BB: NJAC: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Lefty]

NJAC Scores for Monday, April 2nd

Kean 8, Manhattanville 6
Kean 8, Manhattanville 4
TCNJ 8, Johns Hopkins 2

Nice bounce back for TCNJ after being swept by Kean this past weekend. 

[Lefty]

From the NJAC website.  Congrats to the following players of the week:

PLAYER OF THE WEEK            
Don Reinertsen, William Paterson University
Senior, Outfielder
Swartzwood, NJ/Kittatinny

Reinertsen earns NJAC Player of the Week honors after hitting .667 (16-for-24) with three doubles, two triples, nine RBI and eight runs scored in five games for the Pioneers. He hit safely in all five contests and produced four multiple-hit games including a 4-for-4 performance with a double, triple, and five RBI in Paterson’s 15-1 non-conference win over Old Westbury. In the Pioneers’ 13-7 NJAC road win at NJCU, he was 6-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, a stole base, four RBI and three runs scored. Reinertsen currently leads the NJAC in hitting with a .565 batting average.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK                 
Joe Augustine, Kean University
Senior, Right-handed Pitcher
Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park

Augustine earns NJAC Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this season after earning a pair of victories on the mound for the Cougars. He opened the week by surrendering just three hits and one run while striking out nine and walking none in Kean’s 11-2 non-conference road win at Drew. He wrapped up the week by tossing a three-hit complete-game shutout while striking out seven and walking just two in the Cougars’ 7-0 NJAC road win at TCNJ. Augustine, who did not surrender an extra-base hit in 15.0 innings, currently ranks second in the NJAC in strikeouts with 40 on the season.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK                 
Joe Cacchiola, Ramapo College
Freshman, Second Baseman
Union, NJ/Union

Cacchiola earns NJAC Rookie of the Week honors after hitting .529 (9-for-17) with seven doubles, five RBI, and seven runs scored in a 5-0 week of play for the Roadrunners. He produced multiple-hit games in 4-of-the-5 contests and delivered a pair of doubles in three different games including a 3-for-5 performance with an RBI and three runs scored in Ramapo’s 17-12 NJAC win over Rutgers-Newark. He wrapped up the week by going a combined 4-for-7 with four doubles, three RBI and three runs scored in the Roadrunners’ 12-2 and 11-3 NJAC doubleheader road sweep at Rutgers-Camden. Cacchiola currently ranks third in the NJAC in on-base percentage with a mark of .545.

ROOKIE PITCHER OF THE WEEK                 
Jesus Castano, Montclair State University
Freshman, Right-handed Pitcher
West New York, NJ/Memorial

Castano earns NJAC Rookie Pitcher honors for the second time this season after earning a pair of victories for the Red Hawks to improve his record to 4-1 overall on the season. He first came out of the bullpen to retire the final batter in the ninth inning before pitching a scoreless 10th in Montclair’s 2-1 extra-inning NJAC win over Kean. Two days later, he surrendered just four hits and one unearned run while striking out five for a complete-game 9-1 NJAC road win at Rowan. Castano currently is tied for the conference lead in victories with four on the season.

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for April 3rd:

Eastern Connecticut 5, Montclair State 4
NJCU 9, John Jay 6
Richard Stockton 9, Drew 3
Rowan 5, Gwynedd-Mercy 3
TCNJ 4, Arcadia 3
William Paterson 26, Staten Island 4

I guess Paterson was a little pissed at the loss at NJCU on Saturday and took it out on Staten Island.

[Lefty]

NJAC scores for April 5th:

Kean 10, Rutgers-Newark 3
Ramapo 4, NJCU 3
TCNJ 7, Richard Stockton 4
William Paterson 4, Rowan 2

I am headed to New Jersey for the weekend games at NJCU.  I picked a great weekend to travel....highs in Jersey are supposed to be in the low 40's and with the wind off of the bay that should make the wind chill in the 30's. 

[Lefty]

NJAC Scores from April 6th:

Kean 15, Ramapo 10
Montclair State 6, NJCU 4
Richard Stockton 8, Rutgers-Camden 1
Rowan 6, TCNJ 4 (10)

[Lefty]

NJAC Scores from April 7th:

Kean 7, Rowan 2
Kean 3, Rowan 1
Rutgers-Camden 5, Montclair State 2
Montclair State 26, Rutgers-Camden 8
TCNJ 12, NJCU 1
TCNJ 7, NJCU 0
Ramapo 13, Richard Stockton 2
Ramapo 12, Richard Stockton 10
Rutgers-Newark 27, William Paterson 3
Rutgers-Newark 9, William Paterson 7

Another strong day for the Ramapo hitters......and how about Rutgers Newark sweeping Paterson...who would have thought that was going happen?? 

[Spence]

Is anyone else starting to wonder how many bids the NJAC might get?

Kean is rolling. Can't really see them not getting a bid barring a total collapse.

But after that it gets pretty messy. Ramapo is 20-5, 6-1 but has a pretty tough stretch of games coming up after getting it pretty easy early. TCNJ is 16-7 with some good wins but is in the middle of the pack in the conference. They're probably in pretty good shape though. No one right now has close to a good enough overall record to really be seriously considered no matter how tough their schedule was. Montclair, Rowan and William Paterson are all hovering around .500.

