While mother nature seemed to be confused last month about what time of year it is, WW-P teams have been preparing for the spring season, which officially opens on Friday, April 1.
Along with the new season come two new coaches at High School North and a slew of younger players looking to make an impact at both high schools.
North Baseball. New head coach Michael Santoro will have a young team to build this year, as North lost 13 seniors to graduation last year and only two starting seniors have returned. Greg Weisbecker and Ryan Demouth will return at third base and short stop, respectively, and Santoro’s staff is working to get the other position players ready for the varsity level.
Other key returning players are senior pitchers Neal DeVincenzo and Joe Jensen. “We have two nice pitchers in DeVincenzo and Jensen and some guys who we think can fill the other starting pitcher roles. Also returning to the team this year are seniors Marcus Hendersen, Tim Hui, Doug Doherty, and Dave Bizenov.
Seniors Chris Fania, Mike Tantillo, Ryan Shanaberger, and Jack Liang, as well as juniors Joe Bensky, Casey Litwack, and P.J. Silva will round out the starting lineup.
“If we continue to develop fundamentally, we should be able to compete at a high level,” he said.
The team will open the season at home against Lawrence at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 1.
South Baseball. After having been out of the state tournament for a couple of years, South’s baseball team made it to the first round, completing a 10-12 run last season.
Coach Don Hutchinson says he sees a group of hard-working players in the team this year, behind key returning players Ben Ruta (a junior shortstop); Joe Cirafici (senior catcher); Brian Dontas (junior second baseman and pitcher); Josh Rose (junior outfielder); Matt McCann (sophomore outfielder); Chris Campbell (junior pitcher and third baseman); Chris Skolka (junior outfielder); and Paul Balestrieri (sophomore pitcher and first baseman).
Hutchinson hopes they can fill holes left by some significant losses to graduation, including Ralph Aurora, Alex Campbell, Jared Rubenstein, Zach Donohue, and Evan Smith, the core senior group last season.
“Their work ethic and their attitude are exceptional,” said Hutchinson of this year’s team. “Some did get significant time last year. Right now, we have a couple of injury issues that will probably have a major impact on our team, but at some point in the year, we should get everyone back to playing.”
The team’s strength is its defense, he said, and the team hopes to qualify again for the state tournament. The Pirates’ opener is on Friday, April 1, away at Hightstown, at 4 p.m.
North Softball. Last year’s Mercer County Tournament finalists were able to navigate a tough Colonial Division for the first time, finishing the season with a 17-7 record.
The good news for North is that it returns nearly all of its starting talent and has another chance to win the MCT, where the team lost to Steinert in the championship game.
Sydney Turchin (short stop), Kaitlyn Nelson (center field), Katie Perrine (pitcher), Sarah Bush (first base), Bri King (catcher), Taylor Phelan (third base), and Emily Weinberg (second base), return for the Knights this year.
Newcomers to the team this year are junior Sara Rosenthal, senior Jen Dowling — both of whom are in the outfield — and Crystal Ochoa, a transfer from Trenton who also pitches. Junior Kerry Girgenti, freshman Kerry Shanaberger, catcher Carly Meyers, and pitcher Paige Dalcourt are also new.
When asked about his goals for this year, Coach Jason Petrone says it’s “Colonial Valley championship or bust,” and is also looking to lead the girls to a county title and into the state finals.
The team’s home opener is on Friday, April 1, at home against Lawrence at 4 p.m.
South Softball. The Pirates had a great season last year, going 16-8 and making it to the Group IV Central Final game, where they fell to East Brunswick, 4-2.
The team’s appearance in the final was the first in years, though, and Coach Nicole Arias is hoping to make it back this season. “We hope to keep our offensive attack at a high and have timely hits during games,” she said. “We had a team batting average of .305 last seasons and look to improve on that.”
The team returns a slew of strong athletes in Hye-Jin Kim (sophomore shortstop); Dana Kong (a sophomore at third base); Anjelica Sitek (a sophomore pitcher who also plays first base); Ella Alter (junior at first base); Tiffany Gagliardo (a junior outfielder); Liz Mendez (junior pitcher who also plays third base); Juliet Brooks (senior outfielder); Hye-Won Kim (senior utility player); Caitlin McCann (senior outfielder); Jenna Modi (senior outfielder); Kathryn Philbin(senior second base player); and Anna Schnitter (a senior catcher).
The Pirates will also see a few newcomers this year, including freshmen Caroline Brooks, Rachel Gagliardo, and Lindsay Philbin, sophomore Sarah Hagen, and senior Age Solomon.
“We are rather deep in every position on the field, which is huge,” says Arias. “If a starter is to get hurt, we know there is someone who can step in and play just as well.”
In terms of improvement, Arias said she is always working with the team to improve hitting and communication. “At this level, communication is something that needs to be not only learned, but consistent.”
The team’s first game is Friday, April 1 at 4 p.m. at Hightstown.
North Boys Lacrosse. Coaching lacrosse has been part of Rich D’Andrea’s life since he was in high school. In fact, D’Andrea, the new head coach of the boys’ lacrosse team at North, works full-time with a local lacrosse organization in addition to his new responsibilities at WW-P.
His decision to apply for the coaching position at North came after he and his wife moved to Princeton about a year and a half ago. Six months later, he made the decision to get back into coaching.
He began with a slew of all-star programs in winter leagues before hearing about the opportunity at North from a friend. “It was one of those things that has just worked out,” he said.
“I’ve coached a lot of youth all-star programs from the time I was in high school, and I did it all through college and out of college as well,” he said. “Mostly, it’s been at the youth level, but I coached at the high school level in Ramapo for a few seasons. Coaching has really been a year-round thing for me, as I’ve run a lot of fall and winter indoor leagues.”
