SENIOR MOMENT: Hun School senior pitcher Rohan Sheth fires a pitch in recent action. Last Saturday, Sheth had an eventful day as the Raiders held their annual Senior Day festivities when they hosted the Stony Brook School (N.Y.). Sheth started the game on the mound and pitched 2 1/3 no-hit innings with one unearned run before exiting the contest when struck in the leg by a line drive. Hun went on to lose the game 13-0. The Raiders, who moved to 14-6 with the defeat, will be competing in both the Mercer County Tournament and the Prep A state tourney this week. In the MCT, fourth-seeded Hun is slated to face top-seeded Notre Dame in the semis on May 16 with the victor advancing to the final on May 19 at the Trenton Thunder Ballpark. The Raiders are seeded first in the Prep A tournament and are slated to host an opening round game on May 17. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

For Rohan Sheth, last Saturday turned out to be a day to remember for a lot of reasons.

As the Hun School baseball team held its annual Senior Day celebration when it hosted the Stony Brook School (N.Y.), Sheth got the start on the mound.

Senior right-hander Sheth, who has primarily worked out of the bullpen this spring, was thrilled to get the nod.

“Being here with the program for four years, it is a special group of guys I have been with, it is a great moment to be out here,” said Sheth. “Coach (Tom Monfiletto) told me on Wednesday that I was getting the start so I have been looking forward to this for the rest of the week. It is a big honor against a great team. It was good to be out there and competing.”

Competing very well against a foe stocked with Division I commits, Sheth pitched 2 1/3 no-hit innings with one unearned run.

“My command struggled initially in the first inning but I started to find it as the game went on,” said Sheth. “My fast ball was there, the curveball was there. I was hoping to put some balls in play and trust my defense.”

Unfortunately as Sheth was getting into a groove, he had to exit the contest in the third inning as a line drive off the bat of Jayden Stroman blasted into his left knee. The shot knocked Sheth to the ground and he was helped off the field, not putting any weight on his leg.

“I saw it coming, I thought it got past me and then I just felt it off my knee,” recalled Sheth. “It was a lot of pain in the moment, I am able to walk now so I am good.”

While Hun ended up falling 13-0 to Stony Brook to move to 14-6, the Raiders have some big moments ahead as they will be competing in both the Mercer County Tournament and the Prep A state tourney this week. In the MCT, fourth-seeded Hun is slated to face top-seeded Notre Dame in the semis on May 16 with the victor advancing to the final on May 19 at the Trenton Thunder Ballpark. The Raiders are seeded first in the Prep A tournament and are slated to host an opening round game on May 17.

“We checked the MAPL (Mid-Atlantic Prep League) off and now we are trying to win Prep A and MCTs,” said Sheth, noting that the Hun clinched the MAPL title. “It is a lot of games in a few days, so it just being able to let our pitchers work deep and let them do their stuff.”

With Hun having won the MCT last year for the first time in program history, Sheth believes that achievement should help the Raiders.

“We have a bunch of new guys but we have experience from last year so hopefully that will carry over,” said Sheth.

Utilizing his experience this spring, Sheth has emerged as a key performer for the Raider mound staff in his final campaign.

“I knew coming into this year, that I was going to have to step up a little bit,” said Sheth, who has posted a 3.62 ERA this spring in 9 2/3 innings of work. “Just being able to be out there for the team has been great. I am trying to do what I can for the team and help them win in any way. It is my last season playing baseball so I just wanted to have some fun with it.”

Hun head coach Monfiletto is proud of the way the squad’s Class of 2023 has been there for the team.

“It is a bunch of awesome all-around individuals,” said Monfiletto, whose senior group includes Jackson Bailey, Michael Chiaravallo, Tre Francis, Mike Jolly, Ryan Murphy, Chase Pintimalli, and Michael Smith in addition to Sheth. “It was great get some guys some innings that haven’t been able to get some this year. I was happy about that. I think their impact is going to be their work ethic and how close they were and how they approached their preparation in practice every single day.”

Sheth, who has exemplified that work ethic, and was putting in some good innings on Saturday before getting knocked out of the contest.

“I don’t know if he was going to stay in much longer, that was not the best way for him to exit but he was great,” said Monfiletto. “He was excellent — that is three outings in a row where he has been excellent. We have our state tournament and the county tournament coming up, we are definitely going to go to him in big spots.”

The Raiders produced a big comeback in the MCT quarterfinal last Friday as the fourth-seeded Hun overcame a big deficit to edge fifth-seeded Steinert.

“It was great, we went down 7-0 but I think that one of the things we have been able to do all year is come back,” said Monfiletto, who got a homer from Mike Jolly in the victory with Jack Saker and Tre Francis each contributing two RBIs.
“We have done it before. We are familiar with it, like having that game against Gloucester Catholic in the beginning of the year where we came back down 5-0 and won in extra innings. We showed lots of confidence to be able to come back in that game. We knew that we were going to hit, we just needed to clean some things up on the mound and defensively and we did. We hit and we won. It was great.”

The Raider offense has been productive down the stretch. “Jolly hit his fifth home run yesterday, he is having a hell of a year, he has been great,” said Monfiletto. “Chiaravallo and [Will] Kraemer have been very consistent with the bat. Nico [Amecangelo] has been playing really well.”

The Raiders will need to play well as competing in both the MCT and the Prep A tourney will result in a grueling week.

“The Notre Dame game is going to take everything that we have,” said Monfiletto. “The key is that we literally have to go one step at a time. The second that you get caught thinking about the next day or the next opportunity, you are in trouble.”

While Hun will be stretched thin, Monfiletto believes his club has the pieces in place to excel.

“We have enough arms if we throw strikes, that was our issue today,” said Monfiletto. “We couldn’t throw strikes and then we got behind in the count; you can’t do that against a team like this. We will swing it and we will make some plays defensively.

We have shown that.”

No matter what happens in the tournaments, Sheth will savor his time in a Hun uniform.

“It is just the power of being a team, just being there every day, working together and striving for something,” said Sheth, who is headed to Northeastern and may play club sports there at some point. “It is memories I will remember the rest of my
life. It is an awesome group of guys.”