HOME OF THE CHARGERS

No. 12 OLD BRIDGE (10-8) VS. No. 5 SPOTSWOOD (16-4): The only common opponents these teams share are East Brunswick and Middlesex. East Brunswick swept the Knights (2-1 and 7-4) in their Red Division series, while the Chargers fell, 5-4, in a crossover game. Spotswood swept Middlesex (13-6 and 6-4) in their Blue Division series, while Old Bridge defeated the Blue Jays 10-0 in a GMCT first-round game. With that win, Old Bridge snapped a three-game losing streak. The Knights will throw ace Steve Santurro, owner of a deceptive 1-5 record with a 4.08 ERA. Spotswood will counter with sophomore right-hander Michael Hohman (3-1, 2.27). Opponents are batting .246 against him. Ace Steve Curry (6-0, 4.03 ERA), a southpaw, is available to counter lefty slugger Sean Langan (.490) who is 7-for-8 over the past two games. First baseman Matt Donaghue (.395), Steve Cooper (.3476), Chris Baldino (.324) and Scott Bird (.326) are Old Bridge's other top hitters. In the regular season, Old Bridge defeated three of the GMCT's top four seeds. Unlike Spotswood, which has clubbed 16 homers with eight players belting at least one, Old Bridge lacks power. The Chargers are averaging 8.7 runs per game. Curry and Dan Savage have combined for 10 of Spotswood's 16 victories. Five starters are slugging over .500 and five starters are batting .400 or better. Hohman has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games. Three Chargers catchers have thrown out 59 percent of would-be base stealers. Steve Abbott, Hohman, Scott Dyckman, and the Dubovick brothers, Mike and John, have combined to score over 110 runs. The Chargers had an earlier winning streak of eight games and have won four of their last five.

Boys Baseball Top 20 5/10/05 1-Seton Hall (18-1) Last week: 2 The team is batting .389 behind a dominant pitching staff anchored by Nick Christiani (5-0, 0.82 ERA), who came within one out of pitching a nohitter against Millburn in the Greater Newark Tournament quarterfinals. 2-St. Joseph (Mont.) (16-1) Last: 3 Ended a good week by beating New Milford and All-State hurler P.J. Saporito, 8-2. Standout shortstop Brent Weiss had three hits, including a double and a triple, against Saporito. 3-Christian Brothers (17-1) Last: 1 Joe Durso went 5 for 5 and the Lincroft school pounded out 14 hits, but it squandered a 6-0 lead Saturday and bowed for the first time to No. 17 Hillsborough, 8-6, in eight innings. 4-Holy Cross (16-0) Last: 4 John Meadus (4-0) threw a two-hitter and junior catcher Rob DeVeney raised his average to .550 during a 3-0 week. 5-West Deptford (14-0) Last: 7 A major threat in the NJSIAA Group 2 tournament, it defeated Haddonfield, Deptford and Paulsboro as junior righthander Justin Hilt improved to 7-0. 6-St. Peter’s Prep (18-1) Last: 9 Pitchers Chuck Comprelli (6-0) and Ryan O’Grady (4-0) each earned a decision while junior first baseman Chris Bligh hit .625 with six RBI in the team’s last two victories. 7-Rutherford (15-1) Last: 10 Its winning streak reached 13 as All- Stater Vin Mazzaro continued his outstanding season with a no-hitter against River Dell. 8-Memorial (W.N.Y.) (18-2) Last: 5 Junior right-hander Jesus Castano helped ease the sting of a 4-2 loss to St. Peter’s Prep by pitching a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts and two walks in a 2-0 decision over Ferris. 