Florida trips helped teams jell on the diamond
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Manalapan High School's baseball team went to Florida as an untested entity.

When the Braves returned from Fort Pierce, they were an undefeated baseball team with a lot of momentum.

"It was a positive experience," said Brave coach Brian Boyce. "We did a lot of drill work and it's paying dividends. We practiced a lot, every day for three hours."

Boyce said the goal of the trip was to build team camaraderie and take advantage of the weather to get as much practice time on the diamond as they could, drilling on the fundamentals.

"It was baseball, baseball, baseball from 9 [a.m.] to 6 [p.m.]," noted Boyce.

Manalapan got the team chemistry and drills they wanted from the trip to the Sunshine State, as well as a nice 3-0 start to the 2007 season. The Braves were dominant in Florida, winning all three games (15-1, 12-2 and 12-2) in five innings.

"We hit the ball real well and fielded it well," remarked Boyce.

But even more important was the way the Braves' pitchers performed.

"We have a lot of unproven pitchers," said Boyce. "Our pitching has been a real surprise. We're encouraged by what we've seen."

Mitchell Litt, Dave Becker and Matt Steinitz each picked up wins in Florida. They, along with Mark Holmes (who, recovering from a back injury suffered during the basketball season, was not yet cleared to throw and didn't make the trip to Florida) will be the rotation, with Matt Cook and Leff Lapollo ready to put out the fires in relief.

Manalapan's pitchers have one thing in common: they throw strikes and let their defense make the plays. Thanks to the extra practice time the Braves got in Florida, the defense has been doing just that.

Manalapan's hitters certainly enjoyed the 85-degree Florida weather, scoring 39 runs in the three games.

The top of the lineup, with Chris Lamboy, Becker, Nick Turano, Shawn McGrane and Craig Peterson in the Top 6 spots, have been doing their job, getting on base and driving in runs. The bottom of the order has been setting the table for the first six. In Florida, Jay Goldheimer and Dan Ciprut (who were No. 9 in the order) combined to score eight runs.

Despite the 39 runs scored in those first three games, the Braves are not a power team. They run, hit behind the runner and rely on clutch, situational hitting to score. Of course, that kind of play can produce a big inning, especially when defenses under pressure to make a play, don't.

There was a big adjustment to be made when the Braves came north and the temperature dropped 40 degrees. But so far so good for Manalapan, which climbed to 4-0 with a 1-0 win over Marlboro in the Braves' home opener. The red-hot Florida bats were cooled by the brisk weather and Marlboro pitching (Jason Taub). Still, the Braves found a way to win as Holmes went the distance, tossing a five-hitter. The defense again played a strong supporting role.

The Braves' starting pitchers have given up just five runs in four games. Pitching like that the rest of the season will keep them in the hunt in the A North Division.

Lamboy, Becker and Turano each had a double against Marlboro.

Manalapan wasn't the only team from the Freehold Regional District that was in Florida over spring break and came back a better team for it.

Its softball counterparts from Manalapan also used the trip to learn more about themselves.

Jeannette Bruno's Braves have six new starters, and the Florida trip helped remove any uncertainties the team may have had about itself. Manalapan went 3-1, playing teams from Ohio, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

"It was a great experience for the girls," said Bruno. "They did get to see a lot of different kinds of pitchers. We played good competition."

Bruno, who has taken teams to Orlando before, noted that the trip is a c**p shoot because you just don't know how a team is going to react, not just to the travel and different competition, but to being together 24-7. It can bring teams closer together or tear them apart. Happily for Bruno and the Braves, the trip made the team even tighter.

The Shore Conference certainly knows how good pitcher Ashley Rampino is, and so did teams from the rest of the country. Rampino was every bit as overpowering as she is in the Shore Conference. To go along with her pitching, the best thing for the Braves was the way they swung the bats. It looks like any fears that the team could be offensively challenge have been alleviated.

"We hit the ball well," noted Bruno. "We lost six starters and we needed to find out who would step up."

Danielle LaCugna is one of the players who has stepped up and is providing power. She and Rampino both hit home runs in a 10-0 win at Howell last week.

Friday, the Braves were able to squeeze a game in before the nor'easter in Manalapan, and Rampino was in no-hit form. The senior held Colts Neck hitless, as Manalapan rolled to an 8-0 win, as the Brave drew first blood in