Anderson, Lukacs were impressive
By: Rudy Brandl
Manville High baseball coach Steve Venuto felt a sense of satisfaction after his team finished the 2005 campaign with a 13-6 record. The veteran skipper always strives for a winning record and an appearance in the state playoffs and his boys reached both of those goals this spring.
Although the MHS season ended with a tough 3-0 loss at New Providence, that defeat came in the second round of the state playoffs, not a meaningless regular season game. New Providence wound up winning the Central Jersey Group 1 sectional championship, giving the Mustangs a little more fodder for their solid season resume.
"Overall, it was a good season," said Venuto, whose team bolted to a 7-1 start and earned a first-round bye in the Somerset County Tournament. "We lost to the team that ended up winning it, so that’s an accomplishment. We played a good game, but we made a couple of mistakes that hurt us."
New Providence defeated Dayton another Manville nemesis in a slugfest for the sectional title. Dayton swept the Mustangs in two regular season games to repeat as Valley Division champs. Manville put a scare into New Providence, which was expecting a runaway victory.
Great pitching kept the Mustangs in the game at New Providence and made them a solid team all season. The 1-2 punch of seniors Ernie Lukacs and Steve Anderson accounted for 12 of the team’s victories. Both senior right-handers compiled six victories to lead the team.
"We had good pitching," Venuto said. "Steve and Ernie did a nice job with strikeouts and not walking people. They were workhorses. When you have two kids like that, you have to ride them as long as you can."
The pitching numbers were quite impressive. Lukacs (6-3) threw strikes to an amazing 79-4 ratio of strikeouts to walks, while Anderson (6-2) wasn’t far behind at 78-8. That’s a plus-145 for two pitchers in a two-month season.
Lukacs fired a shutout in the team’s 3-0 state playoff victory over Perth Amboy Vo-Tech and finished with a staff-leading 2.00 ERA. He led the staff with 56 innings pitched and was the winner on the day Manville won its first state playoff game in seven years.
"That was nice for the kids," Venuto said. "It was a home game on a beautiful day. We played flawless defense and we got a nice pitching performance."
Lukacs capped his fine two-year varsity mound career with a shutout, a fitting way for the lanky right-hander to go out.
"Ernie got taller, stronger and more knowledgeable with pitching," Venuto said. "It was good to see how he grew and developed into a nice high school pitcher."
Anderson pitched brilliantly in the 3-0 loss at New Providence and finished with a 2.48 ERA. He also led the Mustangs with some monster offensive numbers, including a team-best .519 average, .731 slugging percentage, two triples and 19 RBI.
"Steve is the last of the 2003 conference championship team," Venuto said. "He was the only guy left from that team. After all these years of the Anderson family (including older brother John), it’s sad to see him go."
Venuto’s biggest issue for next spring will be developing new starting pitchers. He gave the ball to Robert Wood, Kyle Sopko and Tommy Rock a few times during the season but all three will have to step up for many more innings in 2006.
"It’s going to be interesting and challenging," Venuto said. "I have to develop a whole new pitching staff. That will be the key."
Two years ago, Venuto had no idea that Lukacs would emerge as the quality pitcher he became in his junior and senior years. Lukacs didn’t even pitch varsity as a sophomore. There could be more surprises in the MHS program.
"Kids can surprise you in year," Venuto said. "You never know what will happen."
Six seniors will graduate from the 2005 Mustangs Anderson, Lukacs, third baseman Scott Petzinger (.234), first baseman/designated hitter Greg Babich (.318, 10 RBI), outfielder/first baseman Mike Chabra (.323) and Greg Fabiyan. Several starters are eligible to return, including catcher Jeff Opachinski (.281 average, team-leading five doubles), second baseman Kyle Sopko (.180), shortstop Robert Wood (.180), left fielder Tommy Rock (.382 average, 13 RBI, team-leading two home runs and 18 runs scored) and center fielder Pat Horner. Andrew Schaefer and Jack Calvo also earned varsity letters this spring.
"We had a great season," Anderson said. "It was a very good team. We had a lot of good players."
The Mustangs will compete in the Valley Division for one more year before making the big step to the Skyland Conference, where they will compete against a different group of schools. The regular season won’t include as many easy games but none of the teams will be any tougher than this year’s New Providence or Dayton squads. Venuto plans to keep his program rolling into the future after another positive winning season.
"I’m definitely satisfied with the season," Venuto said. "It was nice to make the playoffs. The team is going in the right direction. We have to keep it going until we get in the Skyland Conference."