Brookdale Baseball Off To A Fast Start As 2016 Season Unfolds

Photo above courtesy of Brookdale athletics: Molina takes a big cut during Tuesday's win

LINCROFT – The Jersey Blues returned from early season road trip to Florida charged up after posting an 8-3 record including splitting games with Northern Essex Community College – ranked No.10 in NJCAA DIII polls – and Erie Community College - ranked 12th.

“It was a great trip down to Florida against tough competition and the kids played well,” Brookdale head coach Johnny Johnson said. “I liked the way we swung the bats, we had real good starting pitching and our defense is starting to come together.”

Johnson, in his 18th season at Brookdale, is in position to pick up his 600th win as head coach this season. His record now stands at 571-228 after Thursday's win. His teams have won five Region XIX championships and he’s been named Region XIX Coach of the Year six times. In 2005 and 2006 his clubs placed third in the NJCAA DIII World Series.

Freshman right-hander Danny Serreino (Jackson Liberty H.S.) picked up two wins on the Florida trip and firmly entrenched himself as Brookdale’s No.1 starter. Serreino was a 2014 first team All-Shore selection and Seton Hall recruit when he posted a 1.22 ERA with a 0.89 WHIP while striking out 80 batters in 63 innings pitched for the Lions.

“He’s our No.1 guy, he’s been lights out since the fall,” Johnson said. “In another year he’s a draftable kid.”

Al Molina, a sophomore shortstop from Red Bank Catholic, enjoyed a torrid road trip returning home batting .385 with five doubles, four triples and a 1.218 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Molina, a second team All-State and first team All-Shore pick for the Caseys in 2014, bats second. Molina was also a 29th round draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2014 but spurned the Phillies instead opting to accept a scholarship at Coastal Carolina University before transferring to Brookdale this year.

“We had Molina batting first but he’s to good of a hitter to lead off,” Johnson said. “We needed to get him into RBI situations so he’ll be hitting two or three for us.”

As a team, the Jersey Blues came home batting a whopping .370 with both freshman right fielder/pitcher Mike Russell (St. Joseph by-the-Sea H.S.) and sophomore first baseman Joe Sadler hitting over .400.

Sadler, a first team All-Shore pick from Holmdel High School in 2014, was a first team NJCAA All-Region XIX selection a year ago and looks even stronger this season batting from the cleanup spot. He’s batting .417 with eight doubles, one home run and 11 RBI’s while posting a 1.210 WHIP. Russell has been just as hot holding a .432 batting average with three doubles, one home run and a team-leading 14 RBI’s. Penciled in as the No.2 batter, Russell also boasts a 1.057 OPS.

Leading off for the Blues is freshman centerfielder Mike Santamorita (Marlboro H.S.). Santamorita has been solid this spring hitting .351 with six doubles and seven RBI’s. The No.5 spot in the batting order will be a platoon of sophomore Joe Rotelli (St. John Vianney H.S.) and 6-foot-5 freshman Jake Buser (St. Joseph of-the-Sea). Rotelli was a first team All-State and All-Shore pick his senior year while leading the Lancers to the programs first-ever state title in baseball. Rotelli is hitting an even .300 with a double and five RBI’s while Buser is batting .500 with one home run in 12 at bats so far this season.

Shore Regional’s own, sophomore Nick Blaney, has stepped into the starting catching spot and has been drilling the ball at a .545 clip in 22 at bats. Batting sixth, with a double and six RBI’s while sporting a 1.221 OPS. As a senior, Blaney was an All-Shore selection while leading the Blue Devils to the NJSIAA Group I championship.

Batting seventh in the order and playing third base is freshman Ryan Orender (Wall Township H.S.). Orender was a 2014 and 2015 All-Shore third baseman/pitcher for the Crimson Knights when he posted a sterling 1.42 ERA and batted .431 his junior year. He earned the starting nod at third for Brookdale in his first year along with the No.4 spot in the rotation. He’s another .400 hitter stinging the ball at .407 clip in 27 at bats with a double, triple, two home runs, six RBI’s and a 1.241 OPS.

