By Scott Stump – Senior Editor
With basketball out of my system and the baseball season set to kick off five days from now, let’s get to some of the questions facing the Shore Conference scene this season.
During the next five days, I will be rolling out features and divisional previews to try and give you a full picture of what this season’s landscape entails and get some players some recognition before the first pitch comes hurtling toward the plate. Hopefully the weather will be a little better than the beginning of last season, when I witnessed current Philadelphia Phillies’ farmhand Kyle Slate throw a “snow-hitter” for Christian Brothers Academy against Freehold Township in a game in which a mini-blizzard took place during the game. I remember right after it was over, I was thinking I was going to end up like one of those failed climbers of Mount Everest with black toes and fingers getting lopped off, and then looking down and realizing the Patriots had no hits. Slate was hard enough to hit on a beautiful day, let alone a day when an aluminum bat doubled as a tuning fork.
But I digress. Let’s get to this season.
1. Who’s No. 1? The consensus is that it’s between Toms River South and Colts Neck for the preseason No. 1 ranking. The Indians look deeper, while the Cougars have star power behind Florida recruit Anthony DeSclafani, one of the state’s top pitchers. Obviously, DeSclafani can’t pitch every game, but Ethan Jackson is no slouch at No. 2. The big question is creating runs, as A.J. Rusbarsky and Dom Hayes were major catalysts last season, and senior outfielder Ashton Jackson leads the way this season.
Meanwhile, the Indians return Seton Hall recruit Chase Gray and Rutgers recruit Ryan Kapp along with junior standout Tyler Gebler, and have talent across the board. You’ll see who’s No. 1 when the DigitalSports Preseason Top 10 comes out next week.
2. How will the ‘Old Reliables,’ Ocean and Wall, be this season? Ocean lost some monster production in its lineup and will be more of a pitching and defense team this season than one that can just club teams into submission. Don’t forget, however, that the Spartans struggled to score runs for much of the early part of last season, but still found a way to win. Behind returner Jamie Rosenkranz, we’ll see if they can do it again.
Wall lost some key pitchers and some bats in the middle of the lineup, but this team always seems to be in the hunt. I would be surprised if the Crimson Knights aren’t right there for a repeat as Class B North champs and deep runs in several tournaments.
3. Who will win Class A Central? This division was chock full of star power last season between Raritan’s Marc Zecchino, Red Bank Catholic’s J.C. Menna, Rumson’s Ben Miller, St. John Vianney’s Chris Lewnes, Manasquan’s A.J. Miller, etc. It was a dogfight every day and this season looks no different. Numerous teams are battling early injuries to key players, so the first two weeks in this division could be interesting, with some teams stealing wins against opponents with some major contributors out of the lineup. I think RBC has a slight edge with Tom Higgins, Kyle O’Neill, Jake Beim and Nick Romano anchoring the lineup, and Mike Yaccarine leading the pitching staff. However, I think they are one of many serious contenders here, as I will get into more with the divisional previews. O’Neill is also out with a quadriceps pull and Romano recently broke his nose, so the Caseys are just trying to get into the season in one piece at this point.
4. What pitchers will make the leap this season? CBA’s Kyle Slate is the poster boy for a pitcher who went from a nice, all-division-type player to a monster in the course of one season. I don’t know if there is anybody who will make that giant of a jump this season, but there are certainly some candidates to have a lot more name recognition this season. I’m not really counting Toms River North’s Zach Brebner, because when you pitch like a beast in as many big games as he did last season, people know who you are, even if current Monmouth University freshman Chad Geran was the ace. I think Toms River South’s Tyler Gebler and Ocean’s Jamie Rosenkranz are all pretty well-known as well, and they are also impact position players in the infield.
One pitcher who has received interest from ACC, Big East and other schools is St. John Vianney junior righty Kevin MacLachlan, who has a big frame and a good fastball. He was the Lancers’ closer last year but will most likely start this season for a team hit hard by graduation. MacLachlan has a frame that scouts like to dream on, so his big year may be one year away, but certainly he could do it this season. I would put St. Rose’s Casey Cannon, another pitcher with size, in this category as well.
Barnegat’s Matt McNeal has committed to Kean, and on an experienced Bengals’ team that returns everyone, he could make a jump. With McNeal, it’s all about his location and his secondary pitches. He throws hard enough to blow it by most high school hitters, but must locate and try to generate some movement on his fastball against the elite hitters.
