. Stevens coach Dave Marzano said. “When we started losing, they started pressing and trying to perform things they weren’t capable of doing.”
Marzano reflected back to the beginning of the losing streak — a night game April 12 against crosstown rival Edison High School. The Hawks held a seemingly comfortable 4-0 lead after five innings, but the Eagles scored five runs in the sixth to earn the comeback victory.
“We couldn’t do anything right,” Marzano said about the losing streak. “We were victims of bad hops and calls by the umpires that all seemed to go against us. We became really down on ourselves.”
However, maturity and resiliency are part of the makeup of this special group, which includes 12 seniors. In addition, the team started to pull together, led junior Luke Jacobi, who has been a starter since his freshman year.
The contributions of a stout pitching staff have been just as important. Senior Zach Marzano and Frank LoGuidice are both 5-1 and sport earned run averages under 2.00. Three other seniors — Alex Zilli, Michael Katims and Jared Fraraccio — have also been impressive in relief appearances.
Marzano is the leading hitter with a .386 average, including 27 hits, followed by Jacobi (.351, 27 hits). Others who have hit well are senior Kevin Wu (.328) and Zilli (.298).
If the Hawks defeated Old Bridge, they moved on to the quarterfinals May 18 at Community Park in East Brunswick to meet the winner of the game between top-seeded Monroe Township High School and 16th-seeded Metuchen High School.
J.P. Stevens is seeded 10th in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section II, Group IV sectional and will be on the road for a game to be played by May 23 against a higher-seeded opponent.
Edison
After playing near .500 baseball for most of the season, Edison has run off five wins in a row. The sixth-seeded Eagles were scheduled to face 22nd-seeded Perth Amboy High School in the GMC quarterfinals May 16 with the chance to move on to the quarterfinals, where they would face the winner of the game between third-seeded South Brunswick High School and 19th-seeded Piscataway Township High School May 18, which is also at Community Park.
Included in that streak were two regular-season victories over the Panthers, so head coach Vin Abene is hoping that’s a good omen.
Edison has earned the sixth seed in Central Jersey, Group IV, which means the Eagles will play their first state sectional tournament game at home by May 23 against an opponent to be determined.
“We have two players who have been stellar on defense all season, and that’s [senior catcher] Lenin Gomez and [senior shortstop] Mike Fogarty,” said Abene. “They are not hitting like we had hoped, but that does not lessen how valuable they have been to our team.”
Like J.P. Stevens, pitching has been outstanding. Seniors Brandon Radd (3-2), Justin Hernandez (2-1) and Kyle Telesnick (3-0) make up a rotation that has remained consistent throughout the season, while seniors Chris Decastro, Nick Peterson and John Zanfordino have been strong in relief.
The hitting has also been a bright spot. Radd (.545, 18 hits), Zanfordino (.516, 16 hits), Hernandez (.464, 13 hits) and Telesnick (.370, 10 hits) have been the main contributors.
“There have been no surprises [so far], and that’s because we have 13 seniors who have sacrificed to do what’s best for the program,” Abene said. “We know what to expect from them.”
Softball
In the GMC softball tournament, third-seeded J.P. Stevens advanced to the quarterfinals May 18 at South Plainfield High School by defeating 14th-seeded John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, 13-0, in a preliminary-round game. Fourth-seeded Bishop George Ahr High School was upset by 13th-seeded Woodbridge High School, 2-1. Edison and Metuchen were also eliminated in preliminary-round games.
The state softball tournament will begin with first-round games to be played by May 25. J.P. Stevens earned the third seed and will at home in the first round against an opponent to be determined in North Jersey, Section II, Group IV, while Metuchen received the seventh seed in Central Jersey, Group I and will likely be at home for the first round. Bishop Ahr is the fifth seed in South Jersey, Non-Public A, which assures the Trojans will meet their first-round opponent at home.