One certainty about the high school spring sports season is that it moves very briskly along, more so than the preceding winter and fall campaigns, and with the seeding meeting for the 92nd Greater Newark Tournament now just two weeks away (Monday, April 21) it’s never too early to look at what might develop as teams look to build up their pitching staffs in the coming days.
Another sure fact about who will be reaching the Saturday, May 10, GNT Final 4 at Seton Hall Prep’s Porcello Field, is that their pitching will have to carry them, whether you’re the defending champion Pirates with major league prospect Marcelo Harsch or another solid team such as West Essex which returns as many as nine veteran hurlers from last year.
One should look for the Super Essex Conference’s top division, the American, with SHP, West Essex, defending SEC champion Livingston, Millburn, Columbia and Montclair, to be vying for favorable seeds when the field is assembled at Caldwell on April 21.
SHP owns an important early-season 4-0 win vs. Livingston when Harsch tossed six innings of 1-hit ball, walking one and striking out seven, under the watchful eye of major league scouts watched and recorded pitch speeds for the Wake Forest commit who could very well wind up being a selection to watch in this year’s MLB draft which will take place July 13-15, in Atlanta.
Livingston also has a deep mound corps with veteran hurlers such as seniors Max Peri and Tyler Chen, who threw six-plus solid innings of 3-hit ball vs. SHP this past Thursday, and junior Adam Goldberg.
West Essex returns its own strong arsenal of arms headed by senior Chris Murano, with others such as Aidan Burgos and Caden Lozito ready to impact as well.
The Knights, like SHP and Livingston, also have another key ingredient to a strong mound staff with a veteran, defensive-minded catcher in Colin Fogg, while the Pirates look to Middlebury commit Henry Ayers, and Livington relies on its own experienced backstop John Marco Maiello to also adroitly guide their pitchers through any pressure-packed contest.
Never count out a Brian Chapman pitching-oriented Millburn squad which has gotten off to solid start this season following last year’s 11-16 campaign (4-8 in the SEC-American) as the Millers feature one of the deeper staffs in the conference with veteran seniors such as 4-year varsity starter Alex Faust and fellow veteran hurler Charlie Krasnove along with youngsters to watch such as junior right-hander Charlie Wall and a pair of talented southpaws in senior Jake Roesler and sophomore Leo Dalton, who threw six innings of -hit ball with four strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Columbia on Thursday, April 3.
Columbia, which has high hopes under veteran coach Ryan Muirhead, has a potentially strong pitching staff to try and reverse last year’s 9-16-1 record into an above .500 campaign this spring led by hurlers to watch such as Ithaca commit Max Caracciolo and Fairleigh Dickinson University-bound Oliver Ellis.
Montclair looks like it has a way to go in terms of overall development with several youngsters now in the mix, but the Mounties have a 4-year varsity pitcher in all-state second baseman Benjamin St. Pierre, who can certainly throw hard and isn’t afraid to face anyone’s lineup, and junior left-hander David Aishton continues to make progress on the hill.
Looking around the rest of the SEC, Caldwell looks to make progress in the Liberty Division with its young team which does feature talented, veteran pitchers in senior Drew University commit Marco Sozio along with promising sophomore Dan Vybihal.
Verona, under the guidance of veteran coach Joe Phelan, has gotten off to strong start and has a potentially deep mound staff that includes senior Frank Orrei, junior Shawn McElroy and sophomore Dom Kennedy.
St. Benedict’s is guided by quite the pitching name in former major leaguer Willie Banks, who looks to a promising, young mound staff led by junior Angele Estevez and sophomore Jeremy Mercado.
West Orange looks to veteran juniors Matthew Schaefer and Jay Stevenson to help the Mountaineers diamond squad find its way to success in the SEC’s second division and still a solid baseball loop in the countywide conference.
Follow Steve Tober on 'X' @Chattermeister
