Starting out the season at 8-7, the High School South baseball team seemed to have a little bit of trouble falling into its groove. Not so much anymore. The Pirates have gone 9-1 in their last 10 games, the lone loss coming in the Mercer County Tournament final against Notre Dame.
A 16-seed going into the state tournament, South recently shocked top-seeded Montgomery in the opening round with a 5-3 win. The Pirates play their second state game May 24 at Hunterdon Central.
South is led by senior ace Paul Balestrieri. The veteran pitcher has been solid for the team both on the mound and at the plate all season long. He is joined by Matt McCann, Pat Boyle, and sophomore Danny Borup. “This is a very senior-dominated team,” head coach Don Hutchinson said earlier in the season. “The upperclassmen are really leading the way.”
Balestrieri, 7-0 this season, pitched a complete game against Montgomery. He faced some trouble in the early innings when he hit four batters, forcing two runs to score. He worked his way out of two other early jams and way able to keep the Montgomery lead to two runs. He found his rhythm, though, and ended the game with 123 pitches, 70 of which were strikes. He struck out Montgomery’s clean-up hitter to end the game.
