Hopatcong Senior Shines at All-Star Baseball Game

Questions ran through D.J. Ross' mind when he stepped on the field Wednesday night.

"Do I belong here?" he thought. "Am I good enough?"

A few hours later, all Ross' doubts were laid to rest. The Hopatcong High School senior catcher went 1-for-2 with a walk for Northeast as it lost to Central, 19-7, at the N.J. Baseball Coaches Association Senior All-Star Games at Diamond Nation in Flemington. The South beat the Northwest, 10-5. The games were 10 innings each and played simultaneously. 

Ross said "playing with a bunch of all-stars" was an honor.

"A couple years back I wouldn't have seen myself doing this well," he said.

Ross, who will play at Kean University next spring, clubbed seven homers for the Chiefs this season, nabbed a batting average around .500 and finished his varsity career with 100 hits. He spent some time in the bullpen and four innings behind the dish Wednesday, catching some of the state's top talent.

"All the kids I caught [threw] 85 [miles per hour] and up," he said. "Their offspeed was just ridiculous."

Ross' first hit—a single up the middle—came off a lefty in the third inning on a 2-2 fastball. He grounded to short on a 2-2 curveball in his second at-bat. Ross walked on four pitches in his last time at the plate.

Ross said he was at first surprised by the number of high-caliber athletes in the game. 

"That's something I'm not used to," he said. "It was intimidating, but the nerves went away after a while."

Ross shared the experience with several other Sussex County baseball stars. Pope John's Alex DeBellis, Brendan Mayers and Matt Ackerman and Sparta's John Brucker made the trip, too. Ross said it was fun playing alongside his area counterparts.

"It was an awesome experience," Ross said.

Hopatcong head coach Chris Buglovsky said Ross belonged at the game.

"He has proven time and again that he can compete at the next level," Buglovsky said. "Any challenge that's ever been put in front of him, he's been able to overcome. His numbers over the last three years have been as good if not better than most kids in the state. He's been kind of overshadowed. But [Wednesday] was a way for him to prove to himself and everyone else that he does belong there."