9-Gloucester C (16-2) Last: 16 John McMullin hit his first two home runs of the season and drove home seven runs as the team coasted to victories over Cumberland, Williamstown and Kingsway. 10-Watchung Hills (14-2) Last: NR Debuts in The Top 20 after winning 10 straight, including victories over No. 12 Immaculata and No. 17 Hillsborough, behind pitchers Adam Rivera (5-1) and ace Matt Giannini (5-0). 11-St. Augustine (17-0) Last: NR Righties Owen Black (6-0) and Rich Ryan (5-0) have accounted for much of the Richland school’s success as it prepares for Eastern (14-1) in South Jersey’s Diamond Classic this weekend. 12-Immaculata (10-3-1) Last: 15 Nick Panzarella continues to shine on the mound and at the plate for the Somerville school, which snapped a two-game losing skid with a 13-3 victory over Franklin on Thursday. 13-Toms River East (11-3) Last: NR Junior shortstop Ryker Toscano had a memorable first varsity homer, a towering three-run blast in the eighth inning that gave junior righty Casey Gaynor his sixth victory without a loss in a 4-1 triumph over Toms River North. 14-Toms River North (11-3) Last: 6 Second baseman Mike Casale belted his first home run of the year and catcher Chad Sloboda had two hits and three RBI when Toms River North blanked Jackson, 11-0. 15-Westwood (15-2) Last: 8 Fourth-year starter Danny Colucci improved to 6-0 with a 1.79 ERA after a 1-0 victory over Ridgefield Park. Randy Scott hit a three-run home run in a 10-7 victory over Dumont. 16-Wallkill Valley (15-2) Last: NR Right-hander Bobby Gagg is headed to Coastal Carolina on scholarship, but first he’s concerned with helping his team win the inaugural Sussex County Tournament this weekend. 17-Hillsborough (11-3) Last: 17 Snapped a 1-3 skid with impressive triumphs over Montgomery and then- No. 1 Christian Brothers, 8-6, in the Shore Challenge behind an eighthinning homer by junior Tim Fedroff. 18-Bergen Catholic (14-2) Last: NR Knocked off rival Don Bosco Prep with a 2-0 victory, the team’s ninth straight. Matt Jordan fired a one-hitter for his third victory of the season and Jadd Schmeltzer delivered both RBI. 19-Kearny (14-2) Last: 12 Although a loss to Cranford halted a 10-game winning streak, it responded with a pair of victories behind the hitting of Mike Cardoso and Mike Silvestre and strong pitching from Alberto Castro and Rafael Azcona. 20-Gov. Livingston (18-2) Last: NR Its winning streak reached 14 after a 4-3 victory over Union in the quarterfinals of the Union County Tournament. Joe Pijanowski (5-0), Andrew Trivella (5-1), Phil Vitale (4-1) and Andrew Yasinski (4-0) lead the pitching staff. Group, Area Leaders Tuesday, May 10, 2005 FOR THE STAR-LEDGER GROUP 4 1-Memorial (18-2) 2-Watchung Hills (14-2) 3-Toms River East (11-3) 4-Toms River North (11-3) 5-Hillsborough (11-3) 6-Kearny (14-2) 7-Morristown (16-4) 8-Eastern (14-1) 9-Hunterdon C (14-4) 10-Wash. Twp. (12-4) GROUP 3 1-Old Tappan (14-3) 2-Lakewood (12-2) 3-Red Bank (11-3) 4-Monmouth R. (13-4) 5-Demarest (13-3) 6-Nutley (14-4) 7-Ramapo (12-5) 8-Ocean Township (13-5) 9-Montgomery (11-5) 10-Colonia (13-6) GROUP 2 1-West Deptford (14-0) 2-Rutherford (15-1) 3-Westwood (15-2) 