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HOHMAN, BEARD HONORED BY G.M.C.
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ -
by the prof

The hardware keeps coming!  With All-State and All-Area honors still on the horizon, 2 Charger all time greats recieved awards during last night G.M.C. Senior All Star Game at East Brunswick Vo-Tech.

Voted by the Greater Middlesex Conference Coaches Association and sponsored by the Baseball Warehouse, pitcher Will Beard and 2nd Baseman Michael Hohman won the Cy Young and MVP awards for the Conference.....the first clean sweep of the awards by teammates-ever!

Hohman will play for the defending NCAA DIII national champions next year at Kean University, while Beard will play for the defending Big East Champion Rutgers Scarlet Knights for 2008.  Both players leave behind unforgettable legacies along with their teammates from the class of 2007. 

Good luck and congratulations to "Little" Mikey Hohman and "Sweet" Willie Beard.
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Spotswood adds Group II title to cap dream season
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

 

Four-for-four. That's a heck of a day on a baseball diamond.It's even better when you're talking about an entire season.

The Spotswood High School baseball team finished 4-for-4 on the year by completing a championship sweep on Saturday, capturing the Group II title to go along with their GMC Blue Division crown, their GMC Tournament title and the Central Jersey Group II championship they won earlier this postseason.

And they did it in a most impressive way, winning both their Group II semifinal and final match-ups via the mercy rule.

In Saturday's final, it was Indian Hills that was the unfortunate victim, as the young Braves made some costly mistakes early on en route to an 11-1 defeat at the hands of the state's hottest team.

 

"Like I told you before the game, I knew that they were pretty young, and that in a situation of that magnitude, having my guys that I've been through the ringer with, I knew it was our day," Spotswood manager Glenn Fredericks said.

With a 26-4 final mark, the Chargers established themselves as a powerhouse in every sense of the word, combining a lights-out pitching staff with a potent lineup, one through nine (only one starter had an average below .300 for the year), and a strong defensive cast in the field.

The result was a seemingly unlikely run through the postseason - unless, of course, you spoke with Fredericks before the season began.

Fredericks said from the very beginning that this was a special team, citing the fact that many of the team's players have been playing together, and winning together at various levels, since they were 9-year-olds.

 

And all that playing time together led to this - the perfect finish to a historic season.

On Saturday, it didn't take long for the Chargers to announce their intentions.

Spotswood, who threw their ace, Rutgers-bound Willie Beard, at Indian Hills, came out exactly the way they left off in the semifinals - red hot. The Chargers immediately put a two-spot on the board in the top of the first off starter Ryan Furbeck, who entered the game with impressive numbers (7-1, 2.30 ERA).

"Our first three hitters crushed the ball," Fredericks said. "Their pitcher,

Furbeck, was pretty confident that he would shut us down, but after the third hitter smacked the ball in the gap, I knew we had his number.

"I told the guys to get me three runs," he added. "I didn't know they'd give me 11. It was Willie's day, and once we got two, I thought we had it."

With Beard cruising through the first three innings, Furbeck got through the second inning before the wheels came off for the Braves in the top of the third.

Mike Hohman led off the inning with a walk, then advanced on a wild pitch. Anthony Addone then singled to put runners on the corner, stole second, and scored, along with Hohman, when the throw to second got past both the second baseman and center fielder.

That play included the first two of six eventual errors in the inning that put the game away.

After John Michael Berner walked, he stole second following a fly-out, on a hit-and-run play with Mike Collins at the plate. Collins hit the ball right into the hole at shortstop, putting runners on the corners again. Collins then stole second, and in a play that Yogi Berra would have called "déjà vu all over again," the ball was thrown away again, allowing Berner to score.

C.J. Mooney then made it 7-0 with a two-run homer to left, before Spotswood added yet another run in the inning following a pair of Indian Hills errors.

With the Braves' defense failing them, Fredericks didn't hesitate to remain aggressive.

"I just wanted to keep putting as much pressure on them as I could. We weren't going to let anything change the way we play," he said.

With an eight-run lead, and Beard on the mound, the pro-Spotswood crowd was celebrating early. While the Chargers added three more runs in the fourth, thanks in part to a Berner home run, Beard (12-1) continued to cruise, allowing just three hits and three walks on the day, to go along with two strikeouts. Indian Hills got its lone run in the fourth, but by then, the championship belonged to Spotswood.

Following the game, the Chargers were treated like conquering heroes by their hometown fans, receiving a full police, fire and rescue squad motorcade from Route 18 all the way down Main Street through the town

"We had a motorcade through town where you saw little kids running out of their houses chasing down the bus," Fredericks said. "I saw people I haven't seen in years living in this town coming out to celebrate with us.

The procession continued throughout the town with people lining the streets until they reached the high school, where the student body, parents, friends and relatives awaited. There, the Chargers received a tremendous ovation before being wet down by the fire trucks.

