TURNING THE CORNER: Princeton Day School baseball player Gavin Ross rounds third base as PDS head coach Eric Schnepf sends him home. Ross emerged as a star this spring for PDS in his sophomore season, hitting .407 and excelling on the mound with 39 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings. The Panthers, who posted a 13-14 final record, advanced to the Prep B state final and to the quarterfinal round of both the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) and New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Group B tournaments. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Bill Alden
While the Princeton Day School baseball team fell short of achieving a winning record this season, it still accomplished a lot.
PDS, which posted a 13-14 record, advanced to the Prep B state final and to the quarterfinal round of both the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) and New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Group B tournaments.
“We had a really strong end to the season,” said PDS head coach Eric Schnepf. “They were playing really good baseball. They were really confident in themselves and each other and that translates really well.”
An 11-1 win over Holy Cross Prep in the first round of the South Jersey Group B tourney served as a microcosm of the program’s progress.
“Mason [Roitburg] threw a fantastic game,” said Schnepf. “We played good defense behind him. We swung it really well, there was a lot of competitive at-bats. You do all of those things and it usually turns out well.”
In quarterfinal, the Panthers took a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning over top-seeded and eventual sectional champion Gloucester Catholic before falling 10-3.
“Obviously they are a very good team, they are very talented,” said Schnepf. “We played well the entire game. We held that lead until the fifth and then they had a big inning. We unfortunately couldn’t stop the bleeding soon enough. I was proud of the way the boys played, the kids continued to fight. They are competitive kids. It didn’t go our way that day.”
Schnepf is proud of what his players accomplished this spring as they caught fire after losing their first five games.
“I think we are happy with the year; it would be nice to get off to a little better start early but that has been our MO that last couple of years,” said Schnepf. “What I am most proud of is what the season shows. We struggled early. We could have folded, lost our confidence and changed our attitudes. Our culture could have gone awry. The kids just decided to dig their heels in and keep fighting. They had to keep competing and keep working hard. Eventually it clicked and from there we were were really off and running. I am just proud of their ability, individually and as a team, to overcome the adversity to get us where we finished.”
The team’s one senior, Grayson McLaughlin, exemplified that competitive spirit.
“He was a great teammate,” said Schnepf of McLaughlin who batted .152 with seven runs and had a 3.50 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 18 innings of work. “He gave us some innings on the mound, had some good performances. He got some timely hits when called upon. I think that just speaks to his character. It is his senior spring. He is not playing all of the time but he always showed up for the guys and for the team. He had a good attitude and did whatever we asked.”
Matt Silverman and Mason Roitburg came up big in their junior campaign. Silverman batted .429 with 26 runs and a team-high 25 RBIs while Roitburg batted .212 with 11 runs and had 50 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings on the mound with a 3.47 ERA.
“Matt coming back from his injury after not playing at all last year had a great year,” said Schnepf, noting that another member of that class, Keegan Fullman was hampered by injury this spring. “He is an outfielder; one of our guys got hurt and we transitioned him to first. He did a good job there. He is coachable, he is athletic and that translated really well to his performance. It was great to have him back. Mason was super consistent on the mound, especially down the stretch.”
The squad’s core of rising juniors — Owen Ehrenkranz, Gavin Ross AJ Doran, Vince Filis, Cameron Keleman, and Ryan Zieselman — performed very well this spring as they starred with the bat and on the mound.
Ehrenkranz batted .259 with 19 runs and had 71 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings with a 3.23 ERA while Ross batted .407 with a team-high 33 runs and excelled on the mound with 39 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings. Doran had a .297 batting average with 19 RBIs, Filis hit .308 with 20 runs, and Keleman had 15 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings on the mound and had a .308 batting average while Zieselman batted .312 with 10 runs.
“Overall, it is a really strong class,” said Schnepf. “They are talented and they work hard. They are competitive, they are focused, and they are coachable. They all really get along and love each other. When you have that mix, it always bodes well.”
The pair of Dom Carabelli (.292 with 20 runs) and Mack Chiavarone (.314 with 20 RBIs) emerged as standouts in their freshman season.
“It is a learning curve going into your freshman year,” said Schnepf. “You have to adjust to the pace, you have to adjust to the mental adversity. It started off a little bit slower than they would have liked but they just found their stride relatively early on and just rode it from there. They had tremendous years for us.”
In Schnepf’s view, the program is in a tremendous place as it heads into next season and beyond.
“I think we are excited for what next couple of years holds for us,” said Schnepf. “In the counties, we had a lead in the quarters and ended up losing to Allentown. We went to the Prep B final. We had a lead against Gloucester in the state tournament. I think it left them motivated. They see what they are capable of. They are confident in themselves and in each other and what we are bring back next year. I think that is going to translate into a really good offseason for them. They are going to put in the work with that extra motivation. It is going to be really good for the program.”