4-Wallkill Valley (15-2) 5-Gov. Livingston (18-2) 6-Seneca (17-1) 7-Pequannock (14-4) 8-Sterling (15-2) 9-Spotswood (15-3) 10-Cranford (14-4) GROUP 1 1-Pennsville (12-2) 2-New Milford (15-3) 3-Florence (12-1) 4-Dayton (12-2) 5-Verona (16-4) 6-Boonton (12-4) 7-Kinnelon (13-3) 8-Whippany Park (13-5) 9-Cedar Grove (13-5) 10-Bloomfield Tech (14-3) NON-PUBLIC 1-Seton Hall Prep (18-1) 2-St. Joseph (Mont.) (16-1) 3-CBA (17-1) 4-Holy Cross (16-0) 5-St. Peter’s Prep (18-1) 6-Gloucester C (16-2) 7-St. Augustine (17-0) 8-Immaculata (10-3-1) 9-Bergen Catholic (14-2) 10-Don Bosco Prep (15-3) PREP 1-Peddie (12-2) 2-Blair (12-3) 3-Hun (13-4) 4-Pennington (9-7) 5-Rutgers Prep (10-4) 6-Lawrenceville (7-13-1) 7-Princeton Day (6-7) 8-St. Benedict’s (4-13) 9-Wardlaw-Hartridge (5-6) 10-Ranney (3-6) BERGEN 1-St. Joseph (Mont.) (16-1) 2-Rutherford (15-1) 3-Westwood (15-2) 4-Bergen Catholic (14-2) 5-Don Bosco (15-3) 6-Old Tappan (14-3) 7-Demarest (13-3) 8-New Milford (15-3) 9-Ramapo (12-5) 10-Paramus (12-6) ESSEX 1-Seton Hall Prep (18-1) 2-Nutley (14-4) 3-Verona (16-4) 4-Belleville (13-8) 5-Millburn (13-7) 6-West Essex (11-5-1) 7-MKA (10-5) 8-Cedar Grove (13-5) 9-Bloomfield Tech (14-3) 10-Glen Ridge (10-9) HUDSON 1-St. Peter’s Prep (18-1) 2-Memorial (18-2) 3-Kearny (14-2) 4-Emerson (13-5) 5-Hudson Catholic (15-4) 6-Hudson Prep (16-0) 7-Bayonne (16-6) 8-North Bergen (13-7) 9-Hoboken (13-6) 10-St. Mary’s (13-7) MIDDLESEX 1-St. Joe’s(Met.) (17-5) 2-East Brunswick (10-6) 3-Colonia (13-6) 4-South Plainfield (13-5) 5-South Brunswick (11-5) 6-Spotswood (15-3) 7-Sayreville (10-7) 8-Edison (11-8) 9-Old Bridge (9-6) 10-Bishop Ahr (9-5) MONMOUTH 1-CBA (17-1) 2-Red Bank (11-3) 3-Monmouth R. (13-4) 4-Wall (13-4) 5-Ocean Twp. (13-5) 6-Raritan (10-4) 7-Red Bank Catholic (9-6) 8-St. Rose (15-3) 9-Matawan (9-7) 10-Manasquan (9-8) MORRIS 1-Pequannock (14-4) 2-Morristown (16-4) 3-Delbarton (14-5) 4-Morris Knolls (12-7) 5-Randolph (10-7) 6-Mendham (13-7) 7-Roxbury (11-11) 8-Hanover Park (13-5) 9-Boonton (12-4) 10-Kinnelon (13-3) OCEAN 1-Toms River East (11-3) 2-Toms River North (11-3) 3-Lakewood (12-2) 4-Brick Memorial (8-7) 5-TRS (11-5) 6-Jackson (7-9) 7-Brick (6-7) 8-Manchester Twp.(8-8) 9-New Egypt (8-8) 10-Point Beach (9-10) PASSAIC 1-Wayne Valley (14-6) 2-West Milford (12-5-1) 3-Hawthorne (12-4) 4-Paterson Catholic (11-3) 5-Passaic Tech (11-6) 6-DePaul (12-7) 7-Lakeland (12-6-1) 8-Clifton (9-7) 9-Pompton Lakes (10-4) 10-Wayne Hills (7-10) SOMERSET 1-Watchung Hills (14-2) 2-Immaculata (10-3-1) 3-Hillsborough (11-3) 4-Montgomery (11-5) 5-Franklin (7-12) 6-Ridge (6-11-1) 7-Bridge.-R. (6-11) 8-Somerville (11-7) 9-Bernards (7-9) 10-Manville (9-3) UNION 1-Gov. Livingston (18-2) 2-Westfield (13-6) 3-Dayton (12-2) 4-Cranford (14-4) 5-Roselle Catholic (11-6) 6-Elizabeth (13-8) 7-Union (12-7) 8-Johnson (7-7) 9-Scotch Plains (9-8) 10-Linden (8-7) SOUTH JERSEY 1-Holy Cross (16-0) 2-West Deptford (14-0) 3-Gloucester C (16-2) 4-St. Augustine (17-0) 5-Eastern (14-1) 6-Seneca (17-1) 7-Bishop Eustace (15-4) 8-Washington Twp. (12-4) 9-Cherokee (12-4-1) 10-Pennsville (12-2) WEST JERSEY 1-Wallkill Valley (15-2) 2-Hunterdon C (14-4) 3-Lenape Valley (14-6) 4-Pope John (13-6) 5-North Hunterdon (10-6) 6-Warren Hills (10-7) 7-North Warren (12-7) 8-Vernon (12-6) 9-Delaware Valley (10-6) 10-Hackettstown (12-4)

