It All Counts Now....

Well, the headline is a little deceiving.

Because in baseball, as well as life, every day counts.

The reference is to the fact that our tidy 5-1 record is wiped clean to 0-0 as we speak. That's because the preseason has ended and the "real" season has begun. Our goal is to play it no different tomorrow. Sure, now we have to follow the rules to the "t" - something we bend a little in March as we have unlimited substitution and the ability to bat 10 or 11 players in a lineup.

But, like I said.. that's all behind us now.

Our final practice of March - last preseason seniors - went extremely well. We got a lot of work in offensive and defensively, and worked through many of our plays. The coaching staff definitely feels like we are on the verge of seeing the hardwork payoff.

Our first encounter is scheduled for Jackson's Larry D'Zio Field - a place where great TRS memories have taken place.

I remember countless TRS teams racking up the runs there. Last year we put up 12 runs. I remember Jason Barnoski going yard in 2003. I remember Todd Frazier hitting it onto the football field in 2003 as well. Howabout Ron Maurer going yard there in the summer of 1985 in front of Univ. of North Carolina -Chapel Hill coach Mike Roberts on his way to earning a scholarship. Maurer also went yard on opening day of 1984, as a sophomore, and we won 18-1 behind Chris Lauria, Glenn Cordick, Sheldon Harvey, Keith Diehl and company. Switch-hitting Jon Miele going opposite field yard in 1983 - from the left side of the plate.

Who could forget Rod Velardi trying to extend his NJ State Record no-hit streak in 2001 - as he took his bid for a 4th straight no-hitter late into the game (and ending up with an one-hitter against an impressive Jaguars team). I remember our almost brawl - in 1986 - with Jackson's Rob Conner at the plate. Hey, howabout Mitch Powitz going yard for his first career homer - 1985. I remember gutty pitching performances by Tom Wheeler and Jason Arre in Jackson. Howabout Albert Vega going yard in 1998?

Like I said, tremendous TRS baseball memories in Jackson. One more day's worth would be nice.

TRS vs. Jackson. Ken Frank at Larry D'Zio Jr. Field, son of Lakewood coaching legend Larry DZio. It's what Ocean County High School Baseball is all about.

Hope to see you out there. Game time 3:45.

"An- tic - i - pation, An - tic i - ipation - it's making me wait"

Right about now, all thoughts and concentration is on Friday.

Sidebar things like uniforms, weather, field conditions, scheduling, minor injuries.. seem to cloud the horizon.

It must be high school baseball's version of the "fog of war."

But we try to move ahead.

The field looked good today, especially after all the rain. The work pays off.

The kids keep working hard. Progress is made. Improvement comes.

We might still have some questions, but on Friday.. we will have answers.

Ancient Chinese Secret

Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. - Sun Tzu

We have three more days to prepare for our first "war" a Shore Conference Class A South match-up at Jackson.

And like the famous Chinese military philosopher tells us, it's important to prepare to win before the contest begins.

Pickoffs, tee work, hit downs, cutoffs - all have been done to get us to that point where Sun Tzu wants us - to be winners before the games begin.

In between, we had other work to do. You would expect a team that has won 5 state titles in the past 15 years would not have to do too much groundskeeping work, but we spent a great deal of time today taking water off the field from the downpours of Sunday and Monday. It must be all part of that Sun Tzu philosophy.

Two more days and counting....

All we need is for the weather to cooperate.

Last week in March begins...

Ok all you baseball seniors out there, this will be the last last week of March you'll ever in high school baseball.

Heavy downpours flooded the field and caused to cancel today's game against Rumson, one we hope to maybe rebook for Wednesday.

So it was back to the gym for a critique of Saturday's game and inside baseball action.

Again, like a slow train a coming... we're heading down the tracks towards the meeting with the Jackson Jaguars. It seems like we have Jackson early on the schedule every year. And we open out at Larry D'Zio Jr. Field, a hitter's park if there ever was one.

The challenge has been made... let's see how we respond.

Can't Put it Together...

Hamilton West 6, TR South 4

The Indians were handed their first defeat of the 2005 preseason, but it may have come at their own hands. A sloppy first three innings led to a 6-1 deficit which they could not overcome. South also seemed a step slow on the basepaths as baserunning outs, including a couple at homeplate, kept the Indians from narrowing the lead even more.

