Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
The confidence–and victories–are increasing for the baseball program at Old Bridge High School.
“We just need to keep building confidence,” Old Bridge coach Matt Donaghue said. “Building confidence and competing from the first pitch to the last.”
That confidence grew on April 26 when the Knights edged Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen, 3-2, in eight innings in Old Bridge.
The Knights faced a 2-1 deficit in the seventh inning, but junior Matt Flores was able to score the tying run off a sacrifice fly by junior Elliot Haywood.
In the eighth inning, junior pitcher Sonny Fauci scored on a junior Mike Olivia’s single to ice the victory for Old Bridge.
“We played good defense,” Donaghue said. “Our pitcher, Paul Tannucilli, kept us in the game by really battling and keeping batters off balance. We just kept fighting till the end, and I’m glad we got the win.”
Despite the victory, the Old Bridge coach still sees room for improvement.
“We want to keep getting better every day,” Donaghue said. “Just keep doing that and have everyone play for each other. If we do that, we’ll be fine.”
Donaghue raved about Old Bridge’s senior captain.
“Our catcher, [senior] Ryan Bradley, is the captain of the team,” Donaghue said. “He gets beat up every game. Takes foul balls off the chest all the time and never complains. The team feeds off of that.”
Donaghue also praised the work of his pitching staff.
“Our pitching staff as a whole has done really well this year. [Senior] Connor Freel is pitching really well as well,” Donaghue said. “Fauci has been pitching and hitting well. Haywood has turned the corner and has been playing really well as of late as well.”
The Knights will have another chance to boost their confidence on May 7 when they play as the host to Edison High School.
