While the 2012 season figures to be a good one for the South Brunswick High School baseball team, the Vikings will have to find a way to overcome a slow start.
Following the first three days of the season, South Brunswick is 0-3. The
third loss was 8-7 to East Brunswick on Apr. 5.
Good thing this is a team full of fighters.
"This year's Viking baseball team is a blue-collar, hard-working group that will play hard from the first pitch of the game until the last," South Brunswick Manager Tim Sweeney said. "They are willing to do whatever it takes to win and be successful. With the team's combination of speed, defense and a strong offense, the Vikings are looking to have another competitive season in the GMC Red Division."
According to Sweeney, South Brunswick came into the season ready to go.
"The team had a great off-season this past fall and winter," Sweeney said. "They lifted and did a lot of speed and agility work together three days a week. Most of them worked out and hit together in the off-season as well. It's a close knit group this year. They all pull for one another and are willing to work hard to achieve our goals."
South Brunswick is coming off a season in which it went 15-8. It was 11-3
and co-champions in the Red Division. Going into his fourth year as coach,
Sweeney came into the season with a career record of 46-25.
South Brunswick starts a veteran team, with everyone in the starting lineup either a junior or senior. Dan Levin (catcher). Jack Young (first base), Luke Rimmer (second/third base), Sean Rogers (second/third base) and Nick Muha are all seniors. Sean Keenan (shortstop). Brian Oates (second/third base), TJ Perkowski (outfield), Chris Huber (outfield), Tommy Fisher (outfield) and Alex Veglia (outfield) are juniors.
"This year's Viking baseball team has a good combination of returning players with varsity experience and new, upcoming talent," Sweeney said. "It is a very deep roster full of players with multiple skills. We are expecting big contributions from the entire lineup, top to bottom."
Actually, the entire team is made up of juniors and seniors, including key reserves Vince Catalfamo (a senior infielder), Ken Drost (a junior catcher) and Nick Veglia (a junior infielder).
South Brunswick gave the ball to senior Alex Carroll, a lefty, to pitch
the opener. He responded by blanking Sayreville on four hits and striking out 11 in five innings of work. Unfortunately, the bullpen faltered and allowed four runs in the top of the seventh in a 4-3 loss on April 3.
Sean Keenan finished the game with three hits for South Brunswick, including a homer.
South Brunswick was also defeated by Sayreville, 9-2, on Apr. 4.
The Greater Middlesex Conference decided to have teams face each other in back-to-back games to try and make things as fair as possible. This way teams have to be deeper and can't be hurt or helped by the luck of always catching or missing an opponent's ace pitcher.
As the season unfolds. South Brunswick hopes to show it has a lot of depth in its pitching staff. In addition to Carroll, Ryan Savage, Danny Strickland and Nick Scola are also lefty seniors. Mark Montagna (senior), TJ Perkowski (junior), Sean Keenan (junior) and Mike Dilusto (junior) are all right-handers.
"This group of players can play multiple positions and contribute to the team success in many different aspects of the game," Sweeney said. "It is a team that doesn't rely on one or two players to carry the roster. If one player isn't getting the job done, there is someone else who will step up and take on a leadership role."
