Announcement
CHARGERS KEEP ON DANCING
Home News Tribune Online 06/3/07
By GREG TUFARO
STAFF WRITER
gtufaro@thnt.com
EAST BRUNSWICK — Willie Beard's fastball had plenty of pop and his curve was breaking sharply as he warmed up prior to Saturday's Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final.
But by the time the senior right-hander, who had surrendered just one hit in 14 previous GMCT innings, took the mound at East Brunswick Tech, his heater was flat and his deuce was hanging.
"When I was warming up in the bullpen it seemed like I was throwing all right," Beard said. "When I came out on the mound I didn't feel bad, but it just wasn't there. My curveball wasn't getting over at first and my fastball started to slow down."
Pitching on three days rest for the first time all season, Beard threw 136 pitches and got some much-needed offensive support from his teammates while gutting out a 7-6 victory over J.P. Stevens that carred the top-seeded Spotswood High School baseball team to its first GMCT championship.
The milestone came less than 24 hours after the Chargers claimed their first sectional title — a Central Group II crown — with a 1-0 victory over Somerville. In between championships, every starter on the team, except Beard and freshman shortstop Cody Pace, attended Spotswood's Senior Prom on Friday night.
"It's been unreal," Spotswood coach Glenn Fredricks said. "It took 30 years to get here and we won a sectional and a county title within a 24-hour span. Plus, they had to do a little dancing (in between)."
The Chargers, who ran themselves out of two potential rallies earlier in the game, finally remembered how to dance around the bases when they sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run, fifth-inning rally. The outburst erased a 3-1 deficit and chased Hawks ace Doug Wislinski.
J.P. Stevens coach Dave Marzano contemplated pulling Wislinski (6-4) before the damage was done, but the fifth-year mentor had seen his senior right-hander escape jams so many times before, he was just waiting for him to perform another Houdini act.
"I thought about it," Marzano said of pulling Wislinski, who left the game after throwing 100 pitches. "Doug's been able to work out of jams throughout the season and I had a lot of confidence that he would be able to get us out of this one."
While the Hawks had played long ball to build their 3-1 lead — a two-run homer from John Stillitano in the third and a solo blast from Anthony Montalbano in the fifth — Spotswood chipped away for all of its runs.
"As long as we stayed patient, like we always do, the second or third time around (the order) I knew we were going to get to him," Fredricks said, "and this time it just happened to be the third time around. We are the kind of club that just waits for the big inning and that's what happened today."
The Chargers (24-4) strung together three straight singles to take a 1-0 lead in the second. They parlayed five singles and four walks into their six-run rally for a 7-3 lead. Designated hitter Mike Collins' two-run single snapped a 3-3 tie. Spina's second RBI single of the game and Brian Curci's bases-loaded walk off reliever Connor Medler produced two paramount insurance runs. Medler worked out of the bind with a 5-2-3 double play.
J.P. Stevens rallied in the seventh, loading the bases with one away before Brad Newman closed the gap to 7-4 on a run-scoring fielder's choice groundout. Mike Zinno followed with a two-run single as the Hawks closed to 7-6. With Zinno on first and two away, Dan Belowich struck out looking on three straight pitches, including Beard's 136th of the game, as the Spotswood ace was finally able to escape the jam.
"I'm sure pitching on three days rest affected me but I'm not going to make an excuse like that," said Beard, who improved to 11-1 and was named Tournament MVP with his third straight GMCT victory. "My stuff just wasn't there today and I had to battle through. The team just backed me up. They were awesome."
Beard, who will attend Rutgers University on a baseball scholarship, fanned seven to surpass South Amboy's Brian Seres as the GMC's leader with 107 strikeouts on the season. He scattered eight hits, walked three and hit a batter.
"To look up at Willie in the second inning knowing that he didn't have his stuff, I still know that it was Willie on the mound," Fredricks said, "and no matter how many runs he was going to give up, we were going to score more. He didn't have his good fastball and he didn't have any of his breaking stuff, but that's the kind of player Willie is. He's going to gut it out and make sure this team wins."
Jesse Sattler went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for the 11th-seeded Hawks (14-12), whose bottom of the order let them down. J.P. Stevens' last three hitters went a combined 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.
Spotswood (24-4), which had six different players score at least one run, will play Sterling in the state Group II semifinals 4 p.m. Tuesday at New Egypt High School.
