HOME OF THE CHARGERS

BISHOP AHR 9, SPOTSWOOD 1 Taylor makes adjustments for streaking Trojans Published in the Home News Tribune 04/27/05 Photo Galleries By GREG TUFARO STAFF WRITER The book Spotswood High School baseball coach Glenn Fredricks had on Justin Taylor was that the Bishop Ahr outfielder was strictly a pull hitter. After Taylor supported that thinking with a two-run homer to right that snapped a scoreless tie in the third inning, Fredricks put on an overshift for Taylor the next time the left-handed slugger came to the plate. "They had this Barry Bonds shift on," Taylor said, "where the left fielder was (practically) playing in center. There was a big gap in left field and (coach Scott Runkel) said, "Just wait on the ball a little bit longer and shoot it down the third-base line and you could get a double or a triple out of it.' " Taylor heeded Runkel's advice, driving an outside pitch the other way for a two-run, fourth-inning double that gave the Trojans a commanding four-run lead on the way to a 9-1 victory in a Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division showdown yesterday. "Good players are going to find ways to get it done and Taylor is a very good player," Fredricks said. "Sometimes they just say, "Hit it where they ain't.' That's what he did. If that kid uses all the fields, he is going to be twice as good as he is now." The victory was the fifth straight for the streaking Trojans (6-3), who pulled within a half game of division-leading Spotswood. The Chargers (10-2) had an eight-game winning streak snapped and the nine runs Bishop Ahr scored were the most against Spotswood all year. Spotswood stranded a season-high 13 runners, nine in scoring position. The only way the Chargers could get on the board was when Bishop Ahr pitchers walked four batters in the fifth to force home a run. Three consecutive walks at the start of that frame spelled the end for starter Steve Montalbano, a junior right-hander who scattered just two singles but walked six and hit a batter. Reliever Dave Slater, who issued one hit over the final three frames, worked out of the bases-loaded jam after issuing a run-scoring walk to Mike Dubovick. "The reason we average so many runs (10.3 per game) is because we get hits with runners in scoring position," Fredricks said. "On another day the score can be completely reversed." As Montalbano continued to pitch himself in and out of trouble — he forced Spotswood to strand two runners each of the first four innings — Fredricks said the Chargers began pressing. "Once you start leaving runners in scoring position," he said, "you start changing your approach at the plate and you are left with what you are left with. Nothing." While Spotswood struggled offensviely, Bishop Ahr made the most of its opportunities. In addition to Taylor's 2-for-4 performance, Lee Cavico had an RBI single while Joe Cruz and Eric Douglas each stroked RBI doubles. The Trojans scored a pair of insurance runs in the sixth on wild pitches. Bishop Ahr racked up 11 hits — seven off Spotswood ace Willie Beard — and smacked five hits for extra bases.