The South Brunswick High School baseball team's slow start was not a big surprise. Then again, neither was the fact that slow start didn't last very long.
"The big thing with us is that we have a young team," South Brunswick Coach Tim Sweeney said. "We didn't have a lot of returning starters. It took a little while for everyone to adjust to the speed of the varsity game."
Having made that adjustment, South Brunswick won four out of its past five games and is now 6-4 on the season. More importantly, South Brunswick is 6-1 within its division.
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South Brunswick's most recent win was a 8-2 victory over JP Stevens on Apr. 21.
Zach Gildenberg worked six innings and picked up the pitching win. He is now 3-0 on the season.
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The big offensive inning for South Brunswick was a six-run sixth. Craig Cleffi, Ariel Torres, Jon Yurecko and Jack Young all doubled in the decisive inning. Earlier in the game, Matt Amato had homered.
"Matt Amato is really coming on," Sweeney said. "He has seven hits in his last ten at bats."
The win was the second in as many days against JP Stevens. South Brunswick also won 4-0 over JP Stevens on Apr. 20.
Alex Carroll worked the first five innings. TJ Perkowski worked the final two frames in the combined shutout.
Yurecko had two hits and two runs scored. Amato had three hits and a RBI. Cleffi, Gildenberg and Young each had a hit and RBI.
Prior to the two wins against JP Stevens, South Brunswick was shut out by Rancocas Valley, 2-0, on Apr. 18.
Mike Katcher (one run in 3 2/3 innings), Danny Strickland (one run in 2 1/3 innings) and Nick Scola (scoreless inning) pitched well in the loss.
On Apr. 15, South Brunswick defeated Edison, 13-3.
Gildenberg worked five innings and earned the win. He was backed by a lot of offense, including three hits, three runs scored and four RBI by Keenan. The game before, Keenan singled home Young (who tied the game with a double) with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh in a 9-8 win over Edison.
"Sean Keenan has been hot lately," Sweeney noted. "It's nice because we don't have to rely on one or two guys to provide the offense. We have leadoff guys getting on base. We have guys batting seventh and eighth in the lineup driving in runs. It's nice to see it coming from everyone."
In the Apr. 15 win over Edison, Mike Bauer had a hit, run scored and two RBI. Gildenberg had two hits and a run scored. Cleffi had two hits, two runs scored and a RBI. Yurecko had two hits, a run scored and two RBI. Torres had a hit and run scored. Amato had two hits, two RBI and a run scored. Sean Rogers had a hit, run scored and RBI.
"The guys are just playing now, rather than thinking about it," Sweeney said. "They're all hitting the ball. It's what you want to see."
So much for that slow start.
"It's not how you start, it's how you finish," Sweeney said.
South Brunswick is scheduled to host Sayreville on Apr. 22.
