HANGING WITH HENDERSON: Princeton High baseball player Marcus Henderson chats with a teammate during a recent game. Last Wednesday, senior Henderson pitched superbly in a losing cause, giving up just six hits in a 1-0 loss to powerful Steinert. Building on its effort in that game, PHS went on to defeat WW/P-N 6-0 last Friday and then beat South Hunterdon 4-1 a day later. PHS, now 2-4, is scheduled to play at Notre Dame on April 22, at WW/P-N on April 24, at Lakewood on April 25 and at New Brunswick on April 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Marcus Henderson had some butterflies bouncing around his stomach as he took the mound for the Princeton High baseball team last Wednesday against perennial power Steinert.

“I am not going to lie, I was nervous to be pitching against Steinert, a very good offensive team,” said senior Henderson, who was a JV player until this spring.

Henderson believed that he could negate Steinert’s offensive prowess by keeping it off balance.

“I know I am not an overpowering pitcher,” said Henderson. “I heard that they aren’t great at hitting off-speed pitches so that was helpful to me. I just had to keep it down and away and throw strikes.”

Overcoming his nerves, Henderson calmly executed his game plan, holding the Spartans to six hits in a tough 1-0 loss. “I had to have my teammates come through, I needed some of the great plays to keep me in this game,” said Henderson.

“I made some mistakes throwing, the ball was up and they made some great plays backing me up out there.”

For Henderson, the mound effort against Steinert was a great confidence builder.

“It really makes me want to go out there and throw again, knowing that I have a solid defense behind me that can make plays when I need them to,” said Henderson.

Moving up to varsity as a senior has been a good way for Henderson to culminate his PHS career.

“It is a great feeling, the whole atmosphere is different, down to the basics and the way the defense plays,” said Henderson.

PHS head coach Dave Roberts lauded Henderson for stepping up against Steinert.

“We have been looking for the pitchers to come out and throw strikes and that is what Marcus did,” said Roberts.

“He kept them off balance. He had a good two-seam fastball today, mixing with a couple of breaking balls. Mostly it was two-seam fastballs and location, it was a great job against a fantastic baseball team. This was his second start, he went the distance and gave up one run against clearly one of the best teams in the county, who could be a state title contender.”

Another big positive for PHS in the defeat was the job it did on defense, playing error-free baseball and cutting down
several Steinert base runners.

“It was the best defensive effort we have put together all year,” asserted Roberts. “John Reid was throwing people out from the outfield and Tim Frawley was throwing out guys from behind the plate. The infield shored it up finally for us.”

While the PHS offense didn’t produce any runs on the day, it generated some rallies, including in the bottom of the seventh when junior star Joaquin Herndandez-Burt led off the frame by belting a long double.

“That was a huge hit by Joaquin, we battled,” said Roberts. “Look, the pitcher (Kyle Muller) we faced today is going to Rutgers. I told the guys he is going to throw strikes so come up looking fastball. Once you get behind, he has a good curve and a bust change, he throws them all. Hayden Reyes had tremendous approaches, he had two hits today.”

PHS’s overall approach against Steinert encouraged Roberts. “I just told them if they play that game today, they are going to walk away with their first win on Friday,” said Roberts. “If we go back to the games we were playing earlier in the season, it is not going to come together for us.”

Roberts proved prescient as PHS topped WW/P-N 6-0 last Friday behind a superb pitching effort for senior Ben Grass and then beat South Hunterdon 4-1 a day later as senior Ben Danis pitched five solid innings and contributed a hit and a run.

“I tell them if we make two or less errors and three or less walks in a game, we are going to be good,” said Roberts, whose team is now 2-4 and plays at Notre Dame on April 22, at WW/P-N on April 24, at Lakewood on April 25, and at New Brunswick on April 27  “It proves true.”

Henderson, for his part, believes that PHS proved something to themselves with the loss to Steinert.

“A lot of guys on the team were nervous coming up against Steinert and then we just came to play today,” said Henderson.

“It is something that I think really helped the team, we will bring that into the next games.”