CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA BLACK
Raider Trackmen Get Edged; Place 2nd at County Relays
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
DAVE HERRMANN HAMMERS THREE DOUBLES
Minutemen Nine Out-Slug SP-F Raider Boys, 13-8 By DAVID B. CORBIN
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
Roberto Vasquez got the Minutemen started with a three-run double in the second inning, then the Elizabeth High School baseball team went on to outscore the Scotch PlainsFanwood boys, 13-8, in Scotch Plains on April 28. Dave Herrmann hammered three doubles and drove in half of the Raiders’ runs.
Pitcher Joe Ascolese retired the first three Minutemen, then the Raider offense attacked with two runs in the bottom of the first. Paul O’Conner drilled a one-out double to right-center, then Tim Pai and Joe Franzone both walked to load the bases. Herrmann stepped to the plate and hammered a two-run double to left field.
Minuteman Tony Martinez poked a one-out single to center in the second, then after Dave Hoary grounded out, Omar Suero reached safely on a mishandled chopper toward third. Raphael Soto loaded the bases with an infield single, then Vasquez bashed his three-run double over the center fielder’s head to give the Minutemen a 3-2 lead.
The Raiders tied the score in the second but missed an opportunity to score more runs. Ryan Hahner whacked a double over the left fielder’s head, Dan Goehry reached first safely on an error, then O’Conner lobbed a fly ball to right which was dropped. Hahner scored on the error. The Raiders had runners on first and second with no one out. Unfortunately, Goehry was picked off second on a wheelaround play by Minuteman pitcher Vasquez and the chance of further runs dimmed.
In the third, the Minutemen scored two runs to take a 5-3 lead. With John Trotter on second, Martinez yanked an RBI single to left and moved to second on the throw to home. Hoary followed with an RBI single to center.
Herrmann launched his second double on the hill in left to begin
the third, but was unable to score when Vasquez recorded two strikeouts and got the third out via ground ball to second.
The Minutemen added a run in the fourth when Soto scored on an RBI single, then the Raiders came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. O’Conner walked, Pai singled and Herrmann rapped an RBI double.
With the score close at 6-4, the Minutemen rattled the Raiders with four runs in the fifth. The Minutemen put together five singles and took advantage of an error to gain a 10-4 lead. The Raiders responded when Kevin Schenk doubled and scored on Hahner’s RBI double.
The score tightened to 10-7 when the Raiders added two in the sixth. Franzone doubled and scored on Ascolese’s single, then Ascolose scored on Kevin Voessler’s double.
The Raiders were staggered in the seventh when the Minutemen
scored three runs on two singles, a double and two stolen bases. O’Conner scored the final run after hitting a single, moving to third on two walks and slipping home on an error.
“I thought that we hit the ball well,” said Raider Head Coach Brain Homm. “It is nice to see that your team can hit the ball. Unfortunately, they hit too.”
Homm continued, “We had a combination of things that hurt us. Getting picked off at second killed an inning. There were two situations where we had an 0-2 count on batters and we gave them a good pitch which cost us runs. On an 0-2 count, you got to throw the ball out of the strike zone. It all adds up. A mistake here and there puts you in a deposit and when you try to overcome that, it’s hard.”
Elizabeth 032 140 3 13 Sc PlnsFanwood 210 112 1 8
Woodward sprinted down the lane and launched himself 22’ 4” to secure first place.
“I went to my mark and took a long step back,” said Woodward about his adjustment after fouling on the first two attempts at the long jump. “I ran it like it was any other jump. I thought, even if it is short, it was still going to be a legal jump. I don’t know how far my foot was behind the board. In fact, I don’t think that I hit the board at all.”
What did escape in a big way was placement the team pole vault. The Raiders, who were strong contenders, for first in the event, met misfortune when one of the Raiders missed all three attempts on his beginning height. As a result, Governor Livingston Highlanders Andrew Whitney and Steve Bergeski won the event with a height of 22’ 6” and Blue Devils Scott Kenny and Josh Ray, both with heights of 10’ 6”, tied for second with New Providence with a height of 21’.
Nothing escaped the Blue Devils grasp in the 4x800. Gordon Kaslusky at 2:02.7, Peter Anzelone at 1:58.9, Brian Dowd at 2:06.8 and John Cognetti at 2:08.8 ruled the event with a time of 8:18.6. Raiders Mike Dixon, Andrew Elko, Klastava and Josh Ricca took fourth in the event with a time of 8:48.8.
