Now 4-0 vs. non-conference teams....

TR South 10, St. John Vianney 7: The Indians overcame an early deficit to improve their record to 8-4 and and 4-0 vs. non-Shore Conference Class A South competition.

Sophomore Joe Talerico led the offensive brigade, going 2 for 3 with 5 RBI. Talerico ripped a first inning bases loaded triple to drive in 3 and give South a 3-2 lead. Freshman Chase Gray dropped a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to make it 4-2.

The Lancers rallied back though in the top of the second as senior lefty Anthony Amatucci came on and finally settled down the Vianney offense and kept South in the game.

The Indians took the lead for good in the bottom of the second as Amatucci drilled a sacrifice fly to center and Talerico followed up with a double for his fourth RBI of the game. South added two more int he third as Jake Roth (courtesy runner) scored on a wild pitch and Zack DelVento plated John Martone.

Amatucci drilled a solo homer onto the roof of the school in right-center to make it 9-5.

Evan Bigler came on in the 7th to record the final two out for a save as Gray, a freshman, fielded a ground ball up the middle stepped on second and threw to first for a game-ending double play.

South is scheduled to host Brick Memorial at 4 p.m. tomorrow in Ocean County Tournament quarterfinal action and a non-conference game against Mt. Carmel (PA) at 7 p.m. - weather permitting. If they are rained out, South will host Brick Memorial Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. in the OCT.

South hosts Middletown North on Monday, Southern on Tuesday and travels to Brick and Brick Memorial on Thursday and Friday.

Coach Frank gets mentioned in Baseball America..

Thanks to 1994 grad Brett Stein, now working in New York City, for providing this link about Coach Frank from Baseball America:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/highschool/050427midweek.html

Our best wishes go out to 1998 Graduate Eric Harris...

For those of you who aren't local to Toms River or who haven't been reading the newspapers, 1998 TR South graduate, baseball player and state champ - Eric Harris - suffered a severe attack while on patrol as a Beachwood Police Officer a few nights ago.

I don't want to rewrite all the details here - because I don't think I can do the story literary justice. But I am supplying a link to the Ocean County Observer's most recent story on the situation.

http://www.injersey.com/observer/story/0,2554,1256126,00.html

Our prayers and thoughts go out to Eric and Harris family.

You never know...

TR South 5, Monsignor Donovan 3: The Indians overcame an early 3-0 deficit to earn their 7th win of the season in this non-conference game. It was a game not previously scheduled (until Wed. Night).

Senior John Martone blasted a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to break a 3-3 deadlock and give senior lefty Zack DelVento his first win of the season. DelVento had come on in relief and threw four scoreless innings before giving way to senior lefty Anthony Amatucci who got three pop-ups in the seventh for the save.

Amatucci, who drove in two runs with ground outs, teamed with senior shorstop Tom Whartnaby, who was three for four with a double and an rbi, to key the offense. Other offensive stars included Evan Bigler, Casey Chant and Chase Gray, each who ripped doubles.

Freshman Drew Holt came on to throw a strong one and two-thirds innings after the Griffins drilled the Indians for three runs in the first.

South hosts St. John Vianney tomorrow (Fri, April 29th) weather permitting. On Saturday, South is scheduled to host Brick Memorial at 5 p.m. in the Ocean County Tournament and Mt. Carmel (PA) in a non-conference match-up at 7 p.m.

A Blue night at the Blue Claws

TR East 6, TR South 5: The Raiders and junior righty Casey Gaynor held on for a one-run win in a Shore Conference Class A South match-up at First Energy Park, home of the Lakewood Blue Claws.

The Raiders exploded for six runs off of junior right hander Evan Bigler in the bottom of the second inning.

The Indians (6-4 overall, 4-4 in A South) couldn't touch Gaynor, who took a perfect game into the top of the 5th. Then, with two outs, South struck for 5 runs - all started by a single to right by Joe Talerico. Big hits included an rbi single by John Martone, a RBI triple by Tom Whartnaby and an RBI single by Zack DelVento. A couple East miscues helped as well. The first runs, which were earned, were the first earned runs Gaynor has given up all season - in 30+ innings.

Freshman Drew Holt threw a strong 2 and 1/3 innings of shutout relief as did senior Tom Whartnaby.

South hosts St. John Vianney on Friday.

