By Wayne Witkowski
New Egypt High School’s baseball team leaves behind a bitter 5-2 loss to Riverside High School in the opening round of the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL) Tournament April 30 as it focuses on qualifying and competing in the NJSIAA tournament.
The Warriors will be wary of the fifth inning, which is the inning Riverside scored all of its runs to overcome New Egypt’s 2-0 lead — much like a prior 4-2 victory over the Warriors when Riverside started its comeback from a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the fifth inning.
New Egypt entered the week 7-2 overall and 2-1 in the BCSL Freedom Division.
“It’s been a tough inning for us,” new head coach Matt Carroll said of the fifth inning, as the two teams meet again May 19. “It’s the little things that you can’t control. That inning has been big.”
Carroll said his team is playing it game by game, as it needs to have a winning record over its first 15 games to make the state tournament in Central Jersey, Group I. And the Warriors hope to stay in contention in the division, where Riverside is 3-1.
“We’re scrambling for games with the rainouts we’ve had. Right now, we have 14 (one short) by the deadline for the state tournament,” Carroll said.
New Egypt has rebounded from last year’s eight-win season with a deep pitching staff that has yielded just 18 runs coming into this week. Chris Tereszczyn and Kyle Frimel are both 3-0, while Nate Peacock, who also plays center field, is 1-1. The Warriors’ batting order is also danger from top to bottom, led by Peacock, who has a .429 batting average and 11 RBIs.
Games scheduled for New Egypt this week, weather-permitting, included a May 3 matchup against Cinnaminson High School May 3. The Warriors play at Burlington County Institute of Technology (Westampton) May 5, which begins a stretch of four out of five games on the road.
Carroll, who also took over the school’s boys soccer team as head coach last fall, said the current start to the baseball campaign has answered doubters coming into the season.
“This is really not a surprise to us as far as the coaching staff is concerned,” Carroll said. “A lot of guys have worked hard — a lot of senior leadership. Three starters in the pitching staff have stepped up. We look forward to the games [ahead] and will go as far as they take us. If we stay together and keep working toward it, we can compete and contend.
“I like our arms — the way we approach the game. We’re up to the challenge. In our lineup — one to nine — we have guys who can get big hits, and they’ve had big hits. I like our chances.”
Peacock has led the way and is touted by Carroll as one of the best center fielders in the BCSL,as well as in the state.
New Egypt has scored 77 runs in its first nine games and, although the team showed some lapses in the field such as during the troublesome fifth innings and a few other spots, Carroll said that fielding is not the team’s weakness.
“We’re not deficient there, just inconsistent,” the coach said.
Carroll also had a bright moment last weekend when his wife gave birth to a girl, Emerson Rose. It was a proud moment for his family, including new grandfather Rich Carroll, the former director of athletics at New Egypt who now holds that post for Middletown High School South and Middletown High School North.
“We figured out that my wife went into labor while I was coaching the Maple Shade game (April 29), and we timed it that [her labor] started while we scored six runs in the sixth inning while losing 1-0 [for a 6-1 victory],” Carroll said.
Peacock struck out 15 while allowing four hits going the distance. Senior catcher Gino Tortoriello and junior third baseman Jared Heller each had two RBIs in the victory against Maple Shade High School.
Tereszczyn struck out 13 and allowed two hits to Burlington City High School in a 10-1 victory and shut down Pitman High School in two innings of relief in a 4-2 victory. He has given up one run on five hits in 14.2 innings with 21 strikeouts and five walks. He also is batting .370 with six RBIs.
Carroll said Tortoriello, a three-sport athlete at the school, has picked up after a slow start.
“He’s seeing the ball better — lining the ball to the gaps,” the coach said. “He’s really starting to play up to his potential.”
Junior Mickey Horner at first base and sophomore Neal Flogel at second base have been reliable regular starters. Tereszczyn starts at shortstop when he isn’t pitching, and sophomore Anthony Burr plays there when Tereszczyn is on the mound. Burr also is the closing pitcher, and he and Heller share time at third base. Senior Liam Snell also has gotten innings there.
Junior Jordan Bendick and senior Carmen Miraglia play left and right field, respectively, alongside Peacock when he isn’t pitching, where he has allowed five runs on seven hits in 16.1 innings with a commanding 27-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Frimel has given up five runs on 10 hits in 18 innings, striking out 18 and walking 10.
Burr is batting .474. and Miraglia is at .429. Each have five RBIs. Flogel has driven in seven runs.
Miraglia has pitched as well, as have senior Tim Morera and sophomore Jerry Howell.
Carroll realizes his team’s pitching depth will help, as it has to bunch up its rescheduled games and also look to go deep into the state tournament.
