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Jersey Sporting News • 4/2/13 - 4/21/13
BRICK MEMORIAL BASEBALL LOOKING FOR A TITLE IN 2013 By Mike Ready
BRICK – The Brick Memorial Mustangs made huge strides in its baseball program in 2012 and expects to continue to build on that success this season. After posting a 8-14 record in 2011, the Mustangs turned things around in 2012 going 15-10, 6-4 in the division while making all three tournaments (Ocean, Shore and Central Jersey Group IV), tying for third in the very competitive Class A South division and being ranked eighth in the final Shore Conference poll. They also lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to No.1 Jackson in the Ocean County Tournament final; one-of-four close losses to the Jaguars last season. Second team All-Shore Conference pitcher, Brian Cottrell, returns as a senior and team leader, and feels his team is primed for a breakout season. “I think we’re looking really good for this season. We have five starting position players returning with a lot of experience and two starting pitchers; I think we can go far.” Cottrell has some goals in mind. “We want to win the South (Class A), then the tournaments. I really want to win the Ocean County Tournament.”
Last year, Cottrell finished 6-2 with two saves and a 1.58 earned run average (ERA) in 51 1/3 innings. Cottrell also struck out 34 batters in 54 innings of work for the Mustangs. Senior Cory Zytko returns, and is the number two starter after coming into his own in the 2012 season. Zytko went 2-3 in 35 innings with a 2.80 ERA and 21 strikeouts. Senior Kyle Skoog is the third starter and should provide some quality innings for the Mustangs when he’s not in right field. The lefthander pitched 10 innings of relief last year, striking out nine and walking none with one save. He also stole 11 bases and scored 10 runs. Another senior, Brian Pintinics, steps into the fourth starter role as well as battling senior Matt Hall for the starting second base position.
scored six runs as a part-time player last year. Head coach Even Rissitello expects big things out of Hobbs this year. “Hobbs gained a lot of experience last year and his play this preseason has been tremendous.” Junior Kyle Cala bats third and plays centerfield. Cala’s another speedster that covers a lot of ground in center field and is a threat to steal bases. He averaged .325 last season with 12 R, 8 RBI, and 9 steals. Batting cleanup is senior third baseman Michael Martone, a three-year starter. After hitting .259 last season Martone, a solid if not exceptional defensive player, expects to add more offense to his game this year. In the fifth spot of the order for the Mustangs is senior catcher Ryan Melia. Melia knows his pitching staff and calls a great game. He batted .308 last year with nine runs batted in.
One-through-five in the batting order is set with Skoog leading off followed by junior shortstop, Tyler Hobbs. Hobbs batted .286 and
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Senior Evan Kachelhoffer and junior Joe Piper are in a battle for starting leftfielder, while junior Anthony Assante and freshman Brian Markoski are in a close race for the first base job. Both positions may end up in a platoon situation if there is no clear-cut favorite.
Rizzitello likes the experience his team possesses, “A lot of these guys have three year’s varsity experience. They’ve been starting since sophomore year and have been playing together since before high school. We have a very cohesive club because of this. Last year we lost a lot of very close games during the season and in the tournaments; I’m hoping this experience puts us over the top.” Follow me on twitter @getmready
Braves Look to Three-peat as State Champions in 2013 By: Pat Ralph Coming off a second straight season with a NJSIAA Group IV State Championship, the Manalapan Braves enter the 2013 season with one goal in mind: three-peat. Though the chances of them repeating may be very difficult, the Braves are no strangers to being underdogs. After a dominating 2011 season in which the Braves left no doubt they were the best team in their state group, Manalapan’s run to their second straight state title came as much more of a surprise, as the Braves only returned two starters and were an average team for most of the 2012 season. The Braves went 18-11 (7-5 in Class A North) in 2012 and finished tied for third in the always-competitive Class A North division. The Braves enter the 2013 season ranked #6 in the Shore Conference and are led by manager, Bryan Boyce, who begins his eighth season at the helm and is committed to keeping his team focused upon contending for and winning Class A North, the Monmouth County Tournament title, and the Shore Conference Tournament title before thinking about winning a third straight Group IV championship. Even though they lost several of their best players from the 2012 squad to graduation, Manalapan returns the majority of their core for the 2013 campaign. The strength of Manalapan’s squad is the pitching with senior righthanders, Matt Simonetti and Dennis Girolamo, leading the way. Simonetti went 4-3 in 31 innings of work in 2012 with a 2.31 earned run average (ERA), 2 saves, and 25 strikeouts, while Girolamo went 3-0 in 35 innings of work with a 3.17 ERA and 35 strikeouts. Despite losing several key members of their starting lineup, the Braves return five players with vast experience from their 2012 squad. The best hitter in the lineup is the leadoff man, senior catcher, Michael Knauf, who hit .329 with 16 runs batted in (RBI) as a junior. The lineup also features the likes of senior third baseman, Billy Moed, senior outfielders, Greg Yip and Chris Tiplado, and junior second baseman, Matt Parke. Moed hit .376 with 2 homeruns and 11 RBI’s, Yip hit .290 with 6 RBI’s, Tiplado hit .317 with 6 RBI’s, and Parke hit .262 with 19 RBI’s in 2012. The Braves may not be the favorites to win their own division, the county title, or the conference title, but they will definitely make noise throughout the entire season. And if they claim they are not thinking about a three-peat as state champions, the thought of it at least has to be in the back of their minds as they move forward throughout the season. A strong regular season in the Shore Conference will be a key if Manalapan wants to make it a three-peat as Group IV state champions. After returning from a national preseason tournament in Florida this past week, the Manalapan Braves begin their 2013 campaign on Monday, April 1st against division rival and defending MCT champion Freehold Township.