Looking like at the most 3 bids unless someone else turns on the jets in a big way.

[Lefty]

I think Kean and TCNJ will be get in....both teams are playing well.  I see Ramapo getting a bid unless they completely fall apart down the stretch. 

As far as a fourth bid I think we will see what Montclair has this week.  They have a tough week ahead of them playing at DeSales on Tuesday, at Kean on Thursday, home against Ramapo on Friday, and a doubleheader at home against TCNJ on Saturday.  They need to make a move this week against quality opponents. 

I think Paterson is just about done.  Getting swept by RU Newark this weekend and losing last weekend at NJCU really hurts their chances.

As for Rowan....they need to begin to turn it on now.  They still have a chance but they need wins just like Montclair.

There are some great match-ups in the NJAC this week....I can't wait to see how this plays out.

[Spence]

I'm with you on the first two, not at all sold on Ramapo yet.

[Lefty]

From the NJAC website.  Congrats to the following players of the week:

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Bill Mercurio, Rutgers-Newark
Senior, First Baseman
Wappinger Falls, NY/Arlington

Mercurio earns NJAC Player of the Week honors after hitting .533 (8-for-15) with four doubles, one home run, six RBI and eight runs scored in three conference contests during the week for the Scarlet Raiders. He produced multiple-hit games in all three contests including a 2-for-4 performance with two doubles and one run scored in Newark's 10-3 loss to Kean. In the Raiders' 27-3 game one victory over William Paterson, he went 3-for-6 with two doubles, a home run, six RBI and four runs scored. In the nightcap, he went 3-for-5 with three runs scored as Newark completed the sweep with a 9-7 game two victory. Mercurio currently ranks second in the NJAC in doubles with nine on the season.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK            
Bob Buskett, The College of New Jersey
Junior, Left-handed Pitcher
Trenton, NJ/Notre Dame

Buskett becomes the second different Lion to earn NJAC Pitcher of the Week honors after collecting a pair of victories on the mound for TCNJ. He first surrendered just three hits and no earned runs in seven innings of work while striking out three in TCNJ's 8-2 non-conference win over Johns Hopkins. He wrapped up the week by surrendering six hits and one earned run while striking out seven and walking none in eight innings of work during the Lions' 12-1 NJAC road victory at NJCU. Buskett currently ranks tied for 11th in the NJAC in total games started (5).

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK            
Anthony Yeswita, Rutgers-Newark
Freshman, Outfielder
Hasbrouck Heights, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights

Yeswita earns NJAC Rookie of the Week honors after hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles, a home run, three RBI and six runs scored in three conference contests for Rutgers-Newark. He hit safely in all three games including a 4-for-6 performance with a double, one RBI, and four runs scored in the Scarlet Raiders' 27-3 game one win over William Paterson. He wrapped up the week by going 2-for-5 with a double, one RBI, and one run scored in Newark's 9-7 game two win over the Pioneers. In 14 games played on the season, Yeswita is hitting .379 with four doubles, one home run, and six RBI.

ROOKIE PITCHER OF THE WEEK        
Matt Hunt, Richard Stockton College
Freshman, Left-handed Pitcher
Marlton, NJ/St. Joseph's

Hunt earns NJAC Rookie Pitcher honors for the second time this season after earning the win on the mound in the Ospreys' 8-1 NJAC road victory at Rutgers-Camden. He surrendered just three hits and one run in six innings of work while striking out five to improve to 2-0 overall on the season. Hunt currently ranks third in the NJAC in earned run average with a mark of 1.93.

[Lefty]

NJAC Scores from April 9th:

Staten Island 6, Kean 5
NJCU 11, USMMA-Kings Point 5
Rutgers-Camden 8, Catholic 7 (12)
Rutgers-Camden 4, Catholic 3
Rutgers-Newark 24, John Jay 3


Well so much for Kean playing well.  How do they lose to a 5-11 team that got beat by William Paterson 24-6?  I know the saying "any given day" but I would have never thought this would happen.   

[Lefty]

NJAC Scores from April 10th:

Kean 15, St. Joseph's-Patchogue 7
Kean 8, St. Joseph's-Patchogue 2
DeSales 8, Montclair State 7
NJCU 16, Lehman 0
Ramapo 14, Staten Island 0
Rowan 5, Widener 2
William Paterson 17, FDU-Florham 4

[Spence]

Just lucky Kean's not in the Mideast region. They'd drop to 4th just for losing to Staten Island.

[Lefty]

ABCA Regional Rankings 4-10-07

Mid-Atlantic
1. Kean (17-3)
2. New Jersey (16-7)
3. Johns Hopkins (16-4)
4. Ramapo (20-5)
5. Frostburg State (16-9)
6. DeSales (12-5)
7. Ursinus (16-6)
8t. Pitt-Bradford (13-4)
8t. Gettysburg (16-3)

[Lefty]

Montclair could have picked up a good win today against the 6th ranked team in the Region (DeSales) but they lost 8-7.  Tough loss because their week only gets harder from here on out.

at Kean on Thursday, home against Ramapo on Friday, and a doubleheader at home against TCNJ on Saturday.