"That's the thing that I keep telling everybody," Fredericks said. "The most beautiful thing about playing for a smaller school is the reaction of the community when you succeed. I'm overjoyed with the way our kids have been received throughout this whole process.

"It was the kind of celebration you can only get from the Spotswoods of the world. You can't get this at the big parochials. There's no St. Joseph Borough or Seton Hall Prep Township."

After allowing the joy to sink in over the past few days, Fredericks is now ready to put this season's success in its proper perspective.

"I think that we, right now, have to be regarded as one of the top five teams in the state," he said. "With the amount of work and dedication we've put in in preparation for this year, I think we're at a point where we can play with anyone out there.

"We just ran out of games," he added. "We were going to keep on playing until somebody told us to stop. After Saturday's game, it was time to stop. But we won our first Senior Legion game Monday night, 18-2, so it hasn't really stopped."

Great news for the Spotswood faithful, and bad news for the competition.

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NEW JERSEY STATE FINAL VS. INDIAN HILLS

Posted by Glenn Fredricks at Jun 11, 2007 5:00PM PDT ( 0 Comments )
NJSIAA BASEBALL GROUP II FINAL: SPOTSWOOD 11, INDIAN HILLS 1 (5) Spotswood's win displays complete package By JOHN HALEY STAFF WRITER jhaley@thnt.com TOMS RIVER — On its way to a storybook season in 2007, the Spotswood High School baseball team won certain games because of its talented pitching staff, it won others because of its relentless hitting attack, and others because it chose to be the aggressor and made the opposition react. Fittingly, in the NJSIAA Group II championship game on Saturday, it was all on display at once as the Chargers belted Indian Hills 11-1 in five innings before a pro-Spotswood crowd at Toms River High School South. The Chargers completed a magical season which included a 26-4 record and the school's first Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, NJSIAA Central Group II and Group II championships. "Oh my God," was the first thing out of the mouth of John Michael Berner, who powered a nine-hit attack with an RBI double and a two-run homer. "It's kind of weird because on the first day of practice, I was saying, "State championship, state championship.' Then we lost the first game of the season (to Ewing) and I was like, "What's going on here?' But because of our coach (Glenn Fredricks), we got here and we did it. I've been dreaming of this day ever since I heard about high school sports." Pitching, hitting and aggressive play were all on display, especially the latter, as Spotswood scored six runs in the third inning, helped by six Indian Hills (19-10) errors, to blow the game open. Pitching Willie Beard, who entered the game 11-1 with a 2.06 ERA, didn't have to be overpowering because his team gave him a 2-0 lead in the first inning, then 8-0 after just 2 1/3 innings. But the Rutgers-bound right-hander got the job done by yielding three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. "I know they're a scrappy team and they put the ball in play," said Beard, who admitted to being nervous pitching in front of Rutgers coach Fred Hill. "So I was trying to hit the corners. I was getting squeezed a little, but I just relaxed and let my defense take care of things. I don't care if I struck out the whole team or no one as long as we got the win." Offered Fredricks: "I've used every adjective to describe Willie, but all I know is I was able to get a good night's sleep knowing he was pitching this game. Here he was on the biggest stage pitching in front of his college coach who gave him tens of thousands of dollars and he was outstanding once again." Hitting If the Chargers, who have just one batter hitting under .300 in the lineup, did have one weakness this season it was their ability to hit the crafty left-hander. But facing that type of pitcher in Ryan Furbeck (7-1, 2.30 ERA coming in), Spotswood knocked him out of the box after just 2 1/3 innings. Spotswood finished with nine hits, including hard doubles by Berner, Joe Petosa and Phil Spina, and home runs by Berner and C.J. Mooney. Seven different Chargers collected a hit, including two each by Anthony Addone and Berner. "We learned a lot after facing (Nick) McNamara from Somerville in the sectional final (a 1-0 Spotswood win)," Fredricks said. "Plus, in practice, we brought in a lot of lefties to work against and that helped." Aggressiveness In the decisive third inning the Chargers helped force six errors by stealing on every chance they had, by taking the extra base to force an extra throw, and by baiting the opposition with large leads and delayed steals. "I don't think they gave us anything in that inning. I think we put the pressure on them and made it happen," Fredricks said. "We work on gadget plays over and over and over in practice. I think the kids were so sick of it, but we pulled out everything from our bag of tricks and caused them to make those errors." While Indian Hills committed six errors, the Chargers were error-free. In every category, Spotswood performed like a state champion. "What you saw out there was three years of preparation," Fredricks said. "These kids are seniors and they gave their heart and soul to the program. I'm blessed to have kids who know how to play the game the right way. I'm just upset there's no more games left." imageimage
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2007 STATE CHAMPIONS

