By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
The culmination of four terrific seasons with the Hillsborough High School baseball program came with Brandon Young’s selection to the New Jersey Scholastic Baseball Coaches All-Star Game.
”It was a great honor,” said Young, the Raiders senior shortstop. “I’ve seen the game a couple years. It was always a goal to reach it as a senior. I’ve seen it from the past couple players from the team to make it and all the people there. It was really great.”
Young was a big part of the Central all-star team that was a 19-7 winner over the Northeast team last Wednesday at Diamond Nation in Flemington. He finished 3-for-4, including a double, knocked in a run and walked and started at his usual shortstop position.
”When I was on the field, I was looking at each position, and from each team we played this year, it was one of their best guys,” Young said. “It was awesome.”
It took him a bit to get used to lining up alongside rival Montgomery High’s second baseman and Hillsborough’s other former opponents from the Skyland Conference and Somerset County.
”It was so fun being on that team,” Young said. “It was kind of cool being on the same side as them. (Ridge pitcher J.B.) Cole, who started, he beat us in the county championship, and now I was behind him.”
The Central team had plenty of star power, and Young fit right in with them. He was a leader for the Raiders, one who played a big part in Hillsborough’s success during his career.
”I think he’s one of the best shortstops in New Jersey,” said Hillsborough head coach Norm Hewitt. “He’s played four years for us. He really came on toward the end of the year with his hitting. His defense and the overall play, he’s really a sharp kid. He really solidified our team up the middle. We had Tyler Ferretti at catcher, Brandon at short, Mackey Price at second, and (Dylan) Zebro in center. I thought Brandon did an excellent job all year as a leader. He was our captain. I saw a lot of maturity in Brandon, on and off the field.”
Young’s selection to the all-star game was a reward for his season, which got better as his hitting developed over the year.
”I started off in the second hole, and I struggled,” Young said. “He moved me down to the six hole. I was seeing a lot of offspeed stuff in the two hole and I couldn’t get in a groove. When I saw fastballs, I started to pick it up and hit a lot better.
”I’m still improving,” he added. “I just started getting in the groove at the end of the year. It’s carried in to now. Now is when I’ve felt the best. I feel better now than even during the season.”
It showed in the all-star game when he recorded three hits against a bevy of top-notch pitchers.
”I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Young said of his offensive showing. “They changed the pitcher every inning, so it was always someone throwing fresh, throwing hard. Sometimes I didn’t do as well against slow guys this year. Against fast guys, it took out the thinking and I just hit. I think that helped me too.”
Young’s hitting has come around steadily through the years. He has developed into a better hitter to make himself a more complete player.
”When I started off as a freshman, I was small and skinny,” Young said. “I was mainly a defensive player. As the years have gone on, gradually I’ve gotten stronger and become a better hitter.”
Young didn’t have to worry as much about his defense. Even as a freshman at HHS, his defense had been there.
”I pride myself on my defense,” he said. “I beg for the ball to be hit to me. I want to get it and throw it from any angle.”
The all-star game appearance was a chance for Young to demonstrate just how much he had meant to the Raiders over his career. The four years went quickly for him, and too quick for HHS, which was excited to see him represent the team so well.
”He had an opportunity to show his stuff,” Hewitt said. “Without him, the last three or four years, we’re an entirely different ball club. We’re going to miss him. To have a kid like him for four years, you almost take him for granted, like he’ll be there forever.”
Instead, Hewitt will send Young not too far away to Kean University, where Young will join a program that won 30 games for the seventh straight year and has established itself as one of the best Division III teams in the country under head coach Neil Ioviero.
”Neal and I have been friends for many, many years,” Hewitt said. “I think Brandon will fit right in his program. We’re pretty parallel.”
Young is looking forward to the next big baseball opportunity.
”The next big thing that I have to do is I have to lift and work out and get stronger,” Young said. “The pitching is like facing the best pitcher from a high school team every day. It’s not like you can take a day off. The biggest challenge and the thing I’ll have to step up for, is seeing good pitching every single day.”
Young is preparing this summer on the diamond while playing with some HHS teammates on the Flemington Legion squad. Young joins Zebro, Matt Calamoneri, Gary Lavoie, Adam Rind and Mike Villegas as Hillsborough players on a team that also has top players from Immaculata and Hunterdon Central. They began the league with a promising 4-0 start.
It’s like playing with another all-star team for Young, though playing in the top New Jersey all-star game was an experience that can’t be topped. It’s an experience that Brandon Young will remember as he looks to move on after a stellar career for the Raiders team. The all-star game was a perfect union of being selected as a top representative from HHS and getting a sneak peek at the next level at the same time.
”I think definitely being around the caliber of players you were, it makes you raise your level,” Young said. “It’s like college. Every player is there for a reason. The game was faster. It was more flowing. There weren’t as many errors. It was more crisp.”
