BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
When Brett Brach announced that he was going to attend Monmouth University to play baseball, no one was more pleased than his older brother Brad Brach.
Brad was already at Monmouth and an established starter for the Hawks. He looked forward to helping his younger brother make the adjustment from high school to Division I-A baseball, as well as being teammates once again like they were at Freehold Township High School.
Thus far on the baseball diamond, their roles have been reversed, with freshman Brett Brach in the role of the Hawks’ closer. The righty helped brother Brad, now a junior, pick up his first win of the season, a 5-2 victory over Navy in Annapolis, Md. Brad went seven innings and fanned seven while allowing just three hits. Brett pitched the final two innings of the game in relief, fanning three and allowing no runs. It was his second save of the young season.
Brett had already earned NEC Rookie of the Week honors during the Hawks’ first week in Florida. In long relief, he got his first career win when the Hawks beat the University of Central Florida, 7-4. He pitched four scoreless innings to get the win. He recorded his first save for the Hawks in their 13-4 win over UCF as Monmouth opened its season, taking two-of-three from the Florida regional power.
Monmouth, which has been working its way up the coast from Florida, played its first home game yesterday when Iona came to West Long Branch. It was the start of a five-game home stand for coach Dean Ehehalt’s Hawks. St. Peter’s comes calling today at 3 p.m., and Vermont makes a stop at Monmouth for a three-game weekend series that begins with a double-header on Saturday (noon and 3 p.m.) and a game on Sunday (noon).
The Hawks are off to a 4-4-1 start.
Brad Brach, who led the NEC in earned run average last year at 2.44, has been outstanding. In his two starts, he has a 0.84 earned run average. The strong right-hander has struck out 10 in 10.2 innings of work. Teams are batting just .205 against the ex-Patriot, who set a Monmouth school record in 2006 with 82 strikeouts.
Brett Brach is pitching to a 1.00 ERA with four appearances. He has nine K’s in his nine innings of work down South.
Ryan Buch (Yardley, Pa.), a freshman like Brett Brach, and sophomore Nick Meyers (East Brunswick) have picked up the other wins for the Hawks and have solid ERAs. Brett is pitching to a 1.23 and Meyers, 3.00.
Monmouth’s team ERA is 3.89.
Senior Matt Coulson (Freehold Borough) provides a lefty in the starting rotation. He is one of three Brookdale Community College players on the roster.
Justin Esposito (Middletown North), who helped BCC get to the Junior College World Series last year, is one of the big additions to the pitching staff. The righty has appeared in three games and has a 3.38 ERA.
Senior Mike Reagle (Sterling), also a lefty, has the team’s other save.
Monmouth has been averaging more than five runs a game with several players off to torrid starts.
Kyle Higgins, a junior infielder from Watchung Hills, is batting .439 with 18 hits in 41 at-bats. He’s scored nine runs and has driven in five. He has two doubles and a triple.
Mike Casale (Toms River North) is right behind at .429 and slugging .571. The sophomore infielder also has a pair of doubles and one triple. He’s second on the team in RBIs with eight.
Shawn Teters (Springdale, Ark.), a junior outfielder, is batting .375 and leads the team with 10 runs scored.
Kyle Messineo (Cedar Grove), a senior outfielder, is batting .368, while junior first baseman Andy Meyers (Sterling) leads the team in RBIs with nine. He’s slugging at .521 with three doubles and the team’s only home run. He’s also scored eight runs. Messineo has a .567 on-base percentage and leads the running attack with nine stolen bases in 10 attempts. Monmouth has 18 stolen bases in 23 attempts as a team.
The Hawks were picked to finish fourth in the Northeast Conference in the preseason poll of the conference’s coaches. The Hawks return 19 letter-winners from last year’s team that went 27-22, but collapsed late in the season and failed to make the NEC tournament for the first time in eight years.
Returners Rick Niederhaus, a sophomore first baseman, and Brad Brach were All-NEC in 2006. Brad Brach was 7-3 leading the conference in ERA and setting the college’s single-season strikeout record. Niederhaus, the only freshman on the NEC team, batted .383 with 28 RBIs.
Monmouth begins its NEC schedule next month in Emmitsburg, Md., with a four-game set against Mount St. Mary’s April 5-7.