IRON MIKE: Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball player Michael Prete takes a swing in recent action. Last week, former Princeton High star and Susquehanna University rising sophomore baseball player Prete went 1-for-2 with a run and three RBIs as Princeton rolled to a 17-5 win over Trenton Post 93/182 in a game had been suspended on July 8 due to rain. The win left Post 218 with a final record of 3-16. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Coming off his freshman season for the Susquehanna University baseball team, Michael Prete was fired up to play one last summer for the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball squad.
“I started with Princeton baseball, playing T-ball when I was five,” said Prete, a former Princeton High standout. “I love being part of the Princeton baseball community. Me and my dad (Jerry) will come to the fields and get swings in together whenever. I owe him a lot of credit. He has helped me so much over the years, he has taken me so many times to hit.”
Last week as Post 218 finished up a game with visiting Trenton Post 93/182 that had been suspended on July 8 due to rain, Prete helped Princeton enjoy its best hitting stretch of the season as it exploded for a 14-run outburst in the bottom of the second inning where the game had left off.
“It was definitely great, especially coming off the delay and reschedule,” said Prete, reflecting on the July 14 continuation of the contest. “We were able to come out hot and it wasn’t due to just one person. It was really a team effort. I don’t know if we have had a game with many runs in the past.”
Prete drew a bases-loaded walk and smacked a run-scoring double as part of the rally.
“I saw the situation with bases loaded and you just think about passing the bat to the next guy, trying to be as selfless as possible,” said Prete, reflecting on his double. “You have got to do what is best for the team and stop thinking about yourself.”
Post 218 went on to pull away to a 17-5 win in a game ended after five innings on the 10-run rule to finish the summer with a 3-16 record.
“It has been an up-and-down season,” said Prete, who ended up going 1-for-2 with a run and three RBIs in the win. “To be able to come together as a team and just get a win for Princeton that is what it all comes back to. We will take this to end on a high note.”
Prete ended his Post 218 career on a high note as his clutch hitting down the stretch proved to be a major plus for the club. For Prete, playing hard to the end was a matter of dedication.
“You make a commitment to play on a team,” said Prete. “You have to honor your commitment, come to practice and pregame and take every rep seriously.”
While Prete didn’t see any game action this spring for Susquehanna, he is committed to making progress for the Division III Crusaders.
“It is definitely an eye-opening experience, being a freshman at the college level,” said Prete. “The great thing about having four years of opportunities is having four years to grow. I am just looking to better myself every year with more time.”
In Prete’s view, playing this summer for Post 218 helped him get better.”
“The extra reps are amazing,” said Prete. “It is also a great group of guys. There is great morale on the team. I have grown up with these guys.”
Post 218 manager Peter Nielsen was happy to see his guys come through their 14-run outburst.
“We came into the game like it was a 0-0 ballgame, it also sets a tone,” said Nielsen. “We are the home team but we got to bat first. We get to score the first runs and it ends up being 14 runs in that inning. It was just producing at the plate which I have been preaching all year. You do the right things at the plate, you have a strategy at the plate and good things are going to happen. We were able to move guys over, get on base, and be patient at the plate.”
Prete’s production was a highlight this year for Princeton.“Mike has been getting big RBIs for us, swinging the bat really well and just hitting the ball left and right,” said Nielsen. “It is very good to have a college guy with experience; being able to bring it back to Legion ball and not just show the older guys but especially for the younger guys to be able to see what you can be. Sharing that experience with them is a great thing.”
On the mound, recently graduated PHS standout Travis Petrone did some great things. After giving up four runs in the first two innings of the game before it was suspended, Petrone settled in as he only gave up one run and ended the game with seven strikeouts.
“It is a mindset re-set, you have to go out there and prove it,” said Nielsen. “Travis was on top of the ball, he threw strikes for us. That is all I keep asking – throw strikes and good things are going to happen. He threw fastballs sprinkled in with a couple of curve balls. That was the way to go.”
Nielsen liked seeing his team doing good things in the finale. “It is definitely to get a win this way, especially towards the end of the season,” said Nielsen. “It is nice to go out with a win like we did tonight.”
Over the course of the season, Post 218 did some good things with the bat.
“At the plate, you look at the beginning of the year and we were only scoring one or two runs a game,” said Nielsen. “Then all of a sudden in the middle of the season, our bats were getting into the groove. We were outhitting teams in a lot of games. I think the plate approach and the at-bats that we had being able to put the ball in play in the middle of the season towards the end of the season we improved a lot in that.”
Two other PHS players, rising senior Anders Hedin and rising junior Matt Brophy, showed a lot of improvement.
“Anders started towards the bottom of our lineup in the beginning and he ended up being our three, four hitter consistently,” said Nielsen. “He was a guy who could just keep putting the ball into play. He was not trying to do too much, which is another model of mine. You are just able to put the ball in play and just keep hitting line drives. I wanted to get Matt a lot of reps and he got some nice hits. He was another kid who was able to produce at the plate later on in the season and find his groove out there.”
Looking ahead, Nielsen is confident that Post 218 will produce even more next year.
“I think we are in a good place, we have a lot of young guys coming up,” said Nielsen. “For them to see the older guys that are also staying in the program and to share that experience is going to be very valuable for everyone.”
Prete enjoyed providing Princeton the benefit of his experience.
“It is great, I loved being able to be the oldest guy on the team,” said Prete. “Hopefully they looked up to me in some way, shape or form. I loved being here.”