Seniors Zack DelVento and Ryan MacPherson suffered much of the damage on the mound. However, they were plagued by a defense that did not make plays for them.

South had a chance to tie it in the bottom of the seventh when the Indians got runners on first and second. With two outs, #3 hitter Evan Bigler came up and smoked a line drive to the left-center field gap. The Hamilton West leftfielder made a diving stab saving an extra base hit and potentially the two tying runs.

South is scheduled to host Rumson on Monday, weather permitting, in its final scrimmage of the year.

In alumni news, Rutgers sophomore Steve Holt picked up his second career win taking a no-hitter against University of Pittsburgh into the 7th inning. (see scarletknights.com for the details). Also, Joe Adelizzi, a member of the McDaniel College team, was at our game as well. As usual, it was good to see "HoJo"

The devil is in the details..

Another day of fine tuning for the TR South Indians.

The coaching staff spent a lot of time today going over minute details of our offensive and defensive plays. I guess you could call it practicing for the long run. We're not going to neccessarily see results tomorrow. But, over a period of time, the work will pay off.

Right now, we're scheduled to host Hamilton West tomorrow at 2 p.m. We took some standing water off the field - and if it doesn't rain tonight - we should be good to go tomorrow.

If our field is under water, however, there is an outside chance we play the game at TR East tomorrow if their field is playable and ours isn't.

We open up one week from today at Jackson.

Rain, rain go away

Another wet day, another day in the gym.

We continue to get friendly with the hardwood of the "Doc" Dougherty gym at TRS as our scheduled scrimmage against Wall was canceled today.

Pickoffs, signals plus the routine stuff - we were able to practice it all. Just 7 days to go until opening day at Jackson next Friday.

We are looking for a slow buildup to that day.

Right now our next scheduled scrimmage is Saturday at 2 p.m. when we host Hamilton West, a periennial state power. We just need the weather to cooperate and our ground crew to get the puddles off the field.

Fine Tuning

The rain came down and it was time to do what all good baseball teams do - head indoors.

The TR South hitting Indians spent the afternoon working on the fine tuning of a baseball team in the TR South gym, which is named after former TRS teacher Bill Dougherty.

A couple of hours were spent watching video, working on technique and fine tuning baseball skills.

The TRS indoor workout is usually a difference maker. Hopefully this year will be no different than any past year.

Defending Group III Champion and Shore Conference Champion Wall Twp. is on the schedule for the tomorrow. But, the rain has been unending and unyielding. It doesn't look good right now.

In the alumni notes, Brett Hardie had a big solo homer for Monmouth University two days ago against LaSalle. Also, his middle infield mate from 2001, Matt Martin, is student teaching at TR South.

A Program Win...

TR South 7, Colts Neck 5:

The Indians came back from a 5-0 deficit as they scored five runs in the fifth to tie and two in the sixth to take the lead for good.

Despite many mental errors (and a few physical ones) early in the game, South didn't throw in the towel as a combination of hits, walks and aggressive baserunning brought the Indians back into the game.

In essence, a few moments of executed "Toms River South Baseball", led to the win.

Down 5-0, junior Kyle Lamar led off the fifth with a single. A walk to catcher Steve Waggenhoffer was followed with a bunt attempt by infielder Chase Gray. The Colts tried to get the lead runner and failed, loading the bases.

A bases loaded walk to Tom Whartnaby made it 5-1 and Mark Perry followed at the bat, lifting a high fly to left field. When the Colts Neck outfielder couldn't handle the catch, the runners advanced one base. The runners then were awarded two more bases as the fielder threw the ball into the third base dugout, scoring all three runners. Now a 5-4 game, the Indians benefitted from another Colts Neck error, as their catcher threw the ball past the pitcher allowing Perry to score from third to tie the game.

South took the lead in the sixth as Joe Talerico, who had doubled, scored on the front end a first and third play. The seventh run was tacked on when pinch runner Ian Mills scored on a wild pitch.

Junior Ricky Petrosino (former TRS Alumni Sean Kauffman (1983) and Bobby Kauffman (1981)'s first cousin) came on to pitch two strong innings for the victory.

The Indians are scheduled to host Freehold Township tomorrow. Hopefully, we will see many, many fewer mental mistakes. We have a lot of work ahead of us this week.

Wipe the slate clean....

Monday Practice -

As usual, we wipe the slate clean on Monday with the TRS baseball program. New week, new games to play, new pitchers to face - same attention to details.

