HAMMER TIME: Hun School boys’ soccer player Bailey Hammer heads the ball during Hun’s 2-0 loss to Hightstown last Wednesday in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals. Sparked by senior star Hammer’s fiery play, the 11th-seeded Raiders upset sixth-seeded Princeton High 1-0 in overtime in the MCT opening round and third-seeded Allentown 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals before falling to No. 2 Hightstown. The Raiders, now 7-11, will play at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) on November 9 in its season finale. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

When Bailey Hammer joined the Hun School boys’ soccer team as a freshman in 2010, he soaked up some important lessons from the squad’s veterans.

“Three of us were on the varsity team our freshmen year, Andres Gonzalez, Chris Meinert, and me,” recalled Hammer.

“We had a phenomenal group of seniors, a lot of them went D-1. Guys like Julian Plummer who played at Lafayette. There were a lot of great kids and we were learning from them. Thank God for them because they taught us so much at a young age.”

Over the last few weeks, senior midfielder Hammer together with classmates Gonzalez, Meinert and Felix Dalstein applied those lessons as they led 11th-seeded Hun on an improbable run to the Mercer County Tournament semifinals.

The Raiders came together as they stunned sixth-seeded Princeton High 1-0 in overtime in the opening round and third-seeded Allentown 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals before losing 2-0 to Hightstown last Wednesday night in the semis.

“It would be our leadership, the four senior captains,” said Hammer, when assessing what made the difference for the Raiders in its MCT run.

“A lot of guys listened to us, they looked up to us which helped us out a lot and definitely our coaches. They were there for us no matter what, academically, anything so it was nice to have that friendship and bond where you could bond off the field. You could go out for pizza but at the same time, battle on the field together like brothers. It was really nice.”

The Raiders brought a battling spirit into the postseason. “Our whole motto is if you don’t believe us, we’ll show you how we do it,” said Hammer.

In the loss to Hightstown, Hun showed plenty of skill and fight, generating some good chances as the teams were knotted 0-0 at halftime. In the second half, Hun kept pressing forward, just missing goals on a header attempt by Hammer and a point blank volley by Alex Semler off a corner kick. Hightstown broke through with a goal on a penalty kick with 19:09 left in regulation and then added a second score on a free kick some seven minutes later.

“Coming off of two overtime wins, we were hyped, we were ready to go,” said Hammer.

“We had a light practice yesterday and we knew what we had to do coming into the game. I just wish we could have come out with a win but I thought we battled to the end, everyone hustled. It was a really good game.”

Hammer’s fiery presence helped spark Hun to give its all against Hightstown. “I like being loud, I am competitive and everything,” said Hammer, who also stars for the Hun baseball team.

“It was definitely a blast being out there and getting the team fired up. I think we battled and it was just really nice to see everyone leave it out on the field.”

Hun head coach Pat Quirk was likewise proud of Hun’s effort. “We created a lot of good opportunities for ourselves,” said Quirk.

“We couldn’t finish but we never gave up and that’s been the story of this team all season. There were times where they could have packed it in but they never do. They are always trying to keep scoring.”

Even though the Raiders brought a losing record into the MCT, Quirk sensed that his team could pull off some surprises.

“I had a good feeling coming into the tournament,” said Quirk. “We started playing well together. We started making some combinations and we had that whole never give up thing. The first two games in the tournament we won in overtime. No one really expected us to do anything and we were able to prove some people wrong.

Quirk credits his quartet of seniors with holding things together for the Raiders.

“Bailey, Felix, Andres, and Chris have all shown some great leadership,” said Quirk, whose team topped Peddie 3-2 last Saturday to move to 7-11 and will play at Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) on November 9 in its season finale. “They are lead by example players.”

Based on the team’s late surge, Quirk is confident that his younger players will follow the good example set by the seniors going forward.

“We have guys coming back that are part of this,” said Quirk. “Two freshmen are on the field the majority of the time in the game for us. We have a bunch of sophomores and some juniors. I think it looks good.”

Hammer, for his part, believes his class is leaving a good legacy for the program.

“We are going to be ready for next year,” said Hammer. “We got a lot of young kids so hopefully this is a good learning experience for them.”