SPOTSWOOD, NJ - by the Prof The 2005 Spotswood High School Chargers baseball squad set a number of goals before the season. One of those goals was accomplished yesterday with a win over arch-rival South River by a score of 5-3. That goal: a Blue Division Championship.....its' third consecutive. With the victory the Chargers assured themselves of no less than a share of the crown with a showdown Saturday afternoon in Iselin with the 2nd place Kennedy Mustangs looming. It was to be a winner take all affair, but the Highland Park Owls had different ideas, defeating Kennedy in Iselin 5-4 the same day the Chargers vanquished the Rams. At 9-2 in the Blue Division, SHS holds a 1 game advantage over JFK with only the head to head matchup left. However, this does not diminish the importance of taking down the Mustangs Saturday just 2 days before the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament is seeded. With a win, the Chargers become undisputed Blue Divsion Champion and have the floor to themselves to start the meeting. A loss, and Spotswood would have to share the airwaves with JFK, and could fall out of the Top 8. A Top 8 seed guarantees a bye into the first round of the tourney, skipping 2 prelimenary rounds, and saving much needed pitching. In any case, the 2005 Chargers will be Blue Division Champions, win-lose-or-draw, joining the 2003 and 2004 squads with the same titles. A win Saturday also gives Monday's Commander Cup game versus Red Division Champion added signifigance for seeding purposes. First things first, however, the Mustangs must be handled on Saturday.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005 THE STAR LEDGER NJ STATE TOP 20 GROUP 4 1-Memorial (16-1) 2-Toms River North (9-2) 3-Kearny (12-1) 4-Hillsborough (8-2) 5-Eastern (13-0) 6-Watchung Hills (11-2) 7-Morristown (12-3) 8-Washington Twp. (11-3) 9-Toms River East (8-3) 10-Hunterdon Central (11-3) GROUP 3 1-Monmouth Regional (11-3) 2-Wall (10-2) 3-Nutley (11-2) 4-Old Tappan (10-3) 5-West Milford (12-3) 6-Montgomery (10-4) 7-Lakewood (9-2) 8-Red Bank (8-3) 9-Demarest (10-3) 10-Mendham (11-4) GROUP 2 1-West Deptford (11-0) 2-Westwood (13-1) 3-Rutherford (12-1) 4-Pequannock (11-3) 5-Seneca (14-1) 6-Raritan (9-3) 7-Cranford (12-2) 8-Wallkill Valley (11-2) 9-Sterling (14-2) 10-Spotswood (12-2) GROUP 1 1-Pennsville (9-1) 2-New Milford (11-2) 3-Florence (8-1) 4-Kinnelon (10-1) 5-Palisades Park (14-2) 6-Bloomfield Tech (11-1) 7-Dayton (9-2) 8-Emerson Borough (11-2) 9-Verona (12-4) 10-Whippany Park (9-3) NON-PUBLIC 1-Christian Brothers (14-0) 2-Seton Hall Prep (14-1) 3-St. Joseph (Mont.) (13-1) 4-Holy Cross (13-0) 5-St. Peter's Prep (13-1) 6-Don Bosco Prep (11-2) 7-Delbarton (11-3) 8-Immaculata (9-2-1) 9-Gloucester Catholic (13-2) 10-St. Augustine (15-0) PREP 1-Peddie (9-2) 2-Blair (9-3) 3-Hun (8-4) 4-Pennington (8-5) 5-Rutgers Prep (8-3) 6-Lawrenceville (5-11-1) 7-St. Benedict's (3-8) 8-Princeton Day (3-6) 9-Wardlaw Hartridge (5-5) 10-Ranney (3-6) BERGEN 1-St. Joseph (Mont.) (13-1) 2-Westwood (13-1) 3-Rutherford (12-1) 4-Don Bosco Prep (11-2) 5-Old Tappan (10-3) 6-Bergen Catholic (10-2) 7-New Milford (11-2) 8-Demarest (10-3) 9-Palisades Park (14-2) 10-Emerson Borough (11-2) ESSEX 1-Seton Hall Prep (14-1) 2-Nutley (11-2) 3-Belleville (9-7) 4-Bloomfield Tech (11-1) 5-Verona (12-4) 6-Glen Ridge (8-8) 7-Newark Academy (13-2) 8-West Essex (9-4-1) 9-West Orange (7-5) 10-Millburn (10-6) HUDSON 1-Memorial (16-1) 2-St. Peter's Prep (13-1) 3-Kearny (12-1) 4-Emerson (11-4) 5-Hudson Catholic (13-4) 6-Hudson Prep (12-0) 7-North Bergen (10-5) 8-Bayonne (13-5) 9-Hoboken (11-5) 10-St. Mary's (J.C.) (11-7) MIDDLESEX 1-St. Joseph's (15-4) 2-South Brunswick (10-2) 3-Colonia (9-5) 4-South Plainfield (10-4) 5-East Brunswick (7-5) 6-Spotswood (12-2) 7-Carteret (9-6) 8-Old Bridge (7-5) 9-Edison (8-8) 10-Iselin Kennedy (7-7) MONMOUTH 1-Christian Brothers (14-0) 2-Monmouth Regional (11-3) 3-Wall (10-2) 4-Ocean Twp. (9-5) 5-Raritan (9-3) 6-Red Bank (8-3) 7-Freehold Twp. (8-6) 8-Freehold Borough (7-5) 9-Matawan (8-5) 10-Manasquan (8-6) MORRIS 1-Pequannock (11-3) 2-Delbarton (11-3) 3-Morristown (12-3) 4-Randolph (9-4) 5-Morris Knolls (10-4) 6-Mendham (11-4) 7-Kinnelon (10-1) 8-Hanover Park (11-4) 9-Whippany Park (9-3) 10-Boonton (8-3) OCEAN 1-Toms River North (9-2) 2-Toms River East (8-3) 3-Lakewood (9-2) 4-Brick Memorial (6-5) 5-Toms River South (8-4) 6-Manchester Township (7-5) 7-Lacey (7-6) 8-Point Pleasant Boro (7-3) 9-New Egypt (8-6) 10-Southern Regional (4-8) PASSAIC 1-West Milford (12-3) 2-Wayne Valley (11-5) 3-Paterson Catholic (9-2) 4-Passaic Tech (9-5) 5-Hawthorne (9-4) 6-Lakeland (10-5) 7-DePaul (9-6) 8-Clifton (7-5) 9-Pompton Lakes (7-4) 10-Wayne Hills (6-8) SOMERSET 1-Immaculata (9-2-1) 2-Hillsborough (8-2) 3-Watchung Hills (11-2) 4-Montgomery (10-4) 5-Bridgewater-Raritan (6-9) 6-Ridge (3-9-1) 7-Franklin (4-10) 8-Somerville (8-6) 9-Bernards (7-5) 10-Manville (8-1) SOUTH JERSEY 1-Holy Cross (13-0) 2-West Deptford (11-0) 3-Gloucester Catholic (13-2) 4-St. Augustine (15-0) 5-Eastern (13-0) 6-Seneca (14-1) 7-Bishop Eustace (12-3) 8-Pennsville (9-1) 9-Washington Twp. (11-3) 10-Cherokee (10-4) UNION 1-Cranford (12-2) 2-Gov. Livingston (14-2) 3-Westfield (9-5) 4-Dayton (9-2) 5-Roselle Catholic (9-4) 6-Union (10-5) 7-Elizabeth (11-7) 8-Scotch Plains (8-6) 9-Linden (7-7) 10-Union Catholic (7-3) WEST JERSEY 1-Wallkill Valley (11-2) 2-Hunterdon Central (11-3) 3-Pope John (12-4) 4-Vernon (10-5) 5-Warren Hills (8-5) 6-Lenape Valley (10-5) 7-Delaware Valley (9-4) 8-Hackettstown (11-3) 9-North Warren (9-6) 10-North Hunterdon (7-6) Boys Baseball Top 20 5/3/05 1-CBA (14-0) Last week: 2 Senior outfielder Vin Avella is proving to be a difficult out in the heart of the order and a particularly timely hitter with runners in scoring position for the state’s new No. 1 team. 2-Seton Hall Prep (14-1) Last: 4 Behind righties Nick Christiani, a senior, Mike Ness, a junior, and Rick Porcello, a sophomore, and lefty Jon Masklee, the team possesses a 1.81 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 126-16. 3-St. Joseph (Mont.) (13-1) Last: 1 After losing last Monday to Paramus for its first loss of the season, St. Joseph rebounded with victories over Montclair and Teaneck. Artie Clyde (3-0) got the decision over Teaneck and Tom LaStella and Dave Schwartz providing the long ball. 4-Holy Cross (13-0) Last: 6 Mike Kondrath (3-0) coasted in a 14-3 victory over Pennington as the Delran team used its No. 3, 4 and 5 pitchers during a 3-0 week. 5-Memorial (16-1) Last: 14 The deep pitching staff continues to dominate as starters Jesus Castano, Andy Ortiz and Robinson Polanco combined to allow just one run in four straight victories. 6-Toms River North (9-2) Last: 8 Senior outfielder Dave West, batting .465, has collected two homers and an Ocean County-best seven doubles, 17 runs batted in and 13 runs scored. 7-West Deptford (11-0) Last: 9 Justin Hilt improved to 5-0 in a 4-1 victory over Audubon. It also defeated Haddon Township, 15-5, and Gateway, 13-4. 8-Westwood (13-1) Last: 11 Dan Colucci improved to 5-0 win a three-hitter against Ridgefield Park and Dylan Cacciola (4-1) beat a good River Dell team, which gave coach Joe Yurko his 200th career victory. 9-St. Peter’s Prep (13-1) Last: 7 Second baseman Pat Blaney drove in two runs and right fielder Mike McGovern had an RBI in a 7-6 victory over then-No. 13 Hudson Catholic. 10-Rutherford (12-1) Last: NR All-Stater Vin Mazzaro (5-1) fired a nohitter against Queen of Peace on Friday while he also had three hits and scored two runs. 11-Don Bosco Prep (11-2) Last: NR Spiro Molfetas threw a one-hitter against Ridgewood on Friday to go to 4-1, then the team produced 14 hits in a 13-3 victory over previously stateranked Hudson Catholic. 12-Kearny (12-1) Last: 17 Pitching, solid defense and key hitting are the staples of this club, which won three straight last week as Alberto Castro, Andrew Amadeo and Rafael Azcona allowed a total of four runs. 13-Pequannock (11-3) Last: NR Catcher Ryan Rowland, who has surpassed 100 hits in his four-year varsity career, and Justin Bencsko lead a lineup that’s averaging more than 12 runs during a current fourgame winning streak. 14-Delbarton (11-3) Last: NR It played just twice last week but made a splash nevertheless, knocking Morris County rival Randolph out the Top 20 and handing Immaculata its second defeat of the season. 15-Immaculata (9-2-1) Last: 10 Senior lefty Nick Panzarella earned his first victory of the season and helped the Somerville school gain the top seed for the county tournament after throwing a three-hitter in a 5-3 victory over No. 17 Hillsborough last Tuesday. 16-Gloucester C (13-2) Last: 12 A successful Florida trip for the Non- Public A state championship threat should provide impetus this week as Saturday’s cutoff date for South Jersey’s Diamond Classic approaches. 17-Hillsborough (8-2) Last: 3 It will look to its pitching staff to throw with confidence and consistency in order to snap a two-game losing skid when it faces Franklin, Hun and Montgomery this week and No. 1 Christian Brothers on Saturday. 18-Monmouth Reg. (11-3) Last: 19 Mo Williams, Keith Cantwell and Glenn Seitz generate the power that’s led to a six-game winning streak; contact hitters like Rudy Dambrisi and Mike Daly set the table. 19-Wall (10-2) Last: NR Strong outings by Chad Tirpack and Chris Hughes have bolstered the pitching staff while leadoff hitter Derek Beckman is heating up. 20-Nutley (11-2) Last: 15 Righties Nick Moscara (4-0), Mike DeGennaro (1-2) and Robert Gariano (4-0) will be tested this week with games against Livingston, Paramus, Ridgewood, Teaneck and, perhaps, a county tournament quarterfinal on Saturday.

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.