The squad put in a good hour and a half of intersquad - "one-pitch" - and then we went over everything that went on in the first four games of the season. Offense, defense, pitching, base running. You name it, we covered it.

The key is to come out prepared for this week as we are scheduled to host Colts Neck (Tues), Freehold Township (Wed) and Wall (Thurs). The weather will most likely be a factor as it is suppose to rain mid-week and at the end of the week.

But in the game of baseball, one day at a time. Tomorrow looks good and we've got game.

TRS Collegiates...

Good morning,

Here's a quick update on a couple of TRS Alumni playing in the NCAA.

Congrats to Rutgers University sophomore Steve Holt, who picked up his first win of the season for the Scarlet Knights. He went 5+ innings in the Metrodome yesterday as Rutgers defeated the University of Minnesota.

Rutgers freshman Todd Frazier drove it out of the park on Saturday for his 5th homer of the season. After starting the season at third base, Frazier is now the Scarlet Knights shortstop.

You can follow Frazier and Holt's progress at scarletknights.com.

Brett Hardie, a senior, also had a productive weekend for Monmouth University, smacking two hits on Saturday against the University of Maine.

Sweep the day, sweep the week

The Indians wrapped up its first week of preseason of baseball with two wins and improved its preseason record to 4-0.

South posted an 8-7 win over Middletown North and a 9-3 win over Edison.

In the opener, the top of the order set the table as 1 & 2 hitters, seniors Tom Whartnaby and Zack DelVento, combined to score 6 runs (3 each). Whartnaby was 2 for 2 with a walk and Delvento was 2 for 2 with a walk. Whartnaby doubled in the third driving in a run and DelVento tripled in a run in the fifth inning. The hit that broke the game open was a three-run double by junior Evan Bigler in the third inning.

Bigler came on to get the Indians in out of a jam in the 7th inning, striking out the final batte for the victory. Freshman Drew Holt started and pitched pretty well for the Indians.

In the nightcap, South exploded for 7 runs in the third inning to break open a scoreless contest. Whartnaby was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in the first run. Bigler, senior John Martone and senior Anthony Amatucci followed with RBI hits. Sophomore Mark Perry blasted an RBI double off the right field fence.

Whartnaby twirled three innings of shutout ball before DelVento followed with three strong innings.

It was a good first four scrimmages for the Indians, but as head coach Ken Frank says, it's time to wipe the slate clean and start again this week.

South hosts Colts Neck on Tuesday, Freehold Twp. on Wednesday and Wall on Thursday. On Saturday, the Indians host Hamilton West at 1:30 p.m.

Moving on in March..

TR South 7, Marlboro 3

The Indians captured its second scrimmage victory of the season as they used strong pitching, good defense and timely hitting into a victory.

John Martone (3 innings), Ricky Petrosino (2 innings) and Joe Talerico (2 innings) combined to pick up the win.

Hitting stars included senior Zack Delvento (2 doubles, 2 runs), senior Tom Whartnaby (2 singles), junior Evan Bigler (2 singles, RBI), senior Ryan MacPherson (RBI single) and freshman Chase Gray (double and two-run triple).

The team has showed a lot of progress, especially on the mental side of the game as the week went by. The confidence level is growing day by day.

There's tremendous competition for playing time at a bunch of positions. The effort has been strong.

It will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow as we host Middletown North and Edison.

Practice, Practice, Practice...

The Indians put in a good workout today. Working on the little things as usual. Many players got a lot of individual coaching.

A handful of pitchers who didn't get work in yesterday's game tuned up for tomorrow and Saturday's contests.

1998 Grad Brian Clouser, now a pilot for an affiliate for one of the majors, stopped by to check in with the team and the catchers. It was good to see him.

Speaking of 1998, Tom Wheeler's dad and Jason Arre's pop both stopped by the scrimmage yesterday - it was good to see them. Lot of great memories from that NJSIAA Group III Championship team. In fact, we had the video of the 4-0 win over Millburn out just the other day.

Quick update of TRS baseball alumni playing this spring (at least the ones off the top of my head) - Todd Frazier (Rutgers), Brett Hardie (Monmouth), Joe Adelizzi (McDaniel), Anthony DeRogatis (Caldwell), Austin DeRogatis (NJIT), Chris Purguy (Felician), Paul Martone (Johns Hopkins), Dan DeSantis (Ramapo), Jordan Descafano (Ocean County College), Andy Altman (Ocean Cty College), Steve Holt (Rutgers).

