By Mike White
Staff Writer
JACKSON — Despite getting off to a slow start, the Jackson Jaguars American Legion baseball team remains optimistic that its 2003 campaign can still culminate in success.
"We’ve suffered a couple of tough losses to begin the year," said Jackson coach Ken Sims, who recently finished his first year as head coach of the Jackson High School varsity squad. "The competition in this league ranges from team to team. But when you are playing teams from Brick, Toms River and Southern, you are never going to be facing a pushover. We’re confident that our level of play will pick up as the season progresses."
Jackson opened the season with a 3-1 loss to Central Regional. Jackson High School junior Bruce Reibis went 3-for-4 to lead the Jags. Teammate Carmine Vetrano finished with a pair of hits as Jackson dropped the season opener.
"Reibis was his usual, steady self," Sims said. "He hit the ball real well for us. He is coming off a fantastic high school season. We expect he is going to continue to hit well."
In addition to his contributions with the bat, Reibis is slated to pitch a number of games this summer. He is one of the team’s best hurlers.
Jackson jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Brick, but it wasn’t enough. Brick rallied for three runs to escape with a narrow 3-2 victory to drop the Jags to 0-2 on the year.
"Losing that game hurt," Sims said. "We let that one get away from us. We got great pitching from our starter that day. We could have hit the ball a little bit better."
Jackson junior Pete Doherty tossed five innings before leaving. Doherty gave up two runs, scattered five hits and struck out five.
"He did a real nice job," Sims said. "He struck out the side in the first inning and had good control of his pitches. He was ahead in the count most of the time he was in there. He figures to be a key component to our high school team next year."
Scott Marshall had two hits for Jackson. Reibis and Doherty each poked RBI singles in the first inning to give the Jags an early two-run lead.
Jackson is scheduled to play three games later this week. The Jags host Southern Thursday, then travel to Toms River East Friday and Point Pleasant Beach Saturday. Getting the season underway has been difficult with the bad weather.
"It’s been a crazy start to the season with all the rain-outs," Sims said. "Hopefully, we get good weather this week so we can try and catch up."
Jackson will play an 18-game schedule in the Ocean County League. Playoffs begin in mid July, with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
Other members of the Jackson roster include Dan Morvay (catcher), Chris McBride (OF), Tim Doherty (OF), Bill Fenimore (IF), Matt Kasperavicius (OF), Mike Olszuk (P), Andrew Pennella (P), Guy Passarelli (IF/OF), John Riso (P), Joe Schroeder (OF), Tom Schuster (catcher/IF) and Nick Valentino (OF).
"The idea is to get the guys who are going to be playing with us next year a chance to get some at-bats and play in real games," Sims said. "We have a lot of young guys on this squad. This experience is going to benefit them in the long run. You’re allowed to have players who are graduating seniors on the team, but we didn’t put any on our squad. We wanted to get these guys as much playing time as possible."