By Tim Morris
It’s becoming a habit for the Colts Neck High School baseball team to win division championships.
When Mike Yorke’s Cougars defeated Wall High School, 6-3, May 12, it gave the program its fourth division title in the Shore Conference over the last five years. Colts Neck completed play in the B North Division schedule with an 11-3 record (13-6 overall), clinching the public school crown. The Cougars have gone 25-3 in B North the last two years.
This was Colts Neck’s third straight division title. The Cougars also won in 2012.
Jack Tirrell, Anthony Galason and Jon Weitzman each delivered RBI singles in the division-clinching win, and Brendan Clarke scored two runs.
Mario Ferraioli picked up the win in relief of Weitzman, who started.
Ferraioli worked 2.2 innings, fanning five and allowing no earned runs. Weitzman went 4.1 innings, and surrendering just one earned run and striking out three. Between them, Ferraioli and Weitzman held the Crimson Knights to just three hits.
Pitching results like that have been the rule all season for the Cougars.
“Our pitching has been our foundation this season, as they have been terrific,” Yorke said.
With Ferraioli and Mike D’Ottavio — who combined for 12 wins in 2015 — returning, pitching was expected to be the Cougars’ strength. Weitzman has given them a solid trio of starters, which makes a difference during the course of a long regular season. They’ve proven they can consistently hold teams to two or fewer earned runs throughout the season. That made the difference in the Cougars’ run to the championship.
While Colts Neck has power pitchers who average more than a strikeout an inning, it has been helped by the defensive play behind them.
“Our defense has also been very good, but we have not hit collectively as a team so far this season,” Yorke said.
Mike Antico, Clarke, Nick Umbro, Tim Cavrak and Weitzman have been the team’s most productive hitters.
The Cougars would like the hitting to come around and be more consistent because Colts Neck wants to extend its season this spring. Last year, the Cougars went through the division with a 14-0 record but exited the Shore Conference and NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV tournaments early. They’d like to hang around longer this year and contend for a tournament championship. Their pitching gives them a chance.
“We feel if we could maintain our pitching and defense and get timely hits, we can surprise some teams in the two big tournaments,” Yorke said.
One way Yorke is preparing his team for the postseason is by playing more games.
“We are trying to play as many games as possible to go into the [Shore Conference Tournament] and state tournament as ‘tournament ready’ as possible,” he said. “We didn’t fare well in last year’s state and [Shore Conference tournaments], so that was a big goal for us coming into the season.”
The Central Jersey, Group IV tournament begins play May 18.
Colts Neck is not the only Freehold Regional High School District team looking to make some postseason noise.
Freehold High School (10-10) has a deep pitching staff that can carry the Colonials a long way. Last spring, it was good enough to get to the semifinals.
Steve Rullo, Nick Zuppe, Dan Chiusano and Tom Holdorf (who has pitched a no-hitter this year) give the Colonials four solid starters — all of whom can shut a team down.
Marlboro High School has made deep runs in the state sectional in recent years, and it looks like head coach Jim Ferraro has another squad that could be playing into late-May and June. Marlboro is 11-7 overall and is tied for second in the A North Division (8-5). More importantly, it is riding a four-game winning streak. They Mustangs have shown the ability to win in a variety of ways during the streak.
The Mustangs beat Howell High School, 1-0, behind ace Jeremy Dyzenhuas, who pitched the complete-game shutout and fanned seven. He also went the distance in a 4-3 win over Freehold Township High School.
The Mustangs upset Christian Brothers Academy in a slugfest, 11-9. Mark Ventre had three RBIs and Gene Napolitano had three hits and scored two runs. They won another one-run game, 3-2, over Middletown High School North.
The Mustangs would appear to be peaking.
Manalapan High School (9-11) is also on the rise and will be a team that a higher seed will not want to see in the first round. After a 2-8 start, Brian Boyce’s team has gone 7-3. Stephen Hansen, Mike Mollica, Jake Sadowitz and Chris Rodriguez have been powering an offense that has awakened.
According to the NJSIAA power points, the four area teams from Central Jersey, Group IV are in the playoffs. Freehold is fifth, Marlboro is seventh, Colts Neck is 10th and Manalapan is 13th. Sixteen teams fill out the bracket.
Howell (10-11), has had tournament success already, having made the semifinals of the recent Monmouth County Tournament. The Rebels are in the South Jersey, Group IV section, where they are 13th. Eric Johnson’s club has looked to Connor Fey and Grant Hackett for offense.
The first round of the state sectionals is May 26. The finals, which are on the home field of the higher-seeded team, is scheduled for June 3.
