BATMAN: Princeton High baseball player Colin Taylor waits for a pitch in a game last spring. PHS is looking for senior third baseman Taylor to provide some pop in the middle of the batting order. The Little Tigers open 2016 action by playing at Steinert on April 1 and at Allentown on April 2. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After hitting the 10-win mark last spring for the first time in years, the Princeton High baseball team is bringing some swagger into 2016.

“We have a lot of guys who have played a ton of varsity baseball games,” said PHS head coach Dave Roberts, who guided the Little Tigers to a 10-15 record last spring.

“They have won a lot of games so we are not
questioning whether or not we can win games, it really is a question of how can we improve on 10.”

Roberts is looking for senior stars, Hayden Reyes, Matt Lambert, Joaquin Hernandez-Burt, and Colin Taylor, to set a tone.

“They have their sights set on something big,” said Roberts, whose team opens its 2016 campaign by playing at Steinert on April 1 and at Allentown on April 2.

“Hayden Reyes is going into his fourth year of varsity baseball. Matt Lambert, Joaquin Hernandez-Burt and Colin Taylor are all going into their third straight year of varsity baseball. They have been with me a long time now, they have been major contributors.”

Hernandez-Burt figures to be a major force on the mound for PHS after being unable to pitch most of last spring.

“Joaquin is rested and ready to go, it is such a difference maker,” said Roberts.

“He is a true ace and the sophomore year he had was just tremendous. We are glad to have him to back. He is raring to pitch eight or nine regular season games and hopefully some tournament games for us.”

PHS will need the rest of its pitching corps to capably back up Hernandez-Burt.

“We are looking at another senior Joey Studholme; he has been with the program all four years and he is going to step up to the varsity this year,” added Roberts.

“We are looking at Zach Yoelson, who is a sophomore lefty for us. Hayden is itching to pitch, he took a year off from pitching last year. He is telling me that he wants to close out games; that will give me an experienced back end guy, which is pretty nice. We have a sophomore Mike Ramirez looking to fill the innings that are left and then sophomore Paul Cooke pitched a little bit last year.”

In 2015, offense made the difference in a lot of games at PHS. “We scored a ton of runs last year, it was close to four-and-a half-to five runs a game,” said Roberts, noting that Cooke and Reyes both had 34 hits last spring, breaking the program’s previous single-season record of 33. “That is a lot of runs a game.”

Roberts is confident that his squad can score a lot of runs again this season.

“I think it is going to be Reyes, Lambert, and Cooke at the top of the order. I think we are going to move Colin to the cleanup spot this year because he has got some pop,” said Roberts.

“The good thing about the top four guys is not only are they great hitters but every one of them can steal a base. We are lightning quick through the first four. Cooke is stronger, his swing is still incredibly good looking. I love the lefty in that three spot, it is kind of an old school lineup a little bit. We will keep Joaquin in that fifth spot. We are getting the return of Dan Gross who contributed a lot as a freshman, he will slide in there at that six spot.”

PHS looks good on defense with sophomore Alec Silverman back at catcher and Hernandez-Burt at first base along with junior Teddy Marttila, Lambert at second, Reyes at short, and Taylor at third. Cooke will anchor the outfield at center with a group of seniors Micah
Daly-Harris, Aaron Lichtblau, and Studholme along with sophomores John Girouard and Ramirez in the mix for the corner spots.

“We are strong up the middle and we are strong in the whole infield,” said Roberts. “This is the best infield I have had in my tenure here.”

In Roberts’ view, the squad is poised to produce the best season of his seven-year tenure with the program.

“We gave a couple of games away last year, if we can stop doing that we can be on the right side of .500,” said Roberts.

“The young guys have to step up with the pitching, they’ve got to trust their stuff and throw strikes. The key to success is that the guys have to fill in behind Joaquin. Last year was the best offensive year we have had since I have been here  and I would like to duplicate that.”