By Jimmy Allinder
This season’s South River High School baseball team was among the best in program history.
The NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group I championship won by the Rams was their first sectional title in about half a century (1964). In addition, they captured the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Blue Division — their first in exactly three decades.
The season finally came to an end when South River dropped a state semifinal decision to eventual Group I champion, Pennsville High School, 10-0 (five innings). The game was an aberration from what brought the Rams to that point, which was quality pitching and opportunistic hitting.
“We fell behind early to a very good team and never recovered,” head coach Mike Lepore Jr. said. “But as I said to the kids after the game, we had a great season and accomplished things we hadn’t in a long time. I’m very proud of that.”
The Rams finished 19-8-1 overall, including 7-1 to begin the season, which included victories against perennially tough Blue Division teams Spotswood High School, Middlesex High School and Carteret High School.
“We had a stretch of four games when we only gave up two hits [total] in that stretch,” Lepore said. “Dalton Dougherty (5-4) pitched a no-hitter against Carteret and then two days later, Nick Errico (3-1) followed with a no-hitter against Academy Charter [High School].”
The streak continued another two days later when ace Tyler Higgins (8-1) threw a one-hitter against New Brunswick High School, and that was followed the next day with a combined one-hitter by Dougherty and R.J. Fischer (3-1) against the same team.
South River then went through its toughest stretch of the campaign, dropping contests to eventual Central Jersey, Group II champion Delaware Valley Regional High School, Princeton High School, Spotswood and North Brunswick Township High School.
A victory against Rahway High School put the Rams back on track, and they proceeded to win seven in a row, including victories against Bishop George Ahr High School, John F. Kennedy Memorial High School, Woodbridge High School and a division-clinching victory over Metuchen High School.
South River was awarded the seventh seed in the GMC Tournament and defeated Sayreville War Memorial High School in a first-round game before it was eliminated by eventual champion East Brunswick High School, 1-0. As the No. 1 seed in the sectional, the Rams knocked off Bound Brook High School, Middlesex and Keyport High School, shutting out all three opponents in the process.
“We had the benefit of a special group of seniors that did a little of everything,” Lepore said. “James Hart was a defensive leader in the outfield, Michael Marino gave us speed off the bench and Doug Fowler provided key pinch hits.
“Khaliyl Everett had an outstanding year at the plate (.411, 13 doubles) and seemed to hit the ball hard every time up. Higgins and Dougherty were our one-two punch in the pitching rotation, the keys to our tournament run, and hit well, too. Catcher Matt Leviton gave us a valuable weapon by shutting down opponents’ running games with his strong arm.”
South River will need to rebuild with those key players and others graduating, but Lepore says a healthy crop of youngsters will make the job easier.
“[Sophomores] Brandon Szerszen, Kyle French and Fischer were solid infielders and are only going to get better,” he said. “Michael DeSantis and Nick Razzano are two of the top freshmen in the conference, and juniors Billy Marlow, Nick Errico, Nick Morris, Louis Sasso and Billy Drum plus sophomore Joe Leviton are key players.”
Lepore said he feels fortunate to have shared this year’s success with Matt Musante and his father, Mike Lepore Sr., both of whom have provided valuable guidance as assistant coaches.
“A great deal of thanks also goes out to the community for coming out and supporting the kids in the sectional final,” he said. “Grekoski Park was groomed to perfection and the place was packed. The support from parents, alumni and former coaches was something we’ll always remember.”