“It’s something I’ve been doing for a while now, and I enjoy it,” he added.
By day, D’Andrea works for Tri-State Lacrosse, an organization that runs a series of indoor and outdoor leagues as well as camps and clinics.
He grew up in Montgomery and graduated from the Peddie School, so he is familiar with the teams in this area. After Peddie, he attended Georgetown, where he earned his degree in English with sociology and theology minors.
D’Andrea believes in having his players take on a great responsibility with the team, which he told them when he initially met the North players in December. “One of the big messages to them was that in any team I’ve been a part of, it’s never the coach’s team; it’s always the players’ team,” he said. “They need to take ownership over this tear and make it the type of year they want.”
D’Andrea said his job is to set them up for success. “The entire experience they are going to have is going to teach them a lot about themselves as players,” he said. “Each kid is a little bit different, and finding ways to teach each kid is a different challenge.”
For this season, D’Andrea has high hopes. Despite losing 21 players to graduation, he sees it as an opportunity for the team to establish an identity.
“This is a great year for a lot of the juniors and seniors to step up into those leadership roles,” he said.
There are five returning players from last year, including attackman Jake Slonaker; midfielder Brendan Kenavan; midfielder David Sandberg; midfielder Brian Lentine; and defenseman Jake Barz, who will be goalie. Newcomer Shawn Henry on attack is also a player to look out for.
“I wouldn’t ordinarily keep a freshman at the varsity level unless they were an exceptional player and mentally ready to make that jump,” he said. “He’s been an extremely hard worker, and he’s turning into a greater player by the day.”
Also on the roster this year are seniors Josh Weitz; Sam Korsen; and James Mulhall; juniors Victor Wu; Chris Bryde; Ben Bugge; Steven Taft; Bafi Owoh; Nick Belezza; Cameron Farmer; and Sam Havlicheck; as well as sophomores Josh Bloom; Mike Miller; Kyle Newman; Liam Corbett; David Zohn; Zach Winterstein; and Ben Mushumar.
D’Andrea said that the Knights will have to be a possession-oriented team. “I’ve never been a really big ‘wins and losses’ coach,” he said. “If the kids are working hard and putting their best feet forward, that’s the priority for me.”
He knows the CVC is going to be highly competitive, but his team is up to the challenge. Coming off a good 19-5 season last year, D’Andrea is looking to kick the season off on a good note on Friday, April 1, away at Princeton at 4 p.m.
South Boys Lacrosse. Coming off a 14-7 season, the South boys’ lacrosse team found success in the state tournament, making it to the Group III quarterfinals with its young team with a roster including a number of freshmen.
“We hope to build on that success as our young players develop into better lacrosse players,” says coach Matt Foret. Returning to lead the team this year are Alex Rohrbach, a senior attackman; Alex Sandgren, a sophomore attackman; midfielders Bijan Matthews (senior) and Thomas Efstathios (sophomore); Marty Flately, a junior defenseman; and senior Josh Lee in the goal.
Flately, one of the team’s captains — the other is Rohrbach — has shown great improvement since last season, says Foret. “He switched from midfield to defense during the season last year,” he said. “This year, he is much more comfortable with his position, and he is providing excellent leadership to the defense.”
Foret said the team has experienced, quality players in all three areas of the game. “This should allow us to build a quality unit around these players so that we can be solid in all facets of the game,” he said. “We need to improve on defense. With two new starters on defense this year, we need to work hard to become the type of defensive team we want to be.”
The team’s first game is on Friday, April 1, at 4 p.m. at Robbinsville.
North Girls Lacrosse. The Knights lost five strong starting seniors — Jacquie Mihalyi and Jackie Kercheval at midfield, Maura Burns, on attack, and Lindsey Olsen and Katie McEwen on defense — but there are many solid players who will step up in their place, says coach Beth Serughetti.
“Right now, the hardest thing is trying to figure out which girls are going to be the ones starting and which combination is going to be the best for us,” says Serughetti.
Another strong advantage for North is that it has 13 seniors on the roster. Those seniors are Caitie Ontaya, Maddie Ontaya, Kelly Girandola, Olivia Haase, Christina Isnardi, Ingrid Ma, Trish Pehnke, Caroline Sievers, Jenna Simanovsky, Kristin Troianello, Joyce Wang, Jillian Bonafedi, and Jenna Carlen – a soccer player who joined the lacrosse team for the first time this year. “She was a varsity softball player. She’s just a really hard worker. She understands the game already.”
The team has a lot of girls who can play at the varsity level. “We’re always striving to be even better than the year before,” she said. We definitely have the capability to do it.”
Juniors Devin Brakel, Kayla Henry, Nancy Wu, and Kristine Towell; sophomores Anna Lucia Delian, Alexa L’Insalata, and Dani Siano will round out the roster. Olivia Harpel is a promising freshman.
The team’s season opener is on Saturday, April 2 at home at 11 a.m. against Princeton.
South Girls Lacrosse. Last season, the Pirates went 16-4 and were the Colonial Division co-champions. Coach Bryan Fisher is hoping for another good season.
“We return a strong nucleus of players and are looking forward to the challenges ahead in the CVC,” he said. “We have tremendous senior leadership, and I am looking forward to watching them close their high school careers out this spring.”
The teams captains are seniors Kendal Borup, Michelle Morris, Molly Johnson, and Kelsey Sandgren. Megan Spencer, Carolina Echeverri, and Laura McCormick are also among the seniors on the roster. The team also has a large number of juniors: Kate Salerno, Anna Tadej, Erica Borsack, Emma Sivertsen, Lauren Savage, Samantha Bright, Lauren Kullmann, Michelle Leon, Danielle Balzano, and Radha Patel.
The team’s first game is Saturday, April 2, at 11 a.m. at Robbinsville.