Rained out in the OCT

Due to some sporatic heavy rain today (Sat. - 4/23) the OCT match up between TRS and Brick Memorial has been postponed until 5 p.m. next Saturday, 4/30. The Indians will also make up a game against Mt. Carmel (PA) next Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Indians next game will be Monday night at 7 p.m. when they meet host Toms River East at the Lakewood Blue Claws minor league ballpark. The Raiders are coming off a 5-3 loss to Brick on Thursday.

Some points of interest - Todd Frazier and Steve Holt continue to play well for Rutgers, which won its opener against UCONN today.

Brett Hardie has been a key component for Monmouth University as they've won a school record 11 straight.

Jeff Frazier, playing for the Western Michigan Whitecaps, improved his average last week from the low .200 to about .290 as he hit a couple of homers as well.

Anything else out there - feel free to email me at powitz@yahoo.com or powitz@gmail.com

News and Notes..

The Indians will host Brick Memorial on Saturday at 5 p.m. in the quarterfinal of the Ocean County Tournament. The Indians earned the #4 seed and the Mustangs #5. Each team received a bye into the quarterfinals.

Ken Frank Baseball Stadium will also host an opening round game at 11 a.m. Saturday between Brick and Manchester. At 2 p.m., the winner of that game will take on top-seed and undefeated Lakewood.

Don't forget, on Monday night at 7 p.m. the Indians meet Toms River East at the Lakewood Blue Claws in a Shore Conference Class A South match up.

Traditional A South contest.

TR South 3, Brick 2: The Indians came away with a hard-fought win as they battled the Green Dragons it what played like a traditional tight Shore Conference Class A South match-up.

After falling behind 1-0, South (6-3 overall, 4-3 in A South) came back to take the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Senior leftfielder Bryce Phalon laced a double down the left field line and sophomore shortstop Joe Talerico drilled a two-run homer over the left field wall to give the Indians the lead for good. It was Talerico's first varsity homer.

Phalon followed up a John Martone double in the fifth inning to extend the South lead to 3-1. He drove in pinch runner Jake Roth.

After Brick's Jordan Marsch smacked a solo homer in the sixth, the Indians turned to yesterday's winning pitcher Evan Bigler to get out of a seventh inning jam. Bigler, who came on with one on and no outs, got two ground outs and a strike out to preserve the win for senior righty Tom Whartnaby, who improved to 2-1.

South is idle until Saturday when they open the first round of the Ocean County Tournament.

Old rivalry renewed..

TR South 10, Central 0: The Indians continued their hot hitting as the took on neighboring Central Regional.

Junior righthander Evan Bigler threw four strong innings, scattering four hits, striking out five and walking none to improve to 3-1. Freshman Drew Holt (2 IP) and sophomore Joe Talerico (1 IP) combined to no-hit the Golden Eagles over the final three innings.

Bigler also helped at the plate, connecting for two RBI doubles. Other offensive stars included Anthony Amatucci (3 for 4, with 3 RBI), Chase Gray (RBI double), Tom Whartnaby (2 for 5, RBI), Steve Wagenhoffer (2 for 2) and Mike Lamonica (2 for 2, RBI).

South, now 5 and 3, host Brick tomorrow as the Indians resume its Class A South schedule.

South will then be off until the Ocean County Tournament this Saturday.

odds and ends..

Some odds and ends:

* Negro League Pitcher Bob Scott, a former member of the Black Yankees, threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Tuesday April 12th when we hosted TR North.


* Former TRS Manager Doug Rush, class of 2002, stopped by to say hello and give the team a pep talk on Monday, April 11th.


* Former TRS player Walt Blasich, a 1998 grad, stopped by on Tuesday as well.


* Former TRS coach and player Tom Sutaris is off to a hot start with his Barnegat team, which is playing a freshman schedule. They are 5-0 and scoring 10+ runs a game.


* Former TRS catcher Brian Clouser stopped by - to catch the Manchester game. Clouser, now a pilot, is a 1998 TRS graduate.

* The cutoff date for record for the Ocean County Tournament seeding is Wednesday. The tournament begins on Saturday.

* The Indians need approximately 11 wins to qualify for the state tournament. Little more than 1/3 there.

#601 not far behind..

TR South 11, Manchester 1 (5 Innings): The Indians rallied back from a 1-0 deficit as they easily defeated the Hawks (2-4).

South improved to 4-3 with the win as the Indians scored four runs in the second inning, one in the fourth and six in the fifth inning.

