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(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: SLIP SLIDING AWAY: Princeton Day School catcher Logan Laughlin applies the tag to a Newark Academy runner last Wednesday in the Prep B championship game. While PDS got the out on this play, it was little consolation as Newark prevailed 10-2 to take the title. The Panthers finished the spring with a 9-11 mark.

PDS Baseball Misfires In Prep B Title Game, Sees Disappointment as Fueling Motivation

By Bill Alden

Coming into the state Prep B championship baseball game against Newark Academy last week, the Princeton Day School squad was clicking on all cylinders.

In the quarterfinals, PDS displayed powerful hitting in pounding out three homers to beat Pennington 7-6. The fifth-seeded Panthers relied on airtight pitching to win a 5-0 decision over top-seeded Montclair-Kimberley in the semis.

In the title contest, however, nothing clicked for PDS as it fell 10-2 to Newark, making five errors and issuing seven walks in the process.

"We couldn't catch the ball and we couldn't throw strikes, that was our problem," lamented PDS head coach Bruce Devlin in assessing his team's sloppy effort. "They really didn't have more than two hard hit balls the whole game. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong."

The setback was particularly distressing in view of what fifth-seeded PDS had accomplished in reaching the title game.

"I think the teams we beat to get there, Montclair, Kimberley, and Pennington were both better than Newark," asserted Devlin, whose team finished the season with a 9-11 record. "It was just a frustrating day."

While the final chapter was disappointing, Devlin was proud of the way his trio of seniors Colin Johnson, Dan O'Brien, and Charlie Bird ended their careers.

"The seniors played hard," said Devlin. "Colin started the season at DH (designated hitter) due to his shoulder problem but then moved to second base. He made the plays and went after the ball. Dan gave us a lot of innings on the mound against the best teams we played. Charlie Bird really came on in the last three weeks. He hit the ball hard and played a really good left field for us."

With nearly the whole team returning, Devlin has plenty of hope for the future. "We have 13 of 16 kids coming back and we should be bringing some good new kids," maintained Devlin. "The young kids want to work hard and they want to win."

One of the returners with the most desire to win is junior first baseman Andrew Davidson, who produced a breakthrough season.

"Andrew hit .454 and had four home runs," said Devlin referring to the junior who was named as a first team All-Prep performer along with Dan O'Brien with freshman Clint O'Brien receiving second­team honors.

"He can pick it at first base, I think he made one error all season. He was unbelievable. He took over at leadoff after Bam Miller got hurt and he gained more and more confidence as the season went on. He's a leader and he gets the other guys going."

The lessons that Davidson and the other returning players learned in their championship defeat should help them in the long run.

"I told the kids that you can't take any championship game for granted," said Devlin. "You never know when you're going to be back and you have to take advantage of those kind of opportunities."

Although PDS didn't seize that final opportunity, the Panthers had a memorable spring. "It was exciting," said Devlin. "Before the season, I thought we would end up around .500. We thought if we could steal a title this year, that would be great."

With the playoff experience and the returning talent, PDS should be in the middle of the title hunt again next spring.