Posted by Glenn Fredricks at Jun 11, 2007 5:00PM PDT ( 0 Comments )
CHARGERS MADE THEIR BREAKS Spotswood caps magical season By JOHN HALEY STAFF WRITER jhaley@thnt.com TOMS RIVER — Everything seemed to go their way. Every hit, every bounce, every throw, everything they tried went their way. For the Spotswood High School baseball team, that's the way it has been all season — a magical season which ended with a five-inning, 11-1 victory over Indian Hills in the championship game of the NJSIAA Group II Tournament at Toms River High School South. While fate may have had a little something to do with the Chargers' good fortunes in 2007, it's also a by-product of the program and the way head coach Glenn Fredricks teaches the game. "We make the other team make plays," said Fredricks, who guided the team to its first Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, Central Group II and Group II state titles. "We put the ball in play, we put the pressure on the other team all game long no matter that the situation is and, after a while, they will make mistakes." In the third inning, Indian Hills made six mistakes, leading to six runs and putting the game out of reach. After a leadoff walk to Mike Hohman followed by a wild pitch, Anthony Addone singled to put runners on the corners. When Addone stole second, the throw bounced before the second baseman was able to catch it, then rolled into center field, where it got by Mike Marscovetran as two runs scored for a 4-0 lead. After a walk to John Michael Berner and a flyout, Berner took off for second on a hit-and-run. Mike Collins hit the ball into the hole at shortstop, where Ramee Yacoub would have been, putting runners on the corners again. Collins then stole second and when the ball was thrown away again, Berner scored. C.J. Mooney then made Indian Hills pay with a line-drive, two-run homer to left. Spotswood went on to score again on two more errors for an 8-0 lead. Meanwhile, when Indian Hills registered its first hit, in the bottom of the fourth, centerfielder Phil Spina hit second baseman Hohman with a perfect throw and Hohman's perfect throw home nailed a baserunner. "That's just preparation," Fredricks said. "These kids just execute. We've played like this all season, making plays and trying to make the other team make mistakes." Added Berner, "This is all because of Glenny (Fredricks). He drills us on every possible situation and it has all become second nature for us." Call it fate, call it preparation, call it a little of both. It's been a winning combination for the Spotswood Chargers. imageimage
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FINAL STAR LEDGER RANKINGS 2006

