A couple of guys from Robbinsville helped bring the Pennington School baseball team its first NJISAA Prep B state title since 2018. Ironically, the two never knew they were neighbors until baseball brought them together.
With Steve Kowalski at the helm and Will Bercaw the team’s second leading hitter, the Red Hawks went 16-2 and defeated Rutgers Prep, 2-0, in the Prep B championship game.
Kowalski is a 2011 RHS grad who played for two sectional championsh ip teams and went on to forge a .333 average playing for Drew University. Bercaw is a former Robbinsville Little League standout who played in a District 12 championship game and also had success for numerous travel teams.
Their paths crossed for one game when Kowalski filled in as a coach for Will’s 10-year-old Gallagher travel team, but more than likely they passed each other on the street before that.
“I had coach Kowalski’s aunt as a second-grade teacher,” Bercaw said. “When I was around 10 years old I found out we lived three doors down from each other. I grew up next to him my entire life.
“He must have liked what he saw of me as a catcher. He told me he was the head coach of Pennington and I should check it out. I took a tour, I interviewed and my decision was made.”
Kowalski noted “I saw him when he was 10 and knew he was a pretty good ballplayer. I asked his parents if they had any interest in him going to a private school. Their older daughter (Emelia) went to Notre Dame so I knew it could be a possibility.”
In fact, it was Emilia – who played softball at Rowan – who served as Will’s role model.
“She’s the reason why I started playing baseball,” Bercaw said. “She played softball and T-ball, I was like ‘Hey that looks pretty fun,’ I’ve always looked up to my sister, especially in sports, I would go to a lot of her high school games and watch her ball out on the field. She switched to batting left handed, I’ve always been a lefty to that’s another thing we could connect on.”
When Bercaw finally connected with Pennington, his first season of athletics was as different as possible from his last season, which featured the baseball state title.
“My freshman year I was on the JV soccer team, and we had a fully defeated season; we didn’t win a single game,” he said with a laugh. “That’s something we still joke about. It was full of freshmen and we played for the social aspect of it. It was the fall of my freshman year, I didn’t know anyone at the school, so picked a sport and went with it. I fit right in. I wasn’t the worst player on the team. At least we had a soccer season.”
Unlike that spring, when baseball was canceled due to Covid. But Kowalski would stop by Bercaw’s house and throw batting practice to him in the backyard.
“We both wanted to be around baseball and play baseball even when baseball wasn’t happening,” Kowalski said.
Will also got to play a bit of high school competition that summer when Pennington entered the Last Dance Tournament, which was played in lieu of a regular season.
“That was a bit of a wake-up call, going straight into varsity baseball,” he said. “I actually got hurt in one of the games, that’s where I called it a career for catching and went back to being an infielder.
“Middle school baseball and high school varsity baseball are two completely different games. My first varsity at-bat I faced (former Hun standout) Carson Applegate, he was throwing high 80s, low 90s. That was an interesting first at-bat. I actually held my own against him. But it did really help me get an understanding of the pace of the game and being able to connect with the upperclassmen; having them mentor me.”
Bercaw earned his lessons well, batting .390 with 21 stolen bases and 16 runs scored batting out of the two hole. As a junior, the middle infielder hit .425 with four doubles, 10 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 12 runs. This year, moving to leadoff, Bercaw hit .456, had a career-high 26 hits with 19 stolen bases, five doubles and a team-leading 30 runs scored.
He credits his consistently high batting average to putting in the time to hone his craft.
“It’s working consistently outside of practice,” Will said. “During the quarantine, Kowalski would throw batting practice to me every single day. It’s just consistency and me being obsessed and being OK to make some sacrifices to play the best that I can.
“On a Friday night instead of going out and hanging out with friends, just hitting in the cage, or working out, or watching film. I don’t want to sound like I never hung out with my friends. But on some occasions I wouldn’t be able to hang out with some people because I had to go to practice and I had to train.”
It is that kind of attitude that Kowalski feels makes Bercaw a great player. He also coached him in a summer showcase team, and has been a huge influence on the player’s career.
“He’s just somebody that really loves the game and works extremely hard at it,” Kowalski said. “He’s gone to so many different fielding coaches, hitting coaches. He plays all summer, all fall. Works out all winter three or four times a week with his fielding and hitting coaches.
“He’s so dedicated to the game of baseball and has such a passion for it, it’s gonna pay off. I tell guys who have aspirations of playing in college that when you get to college you’ll have a lot of downtime, and how you spend that downtime is what kind of player you’ll become.”
As a leadoff hitter, Bercaw does a good job of working the count, getting on base and swiping bases. He and Kowalski have developed a system where Will might request the chance to run through one signal and his coach will grant or deny permission through another.
But speed is not the only part of Bercaw’s game these days.
“His at-bats and hitting style have kind of improved and changed throughout the years,” Kowalski said. “When he started off he was a little bit of a smaller kid, didn’t have much power. He was really just a contact hitter. Going into junior year he became a line drive hitter to the outfield. This year he really added power to his game. He’s now a gap to gap hitter, getting doubles, triples.”
Through his efforts and improvement, and the fact the Red Hawks gained some positive recognition due to its glowing record and state title, Bercaw and Bryce Meccage became the first Pennington players ever picked to play on the Mercer County Carpenter Cup team.
“I honestly didn’t have much hope of that since no one from Pennington had ever been chosen before,” Bercaw said. “It means a lot. I couldn’t have done it without Kowalski’s help. He’s helped me so much over the years with baseball and recruiting and stuff like that.”
That recruiting has led to Gettysburg College, whose coach Cory Beddick just completed his first year with a 19-21 record.
“I’m really excited,” Bercaw said. “I’m in his first recruiting class. I’d like to think I have a fair chance at starting next year if I can work hard enough.”
Kowalski feels that Bercaw’s personality and playing style helped him through the recruitment journey and will continue to help in the future.
“He’s the example I use for other guys on our showcase team,” the coach said. “Will plays the game with passion, he hustles, he’s personable. He’s not afraid to go up to a college coach and have a conversation. This is what some of these coaches are really looking for. He sets a great example for everyone else to follow, and it made his process of finding a college so easy.”
It didn’t hurt that he was well rounded and did more than just sports. Will also learned about the stock market by joining Pennington’s Investment Club. He was a Peer Leader who mentored freshmen and a Junior Proctor who mentored middle schoolers.
In the classroom, he will major in physics for four years, then move on to a Gettysburg partner school for engineering.
“I always had a knack for science and math, it’s always been my strong suit,” he said. “I took physics last year and it was a hard challenge. To me it’s interesting how things work and problem solving, which is what physics is all about. It’s right in my wheelhouse.”
His coach has no doubts Bercaw will succeed both academically and on the diamond.
“I think he will transition perfectly into the college lifestyle and playing at Gettysburg,” Kowalski said. “He’s gonna work hard with the extra time he has to become better.”
And who would know that better than his next door neighbor. Even if he didn’t know he was his neighbor for 10 years.
Robbinsville residents Will Bercaw (above) and Steve Kowalski played on the Pennington School baseball team that won the NJISAA Prep B state title this year.,
