Tom Monfiletto is filling some big shoes as he takes the helm of the Hun School baseball program.

While succeeding legendary Bill McQuade, who coached the team for 46 seasons and guided the Raiders to the state Prep A title last spring in an emotional finale, is a daunting proposition, Monfiletto believes he can maintain the program’s winning tradition.

“Coach McQuade built the foundation that was incredibly successful; it is not my idea to really change the whole deal,” said Monfiletto, a former Hun baseball and football standout who served as an assistant to McQuade for the last seven seasons. 

“It is to keep it going with a little but of a different approach. I think he will be proud of the whole product he sees this year and will be happy for us.”

Monfiletto believes the Hun players share his pride in the program. “The one thing that I really like about this team is that the seniors and juniors, for the most part, all spent some time in JV and played together for a while,” said Monfiletto.

“We have guys that have really bought into the program and it really means a lot to them. The hope is that caring for one another translates onto the field and when we get in these tight games, that will carry us over the edge.”

The squad’s mound corps could carry the Raiders a long way, featuring a trio of starting pitchers of senior Mike Pedota, postgraduate and former Princeton High standout Joaquin Hernandez-Burt, and sophomore Jack Erbeck.

“We have Mike Pedota coming back who was 5-1 last year with a 1.00 ERA; he was effective for us,” said Monfiletto, noting that juniors Tom Ramsay and Chris Murdock along with senior Ryan Strype will also get innings.

“We picked up Joaquin Hernandez-Burt, he looks good. He is going to go to Roger Williams and play next year. He is a really good pitcher, he has command of three pitches. He knows what he is doing, he holds runners on, he fields his position and he has emerged as a leader on the team. We have a sophomore transfer from Notre Dame Jack Erbeck, who also threw really really well on our Florida trip. We are happy with our arms.”

On offense, Hun will be looking to play some small ball, having lost big bats Alex Mumme and Jordyn Smith to graduation.

“We are losing a lot of power so we are going to work our butts off to score some runs this year,” said Monfiletto, whose team started the season by losing 1-0 to Lawrenceville on March 30 before beating Blair Academy
6-1 last Saturday.

“We practice base running every day and we practice the whole idea of manufacturing runs. We have struggled defensively against teams that do that so why not do it ourselves.”

Monfiletto sees junior Chris Pontrella, sophomore McGwire Tuffy, and senior twins, Matt Moore and Ryan Moore, as table setters with Strype, Erbeck, and Hernandez-Burt providing some punch.

Hun mix and match on defense, depending on who is pitching. “We are going to use a lot of guys, 11 and 12 guys a game,” said Monfiletto. “We have a lot of options.

Across the diamond, the Hun defensive alignment will include Strype at catcher, Adam Wijaya and Pontrella at third base, Pedota and Pontrella at shortstop, Tuffy at second, and a combination Cam Cavanaugh, Joaquin, Strype, and Erbeck at first. In the outfield, Matt Moore, Ryan Moore, Erbeck, Chris Sumners, and  Adam Zucatti should all see action.

In Monfiletto’s view, things can come together for Raiders this spring if they battle on a daily basis.

“I think we could be good as long as we don’t allow ourselves to be satisfied too easily,” said Monfiletto, whose team plays at the Hill School (Pa.) on April 5 before hosting Peddie on April 7 and St. Augustine on April 11.

“We have a tough schedule with a lot of games packed in one after another. We don’t have any room to breathe, which is by design for a purpose. They need to really buy into the idea that every day is a new fight and no matter what you did yesterday, you have to improve the next day and keep it going.”