Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
Now is the time for the Colts Neck High School baseball team to revert to its earlier ways.
That is the belief of Colts Neck coach Mike Yorke.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been playing great baseball as of late,” Yorke said. “So, our goal now is the state tournament. And our goal is to get back to the start of the season, where we were playing better baseball. We’ve lost a few in a row here, and it’s kind of thrown us off. We can’t let a few difficult losses take us off track like that. So we’re going to go out here and continue to try to get this right.”
The Cougars will try to get back to its winning ways and rebound from a 10-7 setback that they suffered to Jackson Memorial High School on May 10 in Colts Neck. The defeat left Colts Neck with an 8014 record.
Yorke did touch on how he is pleased with the team’s attitude.
“The good thing is that the kids haven’t quit,” Yorke said. “They genuinely want to come out and play well every day. They put in the hard work. They’re good, hard-working kids, and they pull for each other every day. So, I can’t be mad at that. That’s a great thing to see in a bunch of young men.”
Effort aside, Yorke still believes that his club’s defense will be key if Colts Neck is to turn its fortunes around.
“We talk about defending every base,” Yorke said. “Stealing outs sometimes. Instead of giving the other team an extra out every inning. Instead of giving our opponent a free base here or there. It’s been a work in progress. Not too often has a team in our 14 losses have come in and really beaten us. And, that’s not to take away from the other teams. However, a lot of times it’s been more of us making our own mistakes and beating ourselves.”
Yorke is also waiting to see his offense begin to erupt behind catcher Rob Mannino and third baseman Adrian Jimenez.
“We need to hit all the way through the lineup,” Yorke said. “Started off hitting the ball well. We were able to switch guys around in the lineup. It hasn’t been like that lately, so we’re hoping that turns around so we can start to outscore teams.”
