BB: NJAC: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Spence]

Why the heck did they try to steal third?

They had bases loaded.....I am sure he took too big of a lead and the catcher picked him off. 

Oh yeah guess they were loaded...too much bold text.

Obviously it didn't hurt them in the end result.

[phil]

...and TCNJ wins it in the bottom of the 12th. It would have been tough for TCNJ to have to play at 6:00 today after the length of the Montclair game last night and the early Kean game this morning. Not to mention the twelve innings it took to beat Kean.

Now at least I can go get some yard work done down here in Houston! It would be nice to have something other than live stats so I'm not sitting here staring vacantly into my computer screen while my daughter is asking to play video games on Nick jr.

BTW, I could see the Ramapo collapse coming 1450 miles away. Lackluster pitching and an easy early shedule didn't quite prepare them for the stretch run in the NJAC race. A 1-7 record against Kean TCNJ and Montclair says it all. Still, a surprising year for both Ramapo and Stockton ... and on the negative side, Paterson.

[Lefty]

Rowan defeats Montclair 3-2. 

Rowan now takes on Kean at 6:00 pm....the winner gets TCNJ tomorrow and has to beat them twice for the NJAC Championship and automatic bid.

[Lefty]

After 5 innings Kean leads Rowan 9-2.

[Lefty]

Kean defeats Rowan 13-4.

Kean faces TCNJ tomorrow at 1:00 pm.  If TCNJ wins they are the champs, if Kean wins they play the second game at 4:00 pm.

The best two teams playing for the Championship.....it just doesn't get any better.

[phil]

...and that pretty much solidifies the fact that the NJAC will only get two bids this season.

[Lefty]

Sorry this doesn't line up correctly.

From the NJAC website:

NEW JERSEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
ALL-CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAM
SPRING 2007
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Gerard Haran, TCNJ
PITCHER OF THE YEAR:   Joe Augustine, Kean
FIREMAN OF THE YEAR:  Dave Waseleski, TCNJ
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:  Joe Cacchiola, Ramapo
COACH OF THE YEAR:  Neil Ioviero, Kean

FIRST TEAM             
Name    Year    Pos.    School Hometown//High School
Joe Augustine^    SR    P    Kean    Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park
Mike Oliver    JR    P    TCNJ    Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West
Gerard Haran*+    SR    C    TCNJ    Matawan, NJ/Old Bridge
Bill Mercurio    SR    1B    Rutgers-Newark    Wappinger Falls, NY/Arlington
Joe Cacchiola    FR    2B    Ramapo    Union, NJ/Union
Tom Ready    SO    3B    Rowan    Blenheim, NJ/Triton Regional
Perry Schatzow*+    SR    SS    Kean    Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township
Mike Guadango    FR    OF    William Paterson    Upper Saddle River, NJ/Northern Highlands
Rick Pignatello~%    SR    OF    William Paterson    Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills
Nick Sbarra    JR    OF    Ramapo    Washington Township, NJ/Washington Twp.
Rob Bowness*    SR    DH    Montclair State    Sparta, NJ/Seton Hall Prep
Derek Gianakas    JR    Utility    Kean    Edison, NJ/Edison
            
SECOND TEAM             
Name    Year    Pos.    School   Hometown/High School
Jesus Castano    FR    P    Montclair State    West New York, NJ/Memorial
Dan Zeffiro+    SR    P    Kean    Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge
Robert Fox    JR    C    Rowan    Ocean Township, NJ/Ocean Township
Lou Politan    JR    1B    Montclair State    Livingston, NJ/Livingston
Maikel De La Rosa^    JR    2B    Kean    Newark, NJ/Barringer
Matt Zonies    SR    3B    TCNJ    Marlton, NJ/Cherokee
Jeff Toth    SO    SS    TCNJ    Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial
Jeff Botti    SR    OF    TCNJ    Avenel, NJ/Colonia
Brent DiMarco    SR    OF    Rutgers-Newark    Nutley, NJ/Nutley
Chris Discher    SO    OF    Richard Stockton    Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West
Mike Shymanski^    SO    DH    Kean    Edison, NJ/Edison
Jeff Miller    SR    Utility              Montclair State    Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo


