By Warren Rappleyea
With victories in six of its last seven games, Sayreville War Memorial High School’s baseball team ended its season with a 12-13 record.
A rough patch midway through the year that saw the Bombers lose six of seven games and score just seven runs in the six losses put the team on its collective heels — and kept Sayreville out of the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV tournament.
Nonetheless, coach Mike Novak’s team showed its mettle with its late-season run. Along the way, Sayreville downed John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, 6-0, in a Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament preliminary round matchup, as Pete Soporowski tossed a no-hitter. The Blue and Gray then lost a tough 5-4 decision against South River High School the next round.
Although down, the Bombers managed to close out the campaign with three straight wins, downing Middlesex High School, Woodbridge High School and Linden High School.
“This season was a little disappointing,” said Novak, whose team lost six times by two or fewer runs. “We had high hopes, but we could never really put together a winning streak until late in the season, and we lost some tough ones. Still, our guys never quit.”
The good news for Sayreville is that several young players gained experience this season. In addition, the Bombers’ junior varsity contingent had a strong spring and made its way to the finals of the GMC Junior Varsity Tournament.
Key returnees include pitchers Jayson DeMild and Kyle Lewis. In seven games, DeMild compiled a 2-2 mark. Lewis, a sophomore left-hander, went 2-3 in 26-plus innings of work. Both will be staff mainstays next season. DeMild, who also plays right field, should be a big contributor at the plate next time around.
Meanwhile, Joe Pollomene emerged as a key player at second base both in the field and at the plate. The junior hit .275, had an on-base percentage of .462 and scored 10 runs. Behind the plate, sophomore Kyle Richards showed he can do the job defensively and work well with the pitchers. Novak noted that Richards displayed leadership qualities and managed to bat .257 and score 15 runs in his first year as a regular.
Sayreville will, however, lose several key cogs to graduation. Several of the graduates played important roles in the Bombers’ trip to the GMC Tournament finals last spring, where they fell to Monroe Township High School, 1-0.
Soporowski, a three-year starter, will continue his career at Rider University next season. The big lefty went 5-3 on the hill with a 1.53 ERA, while batting .291 with four home runs and 17 RBIs — both tops on the team. Connor Johnson was 3-5 with an identical 1.53 ERA, but he did not generally have a lot of runs to work with. He also drove home 15 runs and batted .321.
Center fielder Brett Dzamba ended the year with a .333 average and also drew 13 walks, Chris Hauber batted .271, Sean McDonnell hit .246 and Tyler Dusko batted .345 in 11 games.
“We’re losing some very talented players, but we have a good foundation to start with for next year,” Novak said.
