ON THE BALL: Princeton High baseball player Jaxon Petrone takes a pickoff throw at first base in action last spring. Senior star Petrone will be filling a lot of roles this spring for the Tigers as a pitcher, hitter, and infielder. PHS opens the 2022 campaign by hosting Steinert on April 1. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

With his Princeton High baseball team featuring a group of 14 seniors, Dom Capuano is going to face a major challenge in figuring out to deploy the resources at his disposal.

“This is definitely the deepest team I have had to date, it is just seeing who emerges,” said PHS head coach Capuano, who guided PHS to an 11-9 record in 2021 and its first victory in the state tournament in years.

“The theme of the year is to compete. We have to compete with ourselves to push each other in a positive way to get the best team overall out there.”

To that end, Capuano is driving his players to compete on a daily basis.

“Every day, we start practice with a different competition,” said Capuano, whose team opens the 2022 campaign by hosting Steinert on April 1.

“Part of our practice is competing in everything we do. It is getting them to understand that competing with each other is OK. It is OK to compete with each other as long as you understand that competition is for the end goal of the team being successful.”

After the success the squad experienced last spring, Capuano is looking for his players to take things to the next level.

“It is a mission, it is understanding of how to continue to elevate themselves and the program,” said Capuano. “It is a destination that they strive to get to. We just have to keep preparing to get there.”

The Tigers boast a mound corps in seniors Jaxon Petrone, Kenny Schiavone, Pete Hare, and Connor McDowell along with juniors Wes Price and Jon Tao that could elevate the team this spring.

“Jaxon and Schiavone will be our main guys, they have liked good so far,” said Capuano. “Kenny looked real good in his scrimmage start, Jaxon hasn’t had one yet but he has been looking good otherwise. As for other seniors, you are looking at Pete and Connor and then you are looking at Wes and Jon from the junior class. There is a lot of pitching, it is just who is going to end up doing well.”

As for the PHS defense, four-year starting catcher Carl Birge will be the linchpin.

“Carl is the big one; he is the best defensive catcher in the county at the very least,” said Capuano. “I feel like I can completely ignore calling pitches because he is just so well-versed at catching and I don’t have  to worry about that. It makes my job a lot easier.”

There will be plenty of competition for jobs around the infield as Capuano will be mixing and matching a number of veteran players.

“Every infield position is probably going to be a who is hitting type of position,” said Capuano. “First base could be Jaxon, it could be Kenny, or it could be sophomore Michael Prete. I am hoping Drew [Petrone] is at shortstop. We have Pete who can contribute at third or short. Dylan Newman should contribute at short or third. We also have a slew of other people with guys like Theo Steiger and Jack Durbin. When it comes to infield it is going to be who is hitting. They can all hold their own defensively.”

In the outfield, senior star and Vassar College-bound Jensen Bergman will be patrolling center field. Like the infield, Capuano will be looking at a number of other players to fill the corner spots.

“If we are just talking strictly defensively, we easily have the fastest outfield, I can rotate four or five people,” said Capuano. “Aiden Castillo, who tied Jensen in stolen bases last year, is out there. We have James Petrone and Alex Winters — that is a lot of speed. Jon should also be out there.”

The speedy Bergman, a star sprinter for the PHS winter track team, will be depended on to be an offensive catalyst.

“Jensen basically tied Flynn [Kinney] for the team lead in average last year, I think it was .350 and .351; he is going to lead off,” said Capuano.

As for the rest of the batting order, Capuano is weighing a number of options.

“I could make 10 different lineups right now and not be fully set on one,” said Capuano. “A lot of guys are doing well; right now it is probably 12 or 13 guys for nine spots in that order.”

In Capuano’s view, doing things by committee should yield success this spring.

“Offensively, defensively and on the mound, we may not have that guy but we are deeper,” said Capuano. “There are more people to rely on and there are more ways to get through it whereas in the past, we haven’t really had that. Our biggest team strength is speed, far and away. Our keys to success are getting on base and then using our speed to force the issue on other teams and doing every little thing correctly.”

With so many seniors on the roster, Capuano believes that experience will help the Tigers get things done this spring.

“We have some lofty goals as a team,” said Capuano. “A benefit of having an older team is that they understand what needs to be done now. It is just a matter of executing, it is less about learning. It is making sure they are competing through everything. They know how to do the little things, it is the big picture now.”