North baseball coach Michael Santoro could see Christian Waters’ potential even as a freshman. “He had some of the best mechanics that I have seen out of a kid that age,” says Santoro.
Though Waters has built on those mechanics over the years, Santoro explained that the area where the right-hander has improved the most has been the senior pitcher’s mindset.
“It’s one thing to just go out and throw as hard as you can and blow people away, but it’s another thing to know what pitch you’re going to throw, where you want to throw it, and why you want to throw it,” Santoro says.
Santoro added that in past years, Waters would let walks or fielding errors get to him, but he has learned to consider each pitch separately.
“Every pitch for him is an individual battle that he wants to win and has a confidence in himself that it’s a battle that he is going to win. More often than not, he does.”
Waters’ skills and attitude have paid off. This season he has pitched two no-hitters — a 3-0 defeat of Robbinsville on April 11 and an 11-0 win over Princeton on April 23 — while compiling a 5-2 record. In 40 innings he has had 51 strikeouts and only allowed 25 hits.
Santoro said that Waters’ abilities are comparable to David Bachner, the star North pitcher who died suddenly in 2009 from a heart ailment just before he was supposed to start college at Seton Hall.
Next year Waters will attend Mercer County Community College. Mercer has one of the top community college baseball teams in the nation, Santoro says, and offers more chances for exposure than many Division I schools. Santoro said that local top players often go to Mercer because it gives them an opportunity to go to some of the best Division I schools or even get drafted into the major leagues.
Despite a 10-9 record, the South baseball team can’t be counted out yet. Entering the Mercer County Tournament as an 11th seed, the Pirates knocked off sixth-seeded Robbinsville in the first round. Victories over third-seeded Steinert in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Pennington in the semifinals put South in line for a county championship. The Pirates were set to face top-seeded Hamilton for the title on May 15, at Arm & Hammer Park, home of the Trenton Thunder.
South coach Don Hutchinson said that he has been pleased with his team’s effort. “The players have accepted their roles and worked hard to find a way to contribute to the team,” he says.
Hutchinson noted that senior Scott Benerofe has been having an “outstanding year.” Benerofe is batting .382 with 21 hits — including two triples and a double — as well as 14 runs scored and 7 RBI.
Another top performer this season has been pitcher Sean O’Brien, a junior. O’Brien has a 4-1 record and has allowed just six earned runs in 32 innings pitched. His 32 strikeouts include seven in a complete-game win over Robbinsville during the county tournament.
The Knights won their opening game against Hopewell but fell to Hamilton in the quarterfinals.
Baseball
South (10-9): A 5-2 loss to Steinert on May 6. RBI: Zach Bacall 2. Triples: Bacall 1.
A 3-2 win over Robbinsville on May 7. RBI: Danny Borup 1; Patrick Tso 1. WP: Sean O’Brien.
A 13-8 win over Trenton on May 8.
A 4-2 win over Steinert on May 10. RBI: Austin Lindner 2; O’Brien 1; P. Tso 1. Doubles: Lindner 1; O’Brien 1. WP: Jake Nieschmidt.
A 6-0 loss to Robbinsville on May 12.
North (10-7): A 14-3 win over Ewing on May 6. RBI: Matt Duplak 3; Brandon Kocher 4; Sid Kumar 1; Austin McGinley 2; A. Schoenblum 2. Doubles: Duplak 1; Adam Gostomski 1; Kocher 1; Christian Waters 1. WP: Nick Meduski.
A 1-0 win over Hopewell Valley on May 7. RBI: Kumar 1. Doubles: Duplak 1. WP: Waters.
A 6-2 win over Lawrence on May 9. WP: Josh Miller.
A 5-1 loss to Hamilton on May 12.
