WILL TO SUCCEED: Princeton High baseball player Will Arns follows through on a swing in a game this spring. Junior infielder Arns came up big this spring, batting .309 with a team-high 15 RBIs as the Tigers went 9-16. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
Facing Hunterdon Central in the first round of the state tournament, the Princeton High baseball team got off to a flying start.
PHS pushed across two runs in its first at-bat to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the May 27 game.
But Hunterdon Central responded with two runs in the bottom of the first and pulled away to a 6-2 win in the opening round contest of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Jersey Group 4 tournament.
“You couldn’t ask for anything more than putting up two runs in the top of the first inning,” said Tiger head coach Dom Capuano, whose team ended the spring with a 9-16 record. “It was a great start but that was the last hit we had. We had one hit and it happened in the first.”
Capuano credited his club with battling to the end. “It was right there for us, we didn’t capitalize when we needed to,” said Capuano, noting that Hunterdon Central went on to win the sectional title. “In the third inning, we had a guy on with no outs and tried to bunt and it turned into a double play. We just didn’t have it offensively, that makes it tough to pitch and play defense.”
In assessing the season overall, Capuano saw progress even though PHS squandered opportunities at times this spring.
“I think the season was definitely more successful than our record reflects,” asserted Capuano. “There were some close losses. In that stretch of nine losses in a row, we probably should have won five or six of them.”
The play of two freshmen, infielder Asa Collins (.318 batting average with a team-high 24 hits) and pitcher Noah Prete (23 strikeouts in 24 innings with a 4.96 ERA), was a bright spot for the Tigers.
“I think the biggest areas of progress would be the freshmen getting valuable experience,” said Capuano. “Asa played every game, he led the team in hits. Down the stretch, Noah did tremendously in his last two starts. Some other freshmen got some opportunities which really helps for next year, especially since we are going to have to replace some people.”
Senior standout and Elon University commit Chase Hamerschlag will be hard to replace as he starred with his arm and bat. On the mound, Hamerschlag piled up 112 strikeouts in 54.2 innings with a 2.43 ERA. He ended his career with 221 strikeouts which is believed to be a program record along with his single-season total this year. At the plate, Hamerschlag hit. 338 with 23 hits and a team-high 17 runs.
“Two years in a row he led the team in batting average,” said Capuano.
“This year he started off terribly and finished with the best average at .338. On the mound with 54 innings, 112 strikeouts, I know his record doesn’t necessarily reflect how well he did. He probably had 54 innings in his sophomore and junior year combined so just him being able to do that is going to be a big missing piece.”
Three other seniors, Elian (Pop) Duran, Matt Akey, and Anders Hedin, were key pieces for the Tigers. Duran batted .273 with 12 hits while Akey hit .167 with seven RBIs and provided superb defense behind the plate at catcher. Hedin batted .269 with 18 hits and 12 runs. He also emerged as the squad’s key relief pitcher, striking out 37 in 23 innings.
“Pop’s bat became very, very consistent and important for us,” said Capuano. “Chase threw 221 strikeouts in his career and Matt caught 204 of them. I think that experience that Matt had and his control of the game is going to be hard to replace, especially early on. Hedin was a middle of the lineup guy for a good portion of the season. By the end of the season, he was our go-to reliever. Not only that, his versatility to hey our best lineup is you playing first base today, left field today or second base today. He played everywhere but catcher and the crazy part is that he caught a few games last year.”
The Tigers boast a solid foundation in place with juniors Will Arns (.309 with a team-high 15 RBIs), Matt Brophy (.167 average with 5 runs and 5 RBIs and 29 strikeouts in 31 innings on the mound), Charlie Baglio (.217 with 9 runs), and Nick Rizzo (.196 with 6 runs and 5 RBIs) in addition to Collins and Prete.
Capuano is looking for those juniors to come up big next spring in their final campaign with the program.
“I think there needs to be a jump if we want to improve on this season; the last two years we have stopped at nine wins,” said Capuano.
“The success, at least for me, is more measured by your success in tournament play. Everybody has to improve. Charlie played a decent amount last year where Brophy really didn’t and Rizzo really didn’t. Now that this season is over, we can take the self-reflection of that was a learning year. Our senior season needs to be the year of how do we improve ourselves and how can we improve everyone around us.”