Chargers run out of magic in sectional final
Surprising Bishop Ahr team reaches state final
BY RICHARD JEROME
Staff Writer

Above, Spotswood's Mike Kohman fires the ball to first base during the Chargers' loss to Governor Livingston on Friday in Spotswood. Below, Matt Zimmerman reaches back to make the catch in foul territory.

This year's Spotswood High School baseball team continued to establish the program as a force to be reckoned with in the area, with a 19-5-1 record and a title bid in the state sectionals.

The Chargers fell, 6-1, to Governor Livingston in the finals, but coach Glenn Fredricks is nothing but pleased with their performance.

"It was a great season," said Fredricks, who has led the team to a 37-14-1 record in his two-year tenure. "The end was a little disappointing, but considering that everyone wrote us off in March, it was very satisfying. One of our goals was to make it to the state finals, and we did that. Another was to win our fourth straight GMC Blue Division title, and we did that as well."

One of the keys to the Chargers' success this spring was balance. The batting order was strong from top to bottom, but it didn't end there.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff

"It was a chemistry thing," Fredricks said. "We might not have hit a point in the season when we were running on all cylinders, but whenever one aspect of our game faltered, another one picked up to carry us. At different times our hitting, pitching and even the defense were taking over."

Spotswood saw some outstanding individual efforts during the campaign and, happily for Fredricks, many of those performers will be back next year, including Blue Division Player of the Year Willie Beard, a junior who went 8-2 on the mound, led the county with 97 strikeouts in 60 innings, and has attracted a great deal of attention from NCAA Division I colleges.

Not only that, but SHS has the entire middle of the field returning, starting with junior Mike Hohman, the all-county second baseman, a defensive wizard who moved over from shortstop this season. Hohman batted a lusty .488 and served as the catalyst at the top of the order, scoring 39 runs, breaking a 14-year-old record, and rapping out 38 hits. As if that were not enough, he went 5-3 as the No. 2 pitcher, including a 3-2 victory over Rumson that vaulted Spotswood into the sectional finale.

JEFF GRANIT staff Bishop Ahr players greet Matt Rodriguez after his two-run home run gave the Trojans a 4-2 lead in Friday's sectional semifinal win over CBA in Middletown. The Trojans went on to beat St. Augustine, 16-15, on Tuesday to advance to Saturday's Parochial A championship game in Toms River.

"He's the best fielder around and he's really grown into the role of a leader," said his coach.

Hohman's middle infield partner, junior John Michael Berner, led Middlesex County with eight home runs and drove in 30 runs, Fredricks notes that he seemed to improve with every game. Behind the plate, Anthony Addone emerged as a "budding star," according to Fredricks.

"We're not great at holding runners on, but Anthony has such a great quick-release that he cuts them down on the bases," he said. "He doesn't have the traditional cannon arm, but he's extremely accurate, which is very important in high school. And on our team, Hohman and Berner can handle anything close to the bag."

Continuing the up-the-middle contingent, center fielder Phil Spina, a fine defensive man, is also coming back.

Perhaps the most promising development of the spring was the emergence of freshman right fielder Joe Petosa, who put up some precocious numbers: a .470 batting average, with four homers and 25 RBIs. Fredricks says it wasn't entirely surprising that Petosa did well - he'd shown great talent while working with the team last summer.

"We knew what we had then," he said. "But it was wonderful to see how quickly Joey made the adjustment to varsity ball."

There will be some losses to graduation. First sacker and senior captain Rob Thuring, a fine leader adjusting to a new position, gave the Chargers plenty of punch at the bottom of the order, posting a .431 batting mark with a pair of homers. Gone, too, are third baseman Bryan May, who hit .405 and proved a major presence in the middle of the order; and fleet Garrett Andren, a senior captain with an excellent bat.

"He runs, hits, moves runners over," said Fredricks. "He was on the champion cross country team. He is a great athlete. He'll be sorely missed."

On a brighter note, soph C.J. Mooney (.280) will step into the first-base role, and another sophomore, T.J. Snook, should be a force on the mound. He already impressed with a big win over Highland Park, coming in with the team down 9-7 and shutting the Owls down, while his mates fought back to a 16-9 triumph.

Two other hurlers are departing: Mark Fahy, whose 3-0 record included a 13-3 victory over JFK that gave SHS the Blue crown; and Dan Savage, who finished his high school career with a 9-0 record.

Fredricks, who was named Blue Division co-coach of the year by his colleagues, was assisted by Matt Ardizzone, Dan Fredricks (his brother), Dale Rubino and frosh coach John Walsh.

"They're great people," Fredricks said. "I've been blessed."

Trojans one win away from state

championship

The Bishop Ahr Trojans certainly peaked at the right time.

Playing their best ball of the season, the Trojans rolled through the Non-Public South A bracket, knocking off top seed CBA in the semifinals, 4-2, before taking care of second-seeded St. Augus-tine, 16-15, on Tuesday in the sectional final.

Next up for Ahr is Seton Hall Prep, the North A champions who beat Immaculata, 5-0, on Tuesday. That game is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Toms River East.

In a game that saw a combined 31 runs, 22 hits, 19 walks and over 30 pitches, it was the Trojans that finally prevailed on Tuesday, when Eric Avila found a way to get the final out in the seventh, after giving up four runs to get the Hermits within one.

It certainly wasn't a pitcher's duel, as the Trojans jumped on St. Augustine pitching throughout, led by Jeff Lancey (3-for-4, five RBIs), Eric Douglas (2-for-4, four RBIs), Lee Cavico (2-for-3, three runs scored) and Matt Rodriguez (1-for-2, three walks, two RBIs), among others.

But a win is a win, and head coach Scott Runkel and his team were as excited as they were relieved following Tuesday's ending.

"We know how explosive they can be," Runkel said. "This is an extremely tough section, and for us to be where we are right now has us really ecstatic."

Tuesday's game couldn't have been any more different from the Trojans' previous win over CBA, ranked second in the state coming in.

The Trojans advanced to the title game behind the arm of Steve Montalbano, and the timely hitting of Lee Cavico and Matt Rodriguez in a 4-2 win over CBA.

Montalbano went the distance and allowed just three hits over seven innings. He walked just three and fanned four to improve his record to 5-4 on the season. Facing what many believed to be one of the state's top teams, Montalbano shut down his share of high-powered CBA hitters.

"He's been up and down this season, but he had it all working against CBA," Bishop Ahr head coach Scott Runkel said. "He got ahead in counts, kept the ball down, and the defense did a good job behind him. We made a lot of tough defensive plays, and Steve was certainly on top of his game."

Cavico swung a hot stick going 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI double, which gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Rodriguez belted a two-out, two-run dinger over the 385-foot sign in center field in the sixth inning off CBA ace Jordan Warncke. Warncke came into the contest with a 7-1 record and an ERA of 0.94. Four runs proved to be plenty for Montalbano.

"Matt's homer was a shot that traveled well beyond the center-field wall," Runkel said. "It had to travel over 400 feet. We've played some of these state powerhouses to close finishes, but it's nice to finally beat them.

"We've now won five in a row and we feel we're peeking at the right time," he said. "Our hitting went away for a little while but it has come around again, and with our consistency on the mound we feel we can compete with anybody."