By Jeff Appelblatt
Middletown High School North’s baseball team could have still bathed a few steps outside of the visitors’ dugout at Marlboro High School, but the game on the field was all that mattered for the two teams in the first scrimmage of the year in Marlboro March 24.
The Mustangs hadn’t been able to host any games until that day after snow, ice and water covered the field following the rampant mid-month weather. Marlboro’s coach was happy to get a home game in before the regular season began.
“To get rid of the snow is great. We’ve been putting some frequent-flyer miles on going down to South Jersey,” head coach Jimmy Ferraro said, mentioning how his team went to the part of the state hit with less snow to get some games in.
As focused on the baseball season as Ferraro expects his players to be, he couldn’t compliment them enough on their willingness to balance travel with school work.
“These are student-athletes, so they’re still high school kids. We’ve made sure they’ve kept up with their school work,” the coach said. “Marlboro High School is not an easy school. It’s a very high academic school. And these kids are doing a real nice job maintaining their grades and putting all their work in with baseball. It’s not an easy thing for them to do.”
Since scrimmages have been minimal compared to the past, the coaches are still assessing their team, especially on the mound.
“Right now, we have nine guys competing for varsity [pitching],” Ferraro said after his team won its first home scrimmage, 6-4. “The three guys today threw very well.
“We’re trying to build up some arms. I think we have a lot of quantity, and we’re trying to figure out the best quality through that.”
The three who had a chance to throw against the Lions weren’t brand new to pitching. They just didn’t have a chance to do it at the varsity level last year.
“The one guy that started was hurt all last year. He didn’t throw at all,” Ferraro said about senior Will Kramer. “The other two guys, juniors Seth Goldstein and Matt Hahn, were on [junior varsity], and they did a real nice job today. They’re working for innings.”
Marlboro’s coach expects to see a strong season from his pitchers, despite the graduation of one of the club’s top arms from a year ago in Jeremy Dyzenhaus. He’s currently pitching for Rowan University.
“We lost our ace, Jeremy Dyzenhaus. He’s pitching now in college,” Marlboro’s coach said. “But between the two seniors, Jeremy Bello and Noah Hutter, I don’t think the team will lose a beat. I think we’ll miss a leader in Jeremy Dyzenhaus, but there are some younger kids that are stepping up and taking that role.”
If his pitchers can remain strong, Ferraro sees no reason why his team won’t be able to match or improve on last year’s 13-win campaign.
“We had a good season last year. We climbed into the playoffs in the Shore Conference, the Monmouth County Tournament, [were] again in the states,” the coach said. “We’re looking for another good season.”
The Mustangs will squeeze in another few scrimmages before it kicks off the regular season at 4 p.m. Apr. 3 at home against local rival Freehold Township High School.
Last season, Marlboro won each time the teams faced off, 3-0 and 4-3.