A Tom Whartnaby triple down the leftfield line plated pinch runner Jessie Dalziel and left fielder Bryce Phalon to give the Indians the lead for good. Whartnaby scored on a single by senior right fielder Zack DelVento, who later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.

A Joe Talerico single in the fourth made it 5-1. DelVento doubled in two more runs in the fifth and junior DH Evan Bigler doubled in two runs as well, making it 9-1. Freshman Chase Gray walked to drive in a run and a Mike Lamonica fielders choice ended the game at 11-1.

Senior lefthander Anthony Amatucci earned the win, striking out four, walking one and allowing just three hits in four and two-thirds innings of relief. It was Amatucci's first varisty pitching victory.

The Indians will travel to Central Regional on Monday for a non-divisional contest and host Brick Township in an A South match-up on Tuesday.

The Indians greeted 1982 Alumni and current Toms River Regional Schools Board of Education member Mike Jedziniak before the contest as he stopped by to say hello.

#600 arrives...

Congratulations to TR South head baseball coach Ken Frank as he notched career victory #600 as the Indians defeated Southern Regional, 5-1, on April 14th.

Junior Evan Bigler scattered three hits, walked none and struck out six as he worked a complete game for the victory. The righthander now joins other South greats as winners of key games for Coach Frank. Mike Garrity got win #1 back in 1978. In successive order, Chris Douglas (100), Doug Forrester (200), Rod Velardi (300), Tom Wheeler (400) and Nick Davidson (500) each pitched the Indians to important "round number" wins for South and Coach Frank.

Defensive standouts included catcher Casey Chant, third baseman Joe Talerico, shortstop Tom Whartnaby, first baseman Anthony Amatucci and outfielder Ricky Petrosino.

Key offensive stars included Whartnaby, who was 2 for 4 with a run scored and a stolen. Seniors John Martone and Zack DelVento supplied clutch hits. Martone doubled in two runs to make it a 3-0 game and DelVento singled in two runs to make it 5-1.

With the win, the Indians improve their record to 3-3.

Coach Frank was presented with the game ball by the team and with a plaque from the TRS Diamond Club. Coach Frank is the third winningest active coach in the state of NJ and the winningest in Shore Conference history.

South hosts Manchester tomorrow in a non-divisional matchup at 3:45 p.m. at Ken Frank Baseball Stadium.

In important Class A South news - TR North defeated TR East 2-1 in a 14-inning contest - tying the Radiers for first place in the division as they each have one loss. North lost to Southern, now 1-5, on opening day. The Indians have three divisional losses.

Closer than it sounded..

TR North 8, TR South 2: The Indians fell to the visiting Mariners, despite hanging tough for the most part.

TR North (4-1) scored three unearned runs in the top of the third inning after two errors by the Indians, including one with two out and men on (dropped fly ball by an outfielder).

Tom Whartnaby (1-1) pitched well over the first five innings but ran into trouble in the sixth when he gave up a two-out grand slam homer to Paddy Matera.

Freshman righthander Drew Holt made his TRS varsity debut, striking out three batters in one and one-third innings action.

Offensive stars for South included Joe Talerico (2 for 3), Chase Gray (sac fly-RBI), John Martone (RBI single) and Steve Waggenhoffer (1 for 1).

South travels to Southern on Thursday for its next contest.

Missed Chances....

Brick Memorial 6, TR South 3 (8 innings): The Indians fell as they gave up 5 runs over the last three innings in a Shore Conference Class A South contest at Toms River High School East.

South had taken a 3-1 lead after a double by sophomore Steve Waggenhoffer in the fourth inning. The Mustangs tied in the seventh with a two-out one-run hit, after scoring one run in the sixth (on an error) as well.

Junior right Evan Bigler, who worked into the 8th inning, took the loss. Bigler walked the leadoff hitter in the 8th and then failed to get an out on a sac bunt attempt. Another bunt sent runners to second and third and relief pitcher Ryan MacPherson yielded a single and double back-to-back to give up three runs. Senior lefty Anthony Amatucci mopped up the inning and South failed to get a baserunner on in the bottom of the eight.

The Indians will try to bounce back on Tuesday when they host Toms River North at 3:45 p.m.

Solid practice, season rolls on...

Due to a lot of rain Thursday night and Friday morning, the TR South team took the Dougherty Gymnasium for an indoor practice.

It was a productive two hours. Swings in the cage, some pitching on the side.

The Indians are ready to roll on Saturday.

