OPENING SALVO: Hun School baseball player Nico Amecangelo follows through on a swing in a game last year. Senior second baseman Amecangelo has gotten off to a hot start this spring, going 5 for 7 with five runs and two RBIs as Hun opened the 2025 season by topping Georgetown Prep (Md.) 8-4 last Thursday and then defeating Lawrenceville 11-4 on Saturday. The Raiders will look to keep on the winning track as they host Gloucester Catholic on April 3, play at Peddie on April 5 and then host the Hill School (Pa.) on April 8. (Photo by Steven Wojtowicz)

By Bill Alden

Sparked by a group of blue chip seniors, the Hun School baseball team produced a historic campaign last spring, achieving a title triple of winning the Mercer County Tournament, the Prep A tourney, and the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) championship.

While losing such stars as Charlie Batista, Sam Wright, Michael Olender, Ryan Greenstein, and E.J. Balewitz to graduation could result in a rebuilding season, Hun head coach Tom Monfiletto believes that this year’s group has the chance to make some history of its own.

“We graduated a lot and that is something that we have kind of set out there as opportunities for the young guys to take advantage of,” said Monfiletto, whose team went 20-5 in 2024. “We have been talking about it since the beginning of the school year and just emphasizing this is the production the senior class last year provided. These are the opportunities that everybody else has to either do the same or surpass it.”

Monfiletto acknowledged that seizing opportunity will be done more by committee this spring as opposed to the past.

“It will be different, last year we had some pretty incredible individual performances in certain games,” said Monfiletto. “I think this year is going to be much more of a group effort. We do have some Division I players who can do a lot of damage. I think there are people who have gotten a lot better.”

Hun boasts a solid group of pitchers led by junior and North Carolina commit Kerrick Shannon, who was sidelined by injury last year, alibi with junior and Boston College commit Asher DeLue (1.75 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 2024).

“It is eight guys, Kerrick and Asher will start at the front of the rotation and then we will see how things go,” said Monfiletto, whose team prepped for the season with its annual preseason trip to Florida.

“Kerrick wasn’t going full tilt in Florida. When he was out there, he looks very sharp. He looks healthy and he looks great.

“We are going to ask a lot of Asher this year. He had a great end of the summer/fall. He has been working really hard and I think it is going to show.”

Others who should get innings for the Raiders this spring include junior Aidan Heaphy (1.27 ERA, 9 strikeouts), senior Yanni Moraitis (9.19 ERA, 8 strikeouts), sophomore Will Sassman, junior Sam Amodio, junior Ben Herriott, and junior Zain Majeed.

“Aidan pitched like an ace down in Florida,” said Monfiletto. “Yanni pitched like an ace down in Florida. Will threw extremely well, he also pitched like a front of the line guy.”

The middle infield duo of senior second baseman and LaSalle University commit Nico Amecangelo (.406 batting average with 28 hits in 2024) and senior shortstop and Pepperdine University commit Will Kraemer (.216, 16 hits) will spark the Raiders at the bat and in the field.

“Will was batting second and Nico was batting fourth in Florida,” said Monfiletto. “Nico will be in the middle of the order and Will will be somewhere around the middle or the top. Will has added a little bit of power. He has better range than any shortstop I can remember. He covers more ground at short than a lot of people at that position and we have had some good ones. His first step is outstanding. Nico has gotten a lot stronger. He has always been a very consistent hitter and has only gotten better. The two of them up the middle is something that is going to be very nice to have.”

The Raiders have displayed some good hitting punch as they started the 2025 season by topping Georgetown Prep (Md.) 8-4 last Thursday and then defeating Lawrenceville 11-4 on Saturday.

Monfiletto believes that senior Antonio Destribats, junior John Rossman, junior T.J. Francis, sophomore Jackson Staples, sophomore T.J. Tiff Jr., junior Gaines Newsome, and Majeed can make an impact offensively.

“We have some players that contributed for us a little bit last year and more in the Mercer County Tournament; people like Antonio (.231, 3 hits), John (.200, 5 hits), and T.J. (.111, 1 hit) will have really big roles for us,” said Monfiletto.

“Jackson (1.000, 1 hit) will play a major role for us, he is a very high level hitter. He did really well down here against some really good pitching. T.J. Tiff Jr. will play a big role for us. Gaines is also somebody we are excited about along with Zane.”

Starting with Amecangelo and Kraemer up the middle, Monfiletto is excited about the Hun infield which will include Jacob Lilienthal and Zach Eisenberg at catcher, Majeed, Newsome and Staples at first base and Rossman at third. Across the outfield, Monfiletto is looking at Destribats in left, Francis in center, and Staples at right. Sassman, Tiff, and senior Grant Gastaldello should also see time in the outfield.

While Hun will have a new look this spring, Monfiletto believes the Raiders can continue to excel.

“We have to produce runs consistently; I think there were 12 home runs in that senior class last year, I don’t know if we are going to hit that many this year,” said Monfiletto, whose team will look to keep on the winning track as it hosts Gloucester Catholic on April 3, plays at Peddie on April 5 and then hosts the Hill School (Pa.) on April 8.

“We will have to be a little creative in how we score. We know that we will be able run, we have a pretty fast group overall so that is exciting. I think our pitchers need to throw strikes. As long as we throw strikes, I am pretty confident in defense.”