HONORABLE MENTION       
Name    Year    Pos.    School  Hometown/High School
Bob Buskett~#    JR    P    TCNJ    Trenton, NJ/Notre Dame
Jairo Mendez    JR    P    Montclair State    Kearny, NJ/Kearny
Tom Terrill    SR    C    Rutgers-Camden    Sewell, NJ/Washington Township
Blake Bullis*#    SR    1B    TCNJ    Delran, NJ/Delran
Brian Paras    SR    2B    Richard Stockton    Cape May Court House, NJ/Middle Township
Ryan Clark    JR    3B    Kean    Livingston, NJ/Seton Hall Prep
Jose Fulgencio    JR    SS    NJCU    Bronx, NY/San Rafael (Dominican Republic)
Jairo Jimenez    JR    OF    Ramapo    Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton
Dan Mattonelli    JR    OF    Kean    Hamilton, NJ/Steinert
Don Reinertsen    SR    OF    William Paterson    Swartzwood, NJ/Kittatinny
Vince Giunta    FR    DH    Rutgers-Camden    Sewell, NJ/Clearview Regional
John Callandrello    SO    Utility    Ramapo    Montville, NJ/Seton Hall Prep

Key:
*  First Team All-Conference 2006
^  Second Team All-Conference 2006
~ Honorable Mention 2006
# First Team All-Conference 2005
+ Second Team All-Conference 2005
% Honorable Mention 2004

[Lefty]

NJAC Championship

My one and only update for the day....I have to head out for a sales meeting (who scheduled that??):

Starting pitchers
Cupido for Kean
Kittle for TCNJ

After 2 innings
TCNJ - 1
Kean - 1

If Kean manages to win game 1 then my "guess" is we will see Augustine (1.92 ERA) against Ortiz (1.93 ERA).....and that is a great match-up.

[JT]

Tied 7-7 in the bottom of the 9th, Kean walks in the winning run with the bases loaded.  Too bad neither school has radio broadcasters.  Maybe next year I will do it for d3baseball.com.  Been a little busy with a new business launch.  Next year I should have more time. 

[phil]

...Bullis 2-run homer in the 8th tied it. How a two-time All-American only warrants an Honorable Mention All-NJAC spot as a senior is beyond me.

Third NJAC baseball championship in a row for TCNJ. In the history of the NJAC, only Montclair and Paterson have three-peated. It was fun following this while at work down here in Texas!

[d3baseball07]

Why was Bullis only Honorable Mention?  His 2 All American Years mean nothing for this, it is not a life time achievement award to be on the All Conference Team.  I was actually surprised he even made Honorable Mention.  Blake Bullis hit .263 during conference play this year with just 2 doubles and 1 home run.  Those are not impressive #'s.  And by looking at the entire All Conference selections i began to wonder if Rick Dell puts in to much effort getting his players nominated.

Case in point,  how does Bob Buskett make HM while Gary Winkler from Rowan gets nothing?  Winkler had a 0.87 era in 31 conference innings.  Buscket 1.78 in 30 innings.  It absoutly blows my mind how Winkler is not on any of these teams.  Or how Jairo Mendez from MSU is HM with a 0.70 era in 38.2 conference innings and Mike Oliver from TCNJ gets 1st team with a 1.78 era in 30 innings against the likes of NCJU and others.

Even more proof that this All Conference team is completly rigged is how Maikel De La Rosa from Kean makes 2nd team with a .238 conference batting average.  What a joke  and also Mike Shymanski on 2nd team when he batted .260 all year.  ( i cant find his conference BA, but i cant imagine its very high).

It was my understanding that the All conference teams were picked only from Conference stats and if that remains the case these teams are a complete and utter disgrace.

[d3baseball07]

*Correction*

Updated stats.  Maikel De La Rosa finished .254 in conference play and Shymanski .286 with 1 double, 0 triples and 0 Home runs.   That is 2nd team all conference?  Some very strange selections this year.

[phil]

I've seen enough of these selections (both good and bad) in the past to believe that there is a "Lifetime Acheivement Award" aspect to the picks — especially for Seniors.

Mendez beat Kean, Newark and NJCU in his three NJAC starts and you want to complain about which teams Oliver faced? Winkler's only win during the entire NJAC season was against Newark. And what about Ortiz? It's not all ERA.

As far as Bullis is concerned... if it truly is based on just the NJAC season then you have your point. But TCNJ won their third straight NJAC title despite the obvious priorites Dell must have placed on the All-NJAC selections — as Bullis went 10-22 with 2 HRs — 6 runs — 8 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in five NJAC playoff games against some "decent" competition. Not to mention the fact that he's one of the best gloves in DIII. So I doubt that he's losing sleep over the NJAC snub.

[Lefty]

In case anyone cares....here is a score from May 8th:

Kean 7, Felician 6


Montclair is at Salisbury today....should be a good match-up.

[bluejayfan]

As a Hopkins fan, just thought I'd see what people's thoughts were on the upcoming regional???