Posted by Glenn Fredricks at Jun 10, 2007 5:00PM PDT ( 0 Comments )
STAR-LEDGER BASEBALL TOP 20 1-Seton Hall Prep (26-4-1) 2-Steinert (27-5) 3-Morristown (26-7) 4-Old Tappan (29-2) 5-Ocean Twp. (26-7) 6-Immaculata (22-4) 7-Toms River East (24-7) 8-Bishop Eustace (23-7) 9-Don Bosco Prep (23-5) 10-Moorestown (19-5) 11-Seneca (25-5) 12-Christian Brothers (25-4) 13-Cherokee (23-4) 14-Hanover Park (23-8) 15-Lakeland (22-5) 16-Pequannock (21-8) 17-Randolph (24-7-1) 18-Freehold Twp. (19-8) 19-Eastern (21-5) 20-Kearny (20-8) GROUP 4 1-Steinert (27-5) 2-Toms River East (24-7) 3-Cherokee (23-4) 4-Randolph (24-7-1) 5-Freehold Twp. (19-8) 6-Eastern (21-5) 7-Kearny (20-8) 8-South Brunswick (19-7) 9-Westfield (20-7) 10-Toms River South (23-7) GROUP 3 1-Morristown (26-7) 2-Old Tappan (29-2) 3-Ocean Twp. (26-7) 4-Moorestown (19-5) 5-Seneca (25-5) 6-Lakeland (22-5) 7-Cranford (21-6) 8-Morris Hills (22-6) 9-Mendham (20-6) 10-Montville (21-7) GROUP 2 1-Hanover Park (23-8) 2-Pequannock (21-8) 3-Gov. Livingston (24-8) 4-Point Pleasant Boro (23-7) 5-West Deptford (27-3) 6-North Warren (17-6) 7-Bernards (16-10-1) 8-West Essex (19-7) 9-Westwood (22-9) 10-River Dell (19-6) GROUP 1 1-Pennsville (24-6) 2-Pascack Hills (22-11) 3-South Amboy (24-4) 4-Hoboken (24-7) 5-Riverside (18-8) 6-Hasbrouck Heights (21-5) 7-Emerson Boro (20-6) 8-Lyndhurst (19-6) 9-Kinnelon (16-5) 10-Keansburg (12-9) NON-PUBLIC 1-Seton Hall Prep (26-4-1) 2-Immaculata (22-4) 3-Bishop Eustace (23-7) 4-Don Bosco Prep (23-5) 5-Christian Brothers (25-4) 6-Gloucester Catholic (23-5) 7-Sacred Heart (22-6) 8-St. Rose (21-2) 9-Bishop Ahr (18-7) 10-St. Joseph (Mont.) (19-9) PREP 1-Lawrenceville (17-6) 2-Wardlaw-Hartridge (13-4) 3-Peddie (9-11) 4-Hun (13-9) 5-St. Benedict's (10-5) 6-Blair (10-11) 7-Princeton Day (10-8) 8-Rutgers Prep (11-11) 9-Pennington (9-10) 10-Ranney (7-8) BERGEN 1-Old Tappan (29-2) 2-Don Bosco Prep (23-5) 3-Paramus (25-4) 4-Westwood (22-9) 5-River Dell (19-6) 6-Pascack Hills (22-11) 7-St. Joseph (Mont.) (19-9) 8-St. Mary's (Ruth.) (20-8) 9-Hasbrouck Heights (21-5) 10-Ramapo (20-8) ESSEX 1-Seton Hall Prep (26-4-1) 2-West Essex (19-7) 3-East Side (24-6) 4-Belleville (21-8) 5-Livingston (15-10) 6-Newark Academy (23-5-1) 7-Montclair (19-8) 8-Bloomfield (16-14) 9-Nutley (16-9) 10-Bloomfield Tech (20-5-1) HUDSON 1-Kearny (20-8) 2-Hoboken (24-7) 3-Memorial (22-5) 4-St. Peter's Prep (24-5) 5-St. Mary's (21-5) 6-Hudson Catholic (18-7) 7-Bayonne (20-7) 8-Emerson (14-10) 9-Ferris (14-12) 10-North Bergen (11-12) MIDDLESEX 1-St. Joseph's (Met.) (17-11) 2-South Amboy (24-4) 3-South Brunswick (19-7) 4-Bishop Ahr (18-7) 5-Old Bridge (17-10-1) 6-Edison (17-7) 7-Spotswood (19-5-1) 8-Piscataway (11-12) 9-Monroe (16-11) 10-Iselin Kennedy (13-12) MONMOUTH 1-Ocean Twp. (26-7) 2-Christian Brothers (25-4) 3-Freehold Twp. (19-8) 4-St. Rose (21-2) 5-Red Bank Catholic (18-9) 6-Wall (16-9) 7-Colts Neck (18-11) 8-Freehold Borough (17-8) 9-Monmouth Reg. (18-9) 10-Raritan (17-10) MORRIS 1-Morristown (26-7) 2-Hanover Park (23-8) 3-Pequannock (21-8) 4-Randolph (24-7-1) 5-Delbarton (19-10) 6-Morris Hills (22-6) 7-Mendham (20-6) 8-Montville (21-7) 9-Roxbury (16-12) 10-Kinnelon (16-5) OCEAN 1-Toms River East (24-7) 2-Toms River South (23-7) 3-Point Pleasant Boro (23-7) 4-Brick Memorial (15-11) 5-Toms River North (12-13) 6-Brick (12-11) 7-Lacey (12-12) 8-Jackson (11-13) 9-Southern Reg. (10-14) 10-New Egypt (15-10) PASSAIC 1-Lakeland (22-5) 2-Passaic Tech (16-12) 3-West Milford (16-9) 4-DePaul (17-11) 5-Clifton (13-13) 6-Paterson Catholic (12-11) 7-Hawthorne (15-8) 8-Wayne Hills (14-14) 9-Wayne Valley (14-12) 10-Pompton Lakes (11-11) SOMERSET 1-Immaculata (22-4) 2-Hillsborough (18-6) 3-Watchung Hills (18-7) 4-Pingry (12-8-1) 5-Montgomery (15-9) 6-Bernards (16-10-1) 7-Somerville (14-11) 8-Ridge (12-14) 9-Bridgewater-Raritan (13-13) 10-Franklin (4-22) SOUTH JERSEY 1-Steinert (27-5) 2-Bishop Eustace (23-7) 3-Moorestown (19-5) 4-Seneca (25-5) 5-Cherokee (23-4) 6-Eastern (21-5) 7-Gloucester Catholic (23-5) 8-West Deptford (27-3) 9-Pennsville (24-6) 10-Sacred Heart (22-6) UNION 1-Westfield (20-7) 2-Cranford (21-6) 3-Roselle Catholic (19-5) 4-Gov. Livingston (24-8) 5-Union (15-10) 6-Dayton (11-9) 7-Roselle Park (16-8) 8-Union Catholic (19-9) 9-Elizabeth (17-12) 10-Scotch Plains (12-13) WEST JERSEY 1-Hunterdon Central (16-9) 2-Phillipsburg (16-9) 3-North Warren (17-6) 4-Lenape Valley (17-7) 5-Vernon (19-8) 6-Warren Hills (13-12) 7-Wallkill Valley (15-11) 8-North Hunterdon (11-15) 9-High Point (13-11) 10-Hackettstown (12-10)