By Warren Rappleyea
With four wins in its past five games, Old Bridge High School’s baseball team owns a sporty 7-2 record thanks in part to its deep pitching staff.
The Knights are coming off a 2-0 victory over Piscataway Township High School April 18 that saw Joe Papeo allow just four hits as he went the distance to pick up his first win. Zach Attaniese and Tom Giasi hit RBI singles to give Papeo a small margin for error that he did not need.
Old Bridge’s previous game, a 2-1 loss April 16 at Seton Hall Preparatory School saw Luis Cruz hurl six effective innings. A Knights rally in the top of the seventh inning that included a Don Dugan RBI double fell just short.
“Our pitching has been solid all season,” Old Bridge coach Jimmy Freel said. “We have a lot of guys who can take the ball. When you have good pitching, you always have a chance to win.”
University of North Carolina-bound Attaniese has been the team’s top pitcher. He picked up victories over both South Plainfield High School and Perth Amboy High School, turning in six strong innings in each game. The senior left-hander also came on in relief to preserve a 5-4 win over J.P. Stevens High School April 15 after Billy Geiger went the five innings for the Knights.
Jake Kudros turned in a gem in a 10-2 success against Perth Amboy in their second meeting April 13. The junior turned in a complete game, allowing only four hits while striking out 13 batters. Another junior, Carlos Lopez, is 1-0.
Old Bridge is somehow scoring enough runs and getting the timely hits, although its team batting average is .240. At the plate, Peter Marotolli leads the team with a .333 average and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with Attaniese, who is hitting .316. Both players have seven RBIs to their credit.
Junior infielder Rob Dacunto is at .250 with three RBIs, and fellow junior Rob Laconti is heating up at the plate and is now batting .235 with five RBIs. Cruz, the leadoff hitter, is finding ways to get on base despite hitting only .233 in the early going. Catcher Don Dugan is hovering around the .200 mark but has driven in five runs.
“We’re finding ways to win games when we have to,” said Freel, whose team won the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV title last spring. “It’s still early and our bats are starting to come around now. It would be good if we could get our pitchers a few more runs to work with.”
