(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) SAM’S CLUB: Princeton Day School baseball star Skye Samse clubs the ball in action last spring. Senior star Samse wasted no time showing his power this spring, hitting two homers as PDS opened the season with a 21-7 win over New Hope-Solebury (Pa.) last week. The Panthers, now 2-0, host Rutgers Prep on April 6, Valley Forge on April 8, play Morristown-Beard on April 9 at Diamond Nation in Flemington, and then host Rancocas Valley on April 11.

PDS Baseball Showing Early Offensive Punch As It Begins Defense of Prep B Championship

Bill Alden

For Princeton Day School baseball head coach Ray O’Brien, his team’s recent preseason trip to Florida wasn’t the normal low-key tune-up exercise.

“In past years, the trip was just to tighten things up,” said O’Brien, who guided a senior-laden team to an 18-6 record and the state Prep B title last spring.

“This year, we were trying a lot of guys at different positions. I was happy with the way we swung the bat; we scored more runs than I expected.”

Carrying that offensive punch north, the Panthers opened their season by reaching the 20-run mark in each of their first two games, beating New Hope-Solebury (Pa.) 21-7 in the opener on March 28 and then beating Academy of New Church 22-3 last Thursday.

O’Brien knows that his callow team is going to hit some bumps in the road as it replaces the eight seniors that led PDS to its first state prep crown since 2001.

“We are going to be young and really inexperienced,” said O’Brien. “We set a pretty good foundation with those guys from last year; the goal is to get back to that level.”

This year’s club has a good foundation in its trio of senior captains, Jon Walker, Skye Samse, and Kevin Francfort.

“We have three good senior captains,” said O’Brien. “I am expecting big years out of all of them.”

The captains should trigger the PDS offense with speed, power, and savvy. “Jon is a four-year starter; I think he is the best centerfielder in the county and he is a great leadoff guy,” asserted O’Brien.

“Skye is the No. 3 hitter; he is off to a good start. He hit two home runs in a game in Florida and hit two more in our opener. Kevin is coming off a good American Legion season.”

The Panthers have some other good bats in the lineup. “We have Beau Horan in the two hole; he hit well in Florida,” added O’Brien.

“Sean McCoy is hitting the ball well. B.J. Dudeck also hit the ball well in Florida. He was a string bean last year; he gained 12-15 pounds and I think we will have him in the middle of the line-up.”

O’Brien is hoping his corps of young pitchers can gain confidence quickly. “We have three juniors in Matt Cook, Jacob Eisenberg, and Tom Keegan; all three of them are tall kids with good arms,” said O’Brien.

“They haven’t thrown a lot of innings; we’ll see how durable they are. Sophomore Greg Auerbach will be the fourth pitcher. We will probably be chopping up most of the games, at least in the beginning. I think Jacob Eisenberg may have the most durability.”

Around the horn, the PDS defense will feature sophomore Bradley Fried at catcher, Samse at first, Horan at shortstop, Francfort at third with Walker, McCoy, and Dudeck handling the outfield duties. O’Brien said second base is still up for grabs.

In O’Brien’s view, the team’s pitching will need to catch up with the batters if the Panthers are to have a big spring.

“I think our strength is offense; our success will depend on how quickly our pitchers and catchers learn to play at the varsity level,” said O’Brien, whose team hosts Rutgers Prep on April 6, Valley Forge on April 8, plays Morristown-Beard on April 9 at Diamond Nation in Flemington, and then hosts Rancocas Valley on April 11.

After last year’s success, PDS knows what it takes to develop into a champion.

“We have a good group of kids; they are going to work hard,” said O’Brien. “There is a good foundation in the work ethic left behind by the other guys; the guys know what they need to do to get to the next level. We are a work in progress; most guys will be back next year so the future is bright.”

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