CATCHING FIRE: Princeton High baseball player Alec Silverman takes charge in a game earlier this season. Senior catcher Silverman’s defensive play and solid hitting in the cleanup spot have helped PHS produce a 5-3 start. The Little Tigers will look to keep on the winning track as they host Hightstown on April 18 and Allentown on April 19 before playing at Hightstown on April 20 and then hosting Robbinsville on April 23. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Even though the Princeton High baseball team endured losing campaigns in the first three years of his career,  Alec Silverman sensed things would be different this spring.

“Our guys have invested so much into it,” said Silverman, noting that there are eight seniors on the PHS roster.

“We knew what to expect this year, we knew we were going to come out and do good things. It was just about surprising people and showing them what we have got pitching and offensively.”

In the early going this spring, PHS has emerged as one of the most pleasant surprises in the area, getting off to a 5-3 start.

Last Thursday as PHS topped Trenton 8-1, Silverman slugged an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to set the tone as the Little Tigers pulled away to the victory.

“For me it has been about simplifying my at-bats; seeing the ball, hitting the ball,” said Silverman, who ended up going 2-for-3 with a walk and the double in the win. “Sometimes I come out here and try to do too much; in reality that is all it is about for me.”

The Little Tigers are doing well collectively with their bats. “Offensively, we are hot right now and that is what we expect from our guys,” said Silverman. “I have confidence in all of our guys, up and down any where from our nine hitter to our one hitter. Everyone is doing their job.”

Silverman has assumed a big job on defense this spring as he is calling the pitches from his catcher spot.

“It has been really fun; he has given me the responsibility of calling pitches this year,” said Silverman, who helped junior star Teddy Durbin hurl a no-hitter against Notre Dame on April 6 and guided senior standout Paul Cooke through 5 2/3 hitless innings against Trenton.

“I just try to do my best to try to look at hitters and see what they have got and just go from there. It is just calling the right pitches at the right times and trusting my pitchers to execute and hit the spot. We have four arms that we really trust right now.”

As one of the team captains along with classmate Mike Ramirez, Silverman has worked hard to build a culture of trust this spring for the Little Tigers.

“We have been trying to get those guys to do things together,” said Silverman, who is headed to Macalester College where he will play for its baseball program.

“We had team dinners and all of that team bonding. We count on each other 100 percent and there is no one that we think can’t do that job if we put them in there.”

PHS head coach Dave Roberts likes the way Silverman is getting the job done, defensively and offensively.

“Alec is doing great; he has a lot of responsibility this year so he is mentally into it every game,” said Roberts.

“He is calling all the pitches himself, which is the first time I let him do that. He is doing a great job. He called a no-hitter and almost called another one. He has got that responsibility and he has got to come up as our cleanup hitter offensively and stay focused.”

The Little Tigers got a focused mound effort from Cooke in the win over Trenton.

“He got stronger as he went on, any good pitcher is going to do that,” said Roberts.

“Specifically for him today, it was the first time he has been on the mound since our scrimmages in March. Paulie gave us a good effort and a good game.”

PHS has been getting some very good hitting from junior Eli Okoye and senior Zack Yoelson. “Eli and Yoelson have been destroying the baseball, there is doubt about it,” said Roberts.

“Yoelson has five RBIs in the last two days, he is hitting at a good clip. He is seeing the ball really well in the cage and it is showing on the field. Eli is stinging the ball, he had three RBIs yesterday. They are doing a great job.”

While Roberts is encouraged by his team’s positive start, he is pushing his players to maintain a business-like approach in order to keep winning.

“We just need to keep doing what we have been doing,” said Roberts, whose team fell 5-2 to Pennington last Saturday to move to 5-3 and will look to get back on the winning track as it hosts Hightstown on April 18 and Allentown on April 19 before playing at Hightstown on April 20 and then hosting Robbinsville on April 23. “It is just continuing to take our batting practice, continuing to do our drills. As we get outside more, we will shore up the defense.”

In Silverman’s view, the Little Tigers aren’t about to let up. “It is a matter of staying within ourselves; we have got to keep the energy up and the focus at every at bat,” said Silverman. “You can’t take a pitch off, especially defensively, because that one pitch might just cost us a game. We are are just going to keep rolling with what we have got.”