By Jimmy Allinder
South River High School won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey, Group I and Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Blue Division baseball championships last spring, but repeating is going to be a challenge.
Five from that championship team have graduated, four of which are playing in college. While five regulars are back, there are still major holes to fill.
Still, head coach Mike Lepore Jr. is confident that the team he puts on the field will not only be in contention for the division crown, but also make another run at winning the sectional title.
“Replacing the starters will be difficult, but the guys filling their positions have done very well in the preseason,” Lepore said. “I think the experience they had playing in the postseason will help them and they, in turn, will be better examples for our newcomers.”
Lepore said it will also be important for his pitching staff to throw strikes, and there’s a new rule that’s been instituted by the NJSIAA that limits pitch counts.
Pitchers will be required to rest a certain number of days based on the number of pitches thrown: 91-110 (that’s the limit), four days; 71-90, three days; 51-70, two days; and 31-50, one day. Pitchers who toss fewer than 31 pitches can enter a game the next day but cannot have thrown more than 50 pitches on consecutive days.
Finally, no hurler can throw three calendar days in a row, and no pitcher can throw more than 140 pitches over a “rolling” five-day period. In effect, teams with deep pitching staffs will have a distinct advantage.
South River will start junior Brandon Szerszen at shortstop, where he hit .365 last season with 35 hits and 21 runs batted in. Junior pitcher and third baseman R.J. Fischer batted .242, junior Kyle French will play first and sophomore Mike DeSantis will catch.
The newcomers are senior pitcher and outfielder Billy Marlow, sophomore pitcher and second baseman Nick Razzano, senior pitcher Nick Morris, junior third baseman Joey Leviton, sophomore second baseman and outfielder Billy Drum and sophomore pitcher Tyler Szerszen.
With the new pitch-count rule, the coaching staff will need to be on top of how pitchers are used, and South River has one of the most tenured in the state in Mike Lepore Sr., entering his 53rd year (including a stint as Middlesex County College coach). Other members of the staff include Matt Musante, Michael Feaster and Michael O’Halloran.
Inclement weather has forced practices to be held indoors, but the regular season is still scheduled to begin April 3. The Rams host Carteret High School and then meet the Ramblers the next day. Those games will be followed by another home game with Metuchen High School April 7 and a road game with the Bulldogs the next day.