Freehold’s Matt Yuhas was another pitcher who generated some buzz last season for performances against teams like Ocean and Wall, and he could jump up in class this season as well. It’s crazy to think that Yuhas and DeSclafani could be on the same staff, as Yuhas transferred from Colts Neck after his sophomore year.
One sleeper pitcher could be Holmdel’s Ian Wladika, who baffled a lot of good Class A Central teams last season. His off-speed pitch is a knuckleball, and it’s nasty. The Hornets could face an uphill battle in a division with several solid teams, but Wladika gives them a chance to beat anyone when he’s on the mound.
Another young pitcher who made some impact last season is Jackson junior Kevin Needham, a converted catcher who went 4-0 and won some big games. The one thing about him that jumped out me is that he has great poise in pressure spots.
Manalapan’s Mark Holmes was excellent in some big games last season, and if the Braves stay near the top of Class A North, I’m sure you will be hearing plenty about him as well.
Finally, CBA coach Marty Kenney certainly wouldn’t mind big lefty Remy Cohen making a Slate-like leap this season. Cohen has committed to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) already, and will be counted on to get some big wins for the Colts this season.
5. Will anyone in Class B Central pitch to Shore’s Todd Juliano? They are going to have to think about it, as the junior slugger is going to be batting leadoff, according to Shore coach Jeff Karpell. Juliano slugged 10 homers last season and has 11 for his career, 19 away from the Shore Conference career record of 30 set by Ocean’s Keith Weinkofsky last year. With the Blue Devils losing some offensive firepower to graduation, including last season’s leadoff hitter, Juliano’s older brother, Tom, Todd may not be seeing a whole lot to hit this season. However, he has good speed and can still cause headaches for those who choose to put him on base.
6. Who will be this season’s most feared power hitter? Opponents would rather have bounced the ball up to the plate than pitch to Weinkofsky or Toms River South’s Joe Talerico last season, so who will that be this year? I could see Toms River North’s slugging first baseman, Bill Hoermann, potentially being that guy this season. He smokes line drives to all fields. Raritan’s Charlie Rivera, who is headed to Seton Hall, also is capable of embarrassing opposing pitchers in front of their friends and family with a bomb over the scoreboard. Watch out for Howell’s Brian Battaglia, who is headed to Wagner, to launch a few, as well as Manalapan catcher Nick Turano and Middletown South’s Mike Farrell.
7. Who will win Class A North? Always one of the Shore’s top divisions, it’s no less interesting this season. Colts Neck is the most loaded team on paper, so the Cougars have to be mentioned first. In addition to the usual 800-pound gorilla, CBA, which lost a ton to graduation, Manalapan has generated a lot of preseason buzz with 13 seniors and a good pitching staff, and Middletown South could be the sleeper team. The Eagles have enough offense to bludgeon teams led by junior Mike Farrell, and I think they have something to prove after underachieving last season. Howell should also have a potent offense, with the main question being whether the Rebels can get enough pitching to not have to win every game 15-11. Middletown North is always dangerous and has a lot of good, young players on the way. Freehold Township is another team that always seems to be in the thick of things, and this season should be no different. We’ll see how Marlboro does with a new coaching staff, but the Mustangs showed some flashes last season.
8. Will a year of experience pay off for Barnegat? The only team in the Shore that returns everyone (this is the first senior class in the infancy of the school), the Bengals look like the front-runner in Class B South. They lost a lot of heartbreakers against good teams by making that crucial error late in games or walking that one batter in a key spot or failing to move a runner over. If they have learned from those experiences and close out games, coach Tom Sutaris and his Bengals could be hanging the first banner in school history.
9. Can Jackson build on last season? The Jaguars held their own in the always brutal Class A South race and beat Toms River South in the Shore Conference Tournament. They lost their top three starters and catcher Bill Lee to graduation along with several other key contributors, but do have All-Division second baseman Ryan Guarino, infielder Cory Carr, Needham and others in a good junior class to fill the void. We’ll see if they can keep making headway toward the top of the division.
10. Does Henry Hudson have the goods to win the Class B Central public title? The Admirals reached the state playoffs for the first time since the 1990s last season and return a bulk of their team. How will they react now that they no longer can sneak up on anyone? While St. Rose is usually the clear overall favorite in this division, the public title should be a dogfight. Shore is the defending champ, but lost a lot to graduation. Led by senior Brian Olofson, Henry Hudson has the ability, but we’ll see how the Admirals react to some pressure after playing without any last season. No matter how many players they brought back, the Admirals will always have to prove the skeptics wrong because of their history of struggles.
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com
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