Led by Colts Neck High School’s division championship and a pair of pitching gems, there were plenty of baseball highlights in the Freehold Regional High School District (FRHSD) again this spring.
Mike Yorke’s Colts Neck High School team continued to own the regular season, claiming its fourth division title in the last five years and third straight. The Cougars (15-8) won the Shore Conference B North Division public school crown this season thanks to pitching, defense and timely hitting.
Freehold High School’s Tom Holdorf got highlights going early when he no-hit Keyport High School in a Monmouth County Tournament game in April. Not to be outdone, teammate Dan Chiusano threw a perfect game in the Shore Conference Tournament against Manasquan High School the following month. He pitched a one-hitter against Colts Neck, losing the no-hit bid in the seventh.
With five of the six teams making the postseason, quality baseball was played throughout the district. Marlboro High School (13-12) was the last team standing, reaching the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group IV quarterfinals. Howell High School (11-12) reached the semifinals of the Monmouth County Tournament. Freehold High School (14-12) was a conference tournament semifinalist.
Pitchers Chiusano, Marlboro’s Jeremy Dyzenhaus, Colts Neck’s Mike D’Ottavio and Mario Ferraioli and Manalapan High School’s Tyler Stafflinger head the 2016 News Transcript All-FRHSD Baseball Team. The infielders are Holdorf, Freehold Township’s Ryan Ford, Colts Neck’s Nick Umbro and Brendan Clarke and Manalapan’s Chris Rodriguez. The catcher is Marlboro’s Gene Napolitano. Nick Zuppe of Freehold is the utility player, and Howell’s J.P. Traynor is the designated hitter. The outfielders are Colts Neck’s Mike Antico, Manalapan’s Stephen Hansen and Howell’s Christian Gedell and Grant Hackett.
Dyzenhaus was Marlboro’s ace. The senior went 7-2 and pitched to a 1.65 ERA, fanned 41 and had a 1.27 WHIP. His seven wins ranked fourth in the Shore.
Chuisano pitched the game of the year with his perfect game. That was just the best of many fine starts by the Colonials’ senior, who pitched far better than his 5-5 record (he lost three one-run games). He pitched to a paltry 0.92 ERA, which ranked sixth in the conference. He had 55 strikeouts in 61 innings of work. His 0.80 WHIP was fourth best in the conference.
Pitching has carried the Cougars to their string of division titles, and 2016 was no exception. Power throwers D’Ottavio and Ferraioli, both seniors, led the way.
D’Ottavio went 5-1 for the division champion Cougars. He had a 1.41 ERA and struck out 37 in 39.3 inning of work.
Ferraioli led the Cougars in innings pitched (42) and struck out 67 batters in that time. His ERA was 1.67. Although he was 2-2, he did have two important saves.
Stafflinger averaged better than a strikeout per inning this spring with 47 total in 43 innings. He went 3-2 and had an ERA of 2.10 for the Braves.
Antico was the player who stirred things up for the Cougars offense with his baserunning. A walk was as good as a double, as he led the Shore in stolen bases by a wide margin with 31. Those steals were turned into runs, as he crossed the plate 24 times. He batted .405 on the season with 30 hits. His on-base percentage was .478.
Napolitano, a junior, had an outstanding season offensively and defensively for the Mustangs. He batted .358 with a .422 on-base percentage, and he drove in 18 runs.
Along with his contributions on the mound with his no-hitter, Holdorf was also one of Colonials’ best hitters. He batted .376 on 26 hits and drove in 17 — both team highs.
Ford had the best offensive season of anyone in the district. He batted .412, had an on-base percentage of .500 and a slugging percentage of .618, which were all tops in the district. For extra-base hits, he had three doubles, a triple and three home runs. Only a sophomore, he is the leader of a young Patriots team with a lot of potential.
Clarke batted .348 for the Cougars and was second on the club in RBIs (14), runs scored (15) and doubles (six) — sharing that with Umbro, who batted .333.
Rodriguez played a solid third base for Manalapan and was pretty productive with the bat. He hit .341 for the season and had 21 RBIs and 10 extra-base hits (seven doubles, one triple and two home runs).
Hansen was Manalapan’s big run producer. His 27 RBIs were the seventh best total in the conference. His nine doubles were sixth highest in the Shore. Hansen batted .360 for the Braves with a .500 slugging average. He had 31 hits and scored 20 runs while driving in 27.
Gedell rapped out 30 hits and batted .385 for the Rebels, who were early contenders in the division and made the final four in the Monmouth County Tournament. He was co-leader on the team in RBIs (13) and the leader in runs scored (18).
Hackett batted .343 and scored 14 times for the Rebels.
Zuppe batted .324 as a hitter and went 4-1 on the mound. Traynor batted .361 from the DH spot for Howell.
Naplitano, Antico, Chiusano and Ferraioli were picked to play for the Shore Conference’s Carpenter Cup team.
Student-athletes who have earned All-FRHSD honorable mention recognition for their performances during the 2016 season are Tim Cavrak (infield), Colts Neck; James Manos (infield) and Chris Cassandra (infield), Freehold; Connor Fey (infield/pitcher), Howell; Mike Mollica (outfield) and John Pudder (pitcher), Manalapan; and Brian Reilly (infield), Marlboro.