Raiders Woodward, Paterson and Tim Lee came up with a second place in the team javelin with a total distance of 419’ 8”. Woodward led the Raiders with a throw of 151’ 3”. Blue Devil Anthony Pecoraro with a great toss of 146’ 5” in the javelin and teammates Ray at 111’ and Seth Augenstein at 103’ 1” placed third in the event with a distance of 360’ 6”.
The Raiders missed an opportunity in the team high jump and placed second with a total height of 17’ 3”. Plainfield won the event with a height of 17’ 7”. Woodward, who has cleared 6’ 10”, cleared only six feet. Darien
Aberdeen also cleared six feet and Mike Franzone cleared 5’ 3”.
“He was about a foot over the bar, but he kicked the bar with his heel,” said Raider Head Rich McGriff. “We should have won the high jump. That could have been the meet right there. It would have given us three more points.”
The Raiders took second in the team discus with a total of 356, losing only by 11 inches to Elizabeth. Paterson had a throw of 122’ 4”, Loomis was at 118’ 5” and Dave Lasis had a toss of 115’ 3.5”.
“Anybody who could have thrown the discus 11-12 inches further, would have won the meet for us,” pointed out McGriff. “That’s how close it really was.”
Raiders Rob Rabadeau (4:52.8), Elko (4:48.2), Klastava (4:46.4) and Ricca (4:55.7) took second in the 4x1,600 with a time of 19:22.9 and the Blue Devil foursome of Sam Sobel (4:52.2), Matt Borchin (4:50.7), Matt Manahan (5:11.7) and Yasser Baig (5:02.8) placed fifth with a time of 19:57.4.
“I told Josh to hold the position and not to push it too hard,” said Raider Assistant Coach Jeff Koegel. “Cranford had first locked up and there was no use to push him since he also has to run in other events.”
Koegel added, “We really wanted to win this. It was too bad that we zeroed out in the pole vault which we expected to win and pick up 10 points.”
Raiders Jones, Anthony Cary, 3rd, Jamil Coles and Dan Harrison picked up a third place in the 4x200 with a time of 1:32.9. Jones, Cary, Coles and Dave Larkin placed fourth in the 4x100 with a time of :44.5. Ian Bundy, Coles, Harrison and Darien Aberdeen finished fifth in the 4x400 with a time of 3:35.2 and Blue Devils Adam Walker, Augenstein, Francisco Vasquez and Jason Dreyer finished sixth at 3:36.9. Jones, Cary, Franzone and Woodward took fourth in the shuttle hurdles with
a time of 1:04.9. Blue Devils Cognetti at 3:24.1, Walker at :53.6, Anzelone at 2:07.8 and Kaslusky at 4:43.2 placed third in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:08.8. Raiders Klastava at 3:26.8, Bundy at :55.6, Dixon at 2:09.8 and Ricca at 4:47.2 finished fourth with a time of 11:19.3.
“It was really between us and Elizabeth,” said Coach McGriff. “We were the only two teams who really had the depth. New Providence was strong in areas but they lacked some depth. We would have been up an extra 10 points if it weren’t for the misfortune in the pole vault.”
McGriff concluded, “I thought that we were the better team. I thought that we would win it.”
TOP 10 TEAMS: 1. Elizabeth 77, 2. Scotch PlainsFanwood 75, 3. Plainfield 60, 4. New Providence 49.5, 5. Union 40, 6. Linden 34, 7. Roselle 30, 8. Westfield 27, 9. Cranford 26, 10. Tie Governor Livingston and Roselle Catholic 16.
A C E S
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David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times
COMING IN TO SCORE…Raider Tim Pai trots home for the score during the game with the Elizabeth Minutemen. See another picture on page 21.
David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times
COMING DOWN TO EARTH…Raider Blair Woodward come down for the landing during the long jump event at the Union County Relays.
David B. Corbin for The Leader and The Times
PACK LEADER…Raider Nick Klastava leads at the turn during the 4x1,600.
David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times
OFF WITH THE SOUND OF THE GUN…Blue Devil John Kazasis responds to the gun to begin the 4x100 event.
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