Home News Tribune Online 06/3/07
By GREG TUFARO
STAFF WRITER
gtufaro@thnt.com
EAST BRUNSWICK — Willie Beard's fastball had plenty of pop and his curve was breaking sharply as he warmed up prior to Saturday's Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final.
But by the time the senior right-hander, who had surrendered just one hit in 14 previous GMCT innings, took the mound at East Brunswick Tech, his heater was flat and his deuce was hanging.
"When I was warming up in the bullpen it seemed like I was throwing all right," Beard said. "When I came out on the mound I didn't feel bad, but it just wasn't there. My curveball wasn't getting over at first and my fastball started to slow down."
Pitching on three days rest for the first time all season, Beard threw 136 pitches and got some much-needed offensive support from his teammates while gutting out a 7-6 victory over J.P. Stevens that carred the top-seeded Spotswood High School baseball team to its first GMCT championship.
The milestone came less than 24 hours after the Chargers claimed their first sectional title — a Central Group II crown — with a 1-0 victory over Somerville. In between championships, every starter on the team, except Beard and freshman shortstop Cody Pace, attended Spotswood's Senior Prom on Friday night.
"It's been unreal," Spotswood coach Glenn Fredricks said. "It took 30 years to get here and we won a sectional and a county title within a 24-hour span. Plus, they had to do a little dancing (in between)."
The Chargers, who ran themselves out of two potential rallies earlier in the game, finally remembered how to dance around the bases when they sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run, fifth-inning rally. The outburst erased a 3-1 deficit and chased Hawks ace Doug Wislinski.
J.P. Stevens coach Dave Marzano contemplated pulling Wislinski (6-4) before the damage was done, but the fifth-year mentor had seen his senior right-hander escape jams so many times before, he was just waiting for him to perform another Houdini act.
"I thought about it," Marzano said of pulling Wislinski, who left the game after throwing 100 pitches. "Doug's been able to work out of jams throughout the season and I had a lot of confidence that he would be able to get us out of this one."
While the Hawks had played long ball to build their 3-1 lead — a two-run homer from John Stillitano in the third and a solo blast from Anthony Montalbano in the fifth — Spotswood chipped away for all of its runs.
"As long as we stayed patient, like we always do, the second or third time around (the order) I knew we were going to get to him," Fredricks said, "and this time it just happened to be the third time around. We are the kind of club that just waits for the big inning and that's what happened today."
The Chargers (24-4) strung together three straight singles to take a 1-0 lead in the second. They parlayed five singles and four walks into their six-run rally for a 7-3 lead. Designated hitter Mike Collins' two-run single snapped a 3-3 tie. Spina's second RBI single of the game and Brian Curci's bases-loaded walk off reliever Connor Medler produced two paramount insurance runs. Medler worked out of the bind with a 5-2-3 double play.
J.P. Stevens rallied in the seventh, loading the bases with one away before Brad Newman closed the gap to 7-4 on a run-scoring fielder's choice groundout. Mike Zinno followed with a two-run single as the Hawks closed to 7-6. With Zinno on first and two away, Dan Belowich struck out looking on three straight pitches, including Beard's 136th of the game, as the Spotswood ace was finally able to escape the jam.
"I'm sure pitching on three days rest affected me but I'm not going to make an excuse like that," said Beard, who improved to 11-1 and was named Tournament MVP with his third straight GMCT victory. "My stuff just wasn't there today and I had to battle through. The team just backed me up. They were awesome."
Beard, who will attend Rutgers University on a baseball scholarship, fanned seven to surpass South Amboy's Brian Seres as the GMC's leader with 107 strikeouts on the season. He scattered eight hits, walked three and hit a batter.
"To look up at Willie in the second inning knowing that he didn't have his stuff, I still know that it was Willie on the mound," Fredricks said, "and no matter how many runs he was going to give up, we were going to score more. He didn't have his good fastball and he didn't have any of his breaking stuff, but that's the kind of player Willie is. He's going to gut it out and make sure this team wins."
Jesse Sattler went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored for the 11th-seeded Hawks (14-12), whose bottom of the order let them down. J.P. Stevens' last three hitters went a combined 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.
Spotswood (24-4), which had six different players score at least one run, will play Sterling in the state Group II semifinals 4 p.m. Tuesday at New Egypt High School.
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