Just a reminder, the game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at TR East, when we take on Brick Memorial. We're gonna try and notch 600 for Coach Frank today.

Nice article in the Ocean County Observer if you get a chance to see it - here's the link
http://www.injersey.com/news/backstories.pl?id=1241784&paper=9

Again, I will occassionally send out emails, but this weblog is going to be my main vehicle of communication between myself and followers of TR South baseball. Take care.

599 In the Book

TR South 8, Jackson 2: The Indians rallied from 2-0 deficit as they scored 7 runs in the fifth inning to back a strong pitching performance by senior righthander Tom Whartnaby, who earned his first varsity win. It was head coach Ken Frank's 599th victory.

Whartnaby, who struck out five, walked one and hit one batter, allowed just one earned run as he worked all seven innings with 80 pitches. He also went three for four at the plate, stealing two bases and scoring two runs.

South (2-1 overall, 2-1 in A South) overcame the Jaguars (1-2, 1-2) in the bottom of the fifth when sophomore catcher Steve Waggenhoffer worked a one-out walk and moved to second on a single by Whartnaby. Senior Zack DelVento followed with a swinging bunt that the Jaguars catcher threw down the rightfield line - scoring courtesy runner Ian Mills and Whartnaby. DelVento, who had advanced to third, then scored on a ground out by junior Evan Bigler to put South up 3-2. After hits by Anthony Amatucci and John Martone and a hits batsmen of Bryce Phalon, sophomore Joe Talerico drilled a RBI single and Chase Gray blasted an RBI double off the left field fence. When the dust settled, it was 7-2 South.

Coach Frank will go for his 600th career win on Saturday at 5 p.m. as the Indians host Brick Memorial at Toms River High School East - part of TR Regional Schools Baseball Festival.

Former TRS all staters Steve Holt (2003 grad) and Jason Arre (1999 grad) stopped by to watch. Holt is scheduled to pitch against West Virginia this weekend for Rutgers University.

Not....

TR East 3, TR South 0: The Indians (1-1) fell to junior righty Casey Gaynor (2-0) and the Raiders (3-0) at Ken Frank Baseball Stadium yesterday afternoon.

South had runners on early in the game, but couldn't come through in clutch situations to plate any runs. The Indians scratched out four hits against Gaynor, who also beat Brick Memorial opening day.

Senior lefthander Zack DelVento took the loss and moves to 0-1. The Raiders posted a run in the first on an RBI single by Jon Kucinski. East also got two runs off of senior lefty Anthony Amatucci, who pitched three plus innings for South.

The Indians will look to bounce back tomorrow when they host Jackson at 3:45 p.m.

Ready or Not...

Don't know if it's a Monday thing, but we don't peform well on the opening day of the week. This is a habit we're going to have to distance ourselves fromm.

It was a good thing the TRS Hitting Indians didn't have a game today, as well struggled through parts of our intersquad practice today.

Mental Mistakes. Physical Mistakes. We made both.

The bad news is it felt like a struggle trying to make any progress today. The good news - it wasn't game day. The other good news is - we really ripped the ball today. After our 13 hit barrage out at Jackson, the momentum at the plate continued.

It turned out it was a good day for practice as TR East took on and put a lot of crooked numbers up against Brick - we take on the Raiders tomorrow. Hopefully we won't see that tomorrow. I know a few pitchers and defenders that are gonna try do something to prevent that.

Teacher Dr. Jeff Schenker, a recent doctoral recipient at Drew University, will be our honorary captain tomorrow for the 3:45 p.m. contest.

More Indian Lore in Jackson

TR South 9, Jackson 2 - The Indians were heading for an easy 15-2 win when the game was called because of darkness after 6 Innings. Junior Evan Bigler won his first game of the year as he struck out 6, walked three and allowed just three base hits. The hitting star was freshman second baseman Chase Gray, who went 3 for 3 with a two-run homer over the right field fence in the top of the fourth inning. Not too shabby a debut. Other hitting stars included Tom Whartnaby, Zack DelVento, Bryce Phalon and Casey Chant. Defensive stars included Chant, who caught the first four innings, and DelVento and Phalon in the outfield along with centerfielder Ricky Petrosino. The Indians game against Mt. Carmel, Pa. - scheduled for 5 p.m. tomorrow has been postponed due to expected heavy rains (its a 6 hour trip for Mt. Carmel). The Indians next scheduled game is Tuesday when they host TR East at 3:45 p.m.