LEADING MAN: Princeton High baseball player Dylan Newman connects in a game this spring. Senior Newman enjoyed a superb final campaign for the Tigers, batting .381 with 24 hits and 11 RBIs. PHS, which fell 12-2 to South River on May 21 in its last game, posted a final record of 8-16. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

When the Princeton High baseball team defeated longtime nemesis Hopewell Valley 7-3 in late April, it appeared that the Tigers were on the right track.

The victory improved PHS to 5-6 and the squad was hoping that beating a powerhouse HoVal squad could be a springboard to a big May.

“After the Hopewell game, we said we can’t let this be a highlight,” said Tiger head coach Dom Capuano. “We have to work forward and we really didn’t.”

Things started to go awry for PHS the next day as it fell 17-8 to Colts Neck.

“We go up against Colts Neck 5-1 or something and then we blew that game and everything kind of continued to unravel,” said Capuano. “You start to see some pressing and so forth as things start to hurt. I think the pressure of the situation could have got to them. We went from thinking we could potentially get a home game in states to not making it.”

PHS ended up going 3-10 after the win over HoVal to finish the spring with an 8-16 record.

The Tigers did enjoy a last highlight this spring as they rallied to edge Ewing 9-8 on May 17 at the Trenton Thunder Ballpark.

“It wasn’t the last game of our season but it was a good ending point to our season,” said Capuano, whose team fell 12-2 to South River on May 21 in its season finale. “It was kind of a microcosm of our season. We tied the game at 3-3 and then we immediately give up five runs. But then to score six in the sixth and close the game out and win when we could have folded was a good thing.”

The Tigers did some good things offensively this spring as they posted a team batting average of .316 and averaged more than five runs a game. That hitting punch, though, wasn’t enough to overcome some spotty pitching.

“We hit well in certain spots, we saw some younger guys who are going to be returning next year who made some strides at the plate,” said Capuano. “Mound-wise we have a lot to work on. The positive there is that we are only losing one pitcher and he really didn’t pitch that much. The experience of varsity baseball is now fully ingrained in us. We just have to do the little things in the offseason to make sure that we get better.”

The team’s senior group of Ben Walden, Dylan Newman, Alex Winters, Roman Howe, and Michael Prete made a positive impact.

“They did well and they are going to be tough to replace in the lineup,” said Capuano. “A couple of them stepped up a lot from last year and that is the message I gave to the juniors. It is, ‘Look you don’t have to tear the cover off the ball this year to be successful next year.’ You could point to Ben and Dylan specifically, the growth they had in two completely different situations. We can rely on those guys to give us some blueprints on how to do it next year.”

Leadoff hitter and center fielder Winters grew into a catalyst for the Tigers. In his final campaign, Winters led the team in batting average (.400), runs (26), hits (26), doubles (10), triples (3), and stolen bases (21).

“Alex had a nice season,” said Capuano. “Hitting .400 is good, he went through a little spell there. He was our leadoff hitter for the last two years and somebody is going to have to fill those big shoes in some way.”

Going forward, Capuano is looking for his returning players to fine-tune their offseason training as they aim to fill the shoes of the departing seniors.

“They need to put the work in, I need to adjust our offseason plan so that is more conducive to this group,” said Capuano. “I have already started taking inventory what can change and who I need to talk to. Our preparation for that needs to change and they know that. They just have to commit to it. It looks like it can’t be turned around quickly, but we are not that far off. It is just the consistency piece of it from all the returning people. We have a pretty good mix of who is playing travel and who is playing Legion.”

Capuano is confident that the program’s foundation, which features juniors Jai Justice, Eric Wheeler, James Schiavone, Nathan Nydick, Travis Petrone, and Nano Sarceno along with sophomore Chase Hamerschlag is up to the challenge.

“Those are all of the guys with the most experience coming back on the mound; the pitching staff sets the tone for everything else,” said Capuano. “If you ask me, I would rather have good pitching rather than good hitting every day of the week because you will always be in the game. The defense needs to step up; we lost a game 13-5 (to WW/P-North on May 8), making 10 errors with one earned run. Hopefully they can build on that experience they got this year.”