The left field positon and eighth spot in the batting order is maned by freshman Nick Martinez (Wall Township H.S.) with another Shore Conference representative, Shore Regional’s Andrew Schultz getting some starts as well. Martinez will be hard to sit as he’s boasting a .462 batting average with five doubles, a triple, one home run and eight RBI’s. The former All-Class B North pick has an eye-popping .846 slugging percentage with a club-leading 1.346 OPS. Schultz was a second team All-Shore pick and an integral part of Shore Regional's 2014 championship team.

The Shore Conference is heavily represented on this year’s team with eight of nine position starters and three out of the five starting pitchers coming from Shore Conference schools. Overall, Brookdale’s roster is comprised of 20 former Shore Conference standouts.

“We got a lot of local kids and kids from all over,” Johnson said. “Wherever the best talent is we’re going to go out and get them and this year the Shore Conference has a lot of top guys for us who fit our needs.”

Freshman second baseman Joey Tesoriero (St. Lucie West Centennial H.S) rounds out the batting order for the Blues and while the Florida product hasn’t hit much for average this spring he has been flashing the leather in the field.

Brookdale’s hitting statistics are off the charts but with the return to a cold, damp and windy Jersey Shore spring you can expect to see the numbers drop off a bit. If they don’t dip and the team keeps drilling the ball at the level it has been all year, Brookdale is going to be one tough hombre to handle.

Freshmen Gerardo A. Reyes a catcher from Puerto Rico Baseball Academy High School, 3B/catcher Agustin Espinal (Brooklyn N.Y.), outfielder Jomar Dejesus (Freehold H.S.), and first baseman Alberto Fossa (Parma, Italy) have all seen spot duty.

Freshman lefty Pat Knight (Rutgers/Cranford H.S.) follows Serreino in the pitching rotation and is 1-0 this season with one start. Former Freehold Township ace, Joe DeCelie, is 2-0 in two starts with a sparkling 1.64 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched. The sophomore hurler went 2-2 for the Blues last season making three starts in eight appearances. Orender and Russell are the fourth and fifth starter for now with freshman right-hander Kyle Fenton (Freehold Township) knocking at the door. Fenton tossed a complete game, four-hit shutout striking out seven in Brookdale's 4-0 over Calvin College in Florida.

Sophomore’s Mike Imperato from Marlboro High School, lefty Tyler Folger (Toms River South H.S.) and lefty J.R. Hilcher (St. Mary’s H.S.) will be spot starters and come out of the bullpen with Imperato taking on the lead role out of the pen. Sophomore lefty Jon Monahan, sophomore righty Michael Balboa, freshman lefty Andrew Cimmino and freshman righty Ryan Tjarks (Freehold Township H.S.) will all come out of the pen. Folger can fill in playing in the outfield as well as pinch hitting.

Last season Brookdale had an up-and-down season going 27-22 before bowing out of the Region XIX Tournament in the quarterfinals. This year’s team definitely has the talent to take the next step winning their first Region XIX title since 2009 and securing another trip to the NJCAA DIII World Series.

“This is one of the better teams we’ve had here in the last couple of years,” Johnson said. “But this conference is so strong, anybody can beat anybody. But I like our chances with Serreino on the mound and the way we’ve been hitting we’re going to win a lot of games. This year’s talent level is back to the old way of playing baseball here.”

Brookdale didn’t miss a beat upon returning from Florida last weekend picking up where they left off destroying DII Raritan Valley 17-3 last Tuesday for their ninth win of the season. DeCelie picked up his second win of the season going four innings allowing one earned run on one hit leaving the game with a 16-1 lead. The Blues offense banged out 15 hits with Martinez going 2-for-2 with a double and a team-leading four RBI’s while Santaromita went 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI’s. Molina added a two-run triple.

Then on Thursday, Serreino went the distance for his third win of this young season in Brookdale’s 6-4 win over Rowan College at Gloucester County – ranked No.7 in the latest NJCAA DIII polls. Serreino gave up three earned runs on six hits, walked none and struck out a season-high 14 batters. Santaromita continued his hot hitting going 2-for-5 with two RBI’s while Molina also had two hits in five at bats and drove in one run. Russell clubbed his second homer of season for the Blues whose record now stands at 10-3.

Brookdale is back on the diamond today, March 25, for a scheduled double header against DII Del Tech Owens. First pitch, weather permitting is on for 12:00 p.m.

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