Ferretti Goes 3-for-3 as Hillsborough Bats Come Alive

Hillsborough High School baseball coach Norm Hewitt admitted that his team has been struggling offensively.

That all changed on Saturday.

The Raiders busted out 11 hits, five of which came in a five-run fourth inning as No. 3-seeded Hillsborough blasted No. 6 Somerville, 8-0 at in the Somerset County Tournament quarterfinals.

"We've really been struggling hitting," head coach Norm Hewitt said. "I'm very excited."

The Raiders advanced to the county semifinals, which will be played on May 14 at TD Bank Ballpark. Hillsborough will play No. 7 Bridgewater-Raritan at 7 p.m.

Matt Calamoneri threw a complete game, scattering five hits, and walking only one to improve his season record to 2-3.

"I was getting a lot of ground balls," Calamoneri said. "It was great."

Somerville and Hillsborough were deadlocked until the fourth, when the Raiders broke the game open. Designated hitter Dan Shelton led the inning off with a single and Tyler Ferretti followed with one.

After Gary Lavoie struck out and Patrick Roberts walked, Dylan Zebro laced a ball that left fielder Alec Hardy overran, going to the wall, scoring all three runners, and Zebro scampered into third with a three-RBI triple to give Hillsborough a 3-0 lead.

"We finally caught some breaks," Hewitt said. "[Zebro] had been really struggling."

Cameron Leon beat out an infield hit, which scored Zebro and made it 4-0, then Seth Fenster, who pinch-hit for Calamoneri, reached on a fielders choice, then made it to second on an error and scored when MacKey Price singled him home.

Shelton led off the fifth with a long home run to left center. Ferretti followed with a double that chased Somerville starter Justin Young. Lavoie followed with a single and he then scored on a single by Roberts.

"I thought our kids played real well today," Hewitt said. "I was pretty pleased."

All the while, Calamoneri cruised, using his off-speed pitches to keep the Pioneers' hitters confused.

"He was just lights out," Hewitt said. "He kept them off-balance, and that's the key to good pitching: fooling the hitter."

The Raiders can be excited about advancing to the semifinals, but face the meat of their schedule this week. Hillsborough will play Bridgewater-Raritan three times, including next Saturday's tournament game.

Hillsborough will also play Immaculata and North Hunterdon in games this coming week.

"We've got five games in six days," Hewitt said. "Hopefully, we can get on roll here."