Miller Baseball Has Rollercoaster Season

The Millburn baseball team's first season in the newly formed Super Essex Conference American Division was a bit of an uphill climb but not without some bright spots.

The Millers advanced to the quarterfinals of both the Greater Newark Tournament and the North II Group 3 state sectional playoffs and finished with a 13-16 record.

Millburn got off to a great start, going 5-1 through the first two weeks of April. But their hot start cooled off a bit when they hit a rough patch, losing the next three games by a combined score of 24-9. Losses to Passaic Valley, Columbia and Seton Hall Prep brought the Millers back to 5-4.

The first nine games of the spring were a small sample of the type of season the Miller boys had. It was tough for them to keep any momentum going, mainly because of an inconsistent offense. The locals scored five or more runs 11 times this spring and were 8-3 in those games. They scored four or fewer runs 17 times (including in eight of their last 12 games), and had a record of 5-13 in those contests. When the Millers hit, they won.

"Our offensive woes just lingered on during the season," said Millburn head coach Daryl Palmieri. "We needed good pitching and we needed good fielding every game. You can't make every play [on defense] and some days your pitchers just don't have it."

In the GNT, the Millers made light work of Shabazz in the preliminary round, cruising to a 16-0 beat down. Against Caldwell in the next round, Millburn leaned on their comeback player of the year, Peter Han, who threw a seven inning 3-0 shutout. Han hadn't pitched in a starting role in two years when he helped his team to a sectional championship as a sophomore. After more than a year of rehab and setbacks, Han became one of the team's most reliable pitchers again.

"He's a kid I was really proud of this year," Palmieri said. "I'm sure there were a lot of people who thought he wouldn't ever come back and pitch. I wasn't one of them.

"One day he came to me and said 'Coach, I feel pretty good today.' We gave him a start against Bloomfield and he was just magnificent. For a team in Bloomfield that hits the heck out of the ball, he made them look average."

Millburn's run in the GNT ended in Montclair with a 6-2 loss.

In the state tournament, the Millers followed a 10-0 win in the opening round against Belleville, their third win of the season against the Buccaneers, with a 10-0 loss to Scotch Plains, who eventually fell in the next round. The boys came out in their second round game and made four first inning errors and just could never recover.

"It wasn't a bad season. You're playing in a brutal conference, make states, get to the quarters of the GNT," Palmieri said. "There's a lot of teams that would like to have that good of a season."

After starting out 5-1, the Millers could never quite get on a roll again. They won just two of their next eight games played, to get to 7-7 by late April. They ran off three straight wins entering the GNT, but then lost five of the next seven and dropped their final four games of the season, going 3-9 in the final 12 games of the spring. Palmieri said the final games of the season were pretty ugly, with the boys already eliminated from states, with no chance at a conference title and him wanting to get some of his seniors on the bench some playing time.

A large part of why the Millers struggled, aside from their hitting woes, was the strength of the schedule. They faced Seton Hall Prep twice, Montclair three times, Columbia twice and West Orange, Nutley and Livingston twice. All of those teams were in the playoffs and had very good seasons. Millburn got wins against Columbia, West Orange and Nutley, but struggled against the others, finishing in the middle of the pack in the SEC American.

"I wouldn't say we were misplaced [in the top division]," Palmieri said. "We were placed in the American because of our record and the strength of our program. We had some nice moments and some very nice wins."

Millburn will take some big losses with graduation. Han, A.J. O'Leary (both earning honorable mentions for the All-County teams), Chris Benedict, Dylan Bailey, Alex Blum, Vinnie Falcone and Rob DeCastro are all moving on, leaving some holes to fill. O'Leary was likely the team's best hitter down the stretch of the season.

"We lose a lot of guys as far as starters and key contributors," Palmieri said. "We'll have some competition in all of our positions."

But Palmieri has a full stable of capable arms returning as well as most of the outfield. Stephen Near, Danny Frischman and Ian Barry are just a few of the experienced hurlers who will be back next spring.

"Numbers won't be a problem pitching wise; hopefully they're all effective," Palmieri said. "We're going to miss the kids who are leaving, but I'm excited about who we have coming back."