Don't forget you also can follow the minor league careers of Jeff Frazier (Tigers) and Charlie Frazier (Marlins) too!

Well, time to prep for the weekend.

Step B conquered, on to Step C...

As a high school baseball enthusiast, you have to love March! It's cold, raw and the baseball enthusiasm is tremendous.

The TR South Indians hosted their first scrimmage of the season, defeating Ocean Township, 2-1, in eight innings.

In a pitcher's duel type of atmosphere, the Indians played superb defense got some clutch hitting and clutch baserunning on their way to victory.

Senior John Martone blasted a solo home run over the 379-foot sign in left-center field at Ken Frank Baseball Stadium to tie the game up in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Indians went on to win it in the bottom of the eighth when senior Anthony Amatucci smacked a semi-line drive off of the Spartans shortstop's arm, scoring junior Kyle Lamar from second. Lamar had singled to open the inning and had gone to second on a two-out hit batsmen.

Ryan MacPherson, Drew Holt, Zack DelVento and Amatucci each pitched two strong innings for the Indians. Ocean got its only run on a two-out wild pitch when a knuckle curve from Holt got away from the catcher.

From a coaching persepective, South showed much better confidence, poise and execution on defense. Thus one can conclude that the hard work of fungo baseball from Monday and Tuesday paid off. The Indians executed a successful backdoor play at first base and another run down play.

Tomorrow we will work to polish it up even more.

South hosts Marlboro on Friday and on Saturday hosts Middletown North and Edison.

FUNGO FOLLIES CONTINUED....

Ok,

So we put a day in outside and in an optimistic world, day two should go smooth as silk.

Well... cotton was more like.

Soft, and not awful, but not silk.

Today we incorporated hitting into equation - playing a game we call one-pitch. We split the squad into two equal teams, and have a coach pitch. We start each batter with a 2-2 count and play game situation from there.

We saw some positives. We had a sophomore first baseman hit two b0mbs - one for a triple and one for a homer. We had a freshman get a couple base knocks. We had a couple gung ho guys show us a lot.

But we also have a ways to go. We're still waiting for some veteran leadership. We're still waiting for some kids to turn on thier "on" switches. We were waiting for some kids to show their true inner toughness.

The proverbial rubber hits the road tomorrow when we play our first scrimmage.

Coach Applegate made a great point walking out of practice today - everybody has to be in the same boat. Nobody could have been outside on a field any longer than 2 days or so - based on weather and field conditions.

I'm counting on a handful of pitchers to throw strikes tomorrow. Mix in some defense, some scrappy baserunning and some execution. We could maybe pull of the TR South magic.

FUNGO FOLLIES

Well, the troops hit the field today.

And it's a good thing tomorrow's another day.

We got a lot done today playing simulated baseball, which we like to call "Fungo Baseball."

We put two squads together, have pitchers throw to the catchers and the coaches hit the ball to all parts of the field to simulate all types of defensive situations. The offensive players get to practice all kinds of baserunning scenarios.

Don't know if it was first day jitters (first real day on the diamond since we started on March 4th), but we were not as sharp as we'd like to be.

Two hours + of Fungo Baseball - and we did make some strides. But, we have a long way to go.

We will open up our scrimmage season this Wednesday when we host Ocean Township - this game has been rescheduled due to a poor weather forecast for Thursday.

Quest for the title...

Greetings sports fans (and baseball fans in particular),

I am going to devote this area of cyberspace to document the Toms River High School South Baseball Team's quest for a successful, winning and championship season.

My name is Mitch Powitz.

Along with Chris Applegate, I'm one of the assistant baseball coaches of Toms River High School South - one of the premier high school baseball team's in the state of New Jersey. We coach with (and at one time - played under) Ken Frank, who is one of the most successful coaches in New Jersey and the United States.

This website will document our season, the 2005 campaign. In the past, I used to send alumni and followers emails after each game. I will continue to do that and also use this space as well to promote, discuss and write about the events of the 2005 season.

MARCH 12

We've been practing for eight days now and due to weather and field conditions, have been unable to scrimmage so far. Our indoor workouts have gone very well so far. We are going to be replacing 8 position players and almost 8 players in our batting order this season.

The players have been working very hard.

Our next scheduled scrimmage is for Thursday, when we host Ocean Township.