By Warren Rappleyea
With five wins in its first seven games, North Brunswick Township High School’s summer baseball team is off to a strong start.
The youthful Raiders are coming off a 9-14 varsity campaign during which the squad’s overall inexperience showed, but the team’s talent enabled North Brunswick to be competitive even in most of its losses.
Coach Ryan Lillis’ summer squad features a handful of varsity players, including senior Justin Garcia, who played shortstop but is in the process of moving to second base. As a junior, he hit .356 with 16 RBIs, and the coach is looking for Garcia to be even more of a force at the plate in the future.
Other varsity players include left-handed pitcher Eric Vasquez, who won three times in the spring. The senior, who also plays first base and the outfield, is expected to be the Raiders’ ace next season. Junior righty Danny Reardon also saw some varsity innings. Sophomore catcher Damien Ortiz, who had a home run in 18 varsity at-bats, and versatile Andrew Tan, who got to the plate 38 times in the spring, are also back for the summer. Tan caught most of last year but will likely play the infield going forward.
“We’re carrying 17 players because a lot of our guys are also playing on travel teams,” Lillis said. “One of the things we’re concentrating on is versatility. If a guy is second-best at his position, he needs to be able to play somewhere else to get in the lineup. It’s always good for a guy to be able play more than one position.”
This far, North Brunswick has picked up victories against Bishop George Ahr High School, East Brunswick High School, Old Bridge High School, Sayreville War Memorial High School and Middlesex High School.
The Raiders’ roster also includes seniors Ryan Breheney, a strong candidate for the varsity second base job, and outfielder Joe Caliguari. They are both seniors.
The junior contingent includes pitchers John Kuchler, lefty Mike Scimone and Steven Mihalenko, who also plays both corner infield positions. Outfielders Nick Dohn and Jadus Spann and infielder Akshad Thirugnanam are also juniors. Sophomores include pitcher Aaron Yuhas, catcher Alex Bursac and infielders Josh DeAndrea and Sean Breheney, who can play in the outfield as well.
“We have a good amount of pitchers, so I’m trying to get them all innings,” Lillis said. “Yuhas threw a complete game, but he was very economical with his pitches. For the most part, I’m looking to split games up by giving guys two or three innings each.”
Lillis said Ray Lepski, formerly North Brunswick’s freshman coach and now a varsity assistant, is making most of the game decisions on the bench, and John Suk, a volunteer assistant, is also helping out.
“We’re all watching,” Lillis said. “We want to see how our players respond to different situations and who makes an impression.”