Spring Sports Preview: SPF Baseball Looks to Build Off Strong Pitching Rotation

When you have a brand-new baseball team like the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders do, it takes time for it develop and learn the nuances of the game.

“How we play on April 1 compared to May 1 should be night and day,” head coach Tom Baylock, in his eighth year at the helm, said.

Baylock lost 13 seniors to graduation, including left fielder Joe D’Annunzio to Rutgers, first baseman John Maxwell to Johns Hopkins and catcher Lou Mazzella to Molloy College in Long Island. That cast – which also included senior standouts such as pitcher-second baseman Gary Binkiewicz and shortstop Mike Ridge – produced a 25-6 season last year that included the Union County Conference’s first Watchung Division championship.

The Watchung Division got a whole lot tougher this year with the addition of last year’s Mountain Division champion and Group 3 state champ Cranford and second place Gov. Livingston, which last season reached the Central Jersey, Group 2 final for the second consecutive year.

“We lost all of those kids and the schedule gets tougher,” Baylock said. “It should help us come tournament time. Hopefully we’ll have already been through tough battles and played a lot of good teams.”

The only returning non-pitcher starter is senior Marcus Rivera, who moves over to shortstop from third base.

“We have a whole bunch of new people starting varsity for the first time,” Baylock said. “It will take them time to get into the flow of things and realize that it’s just the same game, but on a different stage. 

“There are no easy teams on our schedule, so we’ll have to come focused every day.”

Rivera, who will pitch more this year, senior lefty Sean Reilly and sophomore righty James D’Angelo are returning hurlers who provide depth at the most important position on the diamond.

“We have 10-11 wins back on the mound this year with those three,” Baylock said.

Rivera was one of the better third basemen in Union County last year, both offensively and defensively. He will now anchor the infield at shortstop. 

“You generally put your best player in that spot,” Baylock said. “Marcus is also going to get called on a lot more to pitch. He’s an experienced senior.”

Reilly had several standout starts last season.

“He’s pitched well in our scrimmages,” Baylock said. “He’s working on his location of pitches and keeping the ball down. He’s getting a lot of ground balls. He did a great job against Hillsborough, allowing only one hit and one run in four innings. He throws a fastball, curveball and changeup.” 

Baylock also expressed enthusiasm for senior right-hander John Howarth, who pitched a great deal on the junior varsity level last year. 

“He’s probably our number-one pitcher right now,” Baylock said. “As a junior last year we didn’t know how much time he would have gotten on the varsity, so we sent him down to JV so he could pitch. He got close to 40 innings at the JV level and did well.

“He also pitched well over the summer and we have a lot of confidence in him. He’s doing a great job for us so far.

“We anticipate him to be the go-to guy for us or one of the go-to guys. He has a fastball with decent velocity and when he locates it, it’s really tough to hit. He’s working on his mechanics right now and is the leader of our pitching staff.”

After the 2005 season, Baylock said he lost about 13 students to graduation, but had more depth for the 2006 season than he has this year.

“Our pitching staff is doing a decent job and we’ve been playing very good defense, which we keep harping on,” Baylock said. “Historically, we’ve always hit the ball.

“We have no doubt that we’ll hit the ball again. It might not be on Opening Day, but it will happen somewhere down the line.”

Scotch Plains opens home Friday at 4 p.m. versus UCC-Watchung Division foe Westfield. The arch rivals split division games last year, with Westfield winning at Scotch Plains and then Scotch Plains winning at Westfield.

The Raiders are then scheduled to play at J.P. Stevens Saturday at 11 a.m. in North Edison.

Scotch Plains has a very challenging slate of conference games next week, including consecutive scheduled match-ups versus Cranford, Gov. Livingston and Linden.

2011 SCHEDULE:
April 1 Westfield, 4 p.m.
April 2 at J.P. Stevens, 11 a.m.
April 5 at Cranford, 4 p.m.
April 7 Gov. Livingston, 4 p.m.
April 8 at Linden, 4 p.m.
April 9 at Whippany Park, 10 a.m.
April 11 at Roselle Catholic, 4 p.m.
April 14 Summit, 4 p.m.
April 15 Elizabeth, 4 p.m.
April 16 Bridgewater-Raritan, 10 a.m. at Roselle Park
April 19 at Union, 4 p.m.
April 20 North Plainfield, 3:45 p.m.
April 21 at Westfield, 4 p.m.
April 23 Johnson, noon
April 25 Franklin, 4 p.m.
April 26 at Gov. Livingston, 4 p.m.
April 28 Cranford, 4 p.m.
May 2 Rahway, 4 p.m.
May 5 Linden, 4 p.m.
May 9 at Piscataway, 4 p.m.
May 10 Old Bridge, 4 p.m.
May 12 at Elizabeth, 4 p.m.
May 13 Union City, 4 p.m.
May 17 Union, 4 p.m.
May 19 Union Catholic, 4 p.m.
Raiders in Union County Conference’s Watchung Division

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE
BASEBALL FOR 2011 

WATCHUNG DIVISION (7 schools): Cranford, Elizabeth, Gov. Livingston, Linden, Scotch Plains, Union, Westfield.
Newcomers: Cranford, Gov. Livingston.
Left: Plainfield, Rahway.
Defending champion: Scotch Plains. 

MOUNTAIN DIVISION (8 schools): Brearley, Dayton, Johnson, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle Catholic, Summit, Union Catholic.
Newcomers: Brearley, Dayton, Plainfield, Rahway.
Left: Cranford, Gov. Livingston, Hillside, Roselle.
Defending champion: Cranford. 

VALLEY DIVISION (7 schools): Hillside, New Providence, Oratory Prep, Roselle Park, Roselle, St. Patrick, St. Mary’s, Elizabeth.
Newcomers: Hillside, Roselle.
Left: Brearley, Dayton.
Defending champion: Dayton. 

SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD RAIDERS
BASEBALL 2011

PITCHERS:
John Howarth, senior right hander
Sean Reilly, senior left hander
Marcus Rivera, senior right hander
Brett Kovacs, junior right hander
James D’Angelo, sophomore right hander
Kevin Raszka, sophomore right hander 

CATCHERS:
Ryan Henkels, junior
Kyle Berwick, senior
Anthony Krajscik, junior

FIRST BASE:
Sean Reilly, senior

SECOND BASE:
Christian Zazzali, freshman
Frank Degnan, junior

THIRD BASE:
Kevin Raszka, sophomoe
Joe Schmitz, junior

SHORTSTOP:
Marcus Rivera, senior

LEFT FIELD:
James D'Angelo, sophomore
Anthony Scalfaro, senior

CENTER FIELD:
Connor Thompson, senior

RIGHT FIELD:
Ryan Haggerty, senior