By Wayne Witkowski
Jackson Memorial High School veteran pitcher Chris Hawryluk appeared in midseason form and so did a different starting lineup from a year ago in all but two positions as the Jaguars opened their season April 1 with a 4-3 victory over solid Shore Conference A South Division rival Toms River High School South.
“We’re definitely young this year, and the younger guys hopefully will have more confidence when we play Toms River High School North [April 5],” Hawryluk, who went the distance with a six-hitter and struck out seven while walking one against Toms River South, said prior to the Toms River North matchup. “We expect to win this year, regardless of who is in the field, like we do every year. We don’t expect anything short of winning, even against one of the better teams in the conference.”
Hawryluk finished the game despite allowing a two-run homer with none out in the last inning.
“I was up in the pitch count — over 90 pitches — and [pitching coach] J.M. Gold came out and looked me right in the eye, and I told him I could finish,” Hawryluk said.
He responded by retiring the side in order from there.
“He was economic with his pitches, especially in the middle innings, and was around the strike zone all night,” coach Frank Malta said.
Junior Ryan Boyle had two run-scoring hits, senior Kyle Johnson lined a run-scoring double and junior Dave DeJesus smashed a run-scoring single.
“We did a nice job with 11 hits — timely hits from a lineup with a lot of question marks coming in,” Malta said.
Only seniors Johnson, who moves from third base to shortstop this season, and center fielder Kyle Lona, who has caught in the past, carry ample experience as starters from last year’s Ocean County Tournament championship team. It rode a 13-game win streak in the closing weeks before a 22-7 season ended quickly in a 24-hour span when Jackson Memorial dropped games on back-to-back days to Old Bridge High School, 3-2, in 13 innings in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV semifinals May 26 and 4-1 the following day in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals to Red Bank Catholic High School.
There are only six seniors this season and 13 departed from last year’s team, including Brandon Janofsky, who is headed to Stony Brook University on scholarship; left fielder Rich Rountree, who is at Delaware State University; center fielder Joe DeMaio and pitcher Ryan Takacs, who are at Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference schools Iona College and Manhattan College, respectively; and second baseman John Carello, who is at Kean University. Designated hitter and catcher Nick Rocca, infielder/pitcher Matt Castronuova and pitchers Jim Plaganis and Dae Harlinski also graduated.
“I think we’re OK. We’ve had some ups and downs with the lack of experience and youth we have,” said Malta, who secured his 300th career victory last season. “We have 21 guys this year because we may have to move guys in and out of the lineup.
“It’s not like our teams of the past where we had guys in solidified positions. We’re platooning, and guys will have opportunities. We’ll give a guy a few at-bats, see what he has and if not, we’ll bring in someone else. It’s fun for me — more game management. And it’s fun for the kids. On a moment’s notice, anyone might go in.”
Malta said the only season where he remembers this much rebuilding was in 2010, when the Jaguars were wiped out by graduations from the 2009 team that won A South and the Shore Conference Tournament.
“But that team was different, a little older and figured itself out,” Malta said.
It starts with defense and a pitching staff that Malta said is more consistent than anything else. It includes junior right-handed pitcher Dylan Kanner and sophomore left-hander Shawn Kelich. Hawryluk will be at first base when he’s not pitching and was one of the top hitters last season, batting .444 with 21 RBIs.
“Definitely my fastball was good [against Toms River South],” Hawryluk said. “I want to hit spots and make hitters uncomfortable. I went a little more to my changeup [than usual] to keep guys off-balance.”
Boyle and junior Jake Fox have been playing at second and third base, and Malta said he is undecided from among three players at catcher: seniors Pat Byrnes and Dallas Sheard and junior Chris Peruggia. DeJesus starts in right field, and freshman Alex Iadisernia could be the regular left fielder.
“He’ll take his lumps, but he plays good defense [and] has a good arm,” Malta said of Iadisernia.
Although Malta agreed that younger players can be hungrier with more to prove, he still feels they have a long way to go.
“I told them, ‘You better find a way to get there,’ ” Malta said. “Things will never change for us, though. We will work as hard as we need to work. We have a standard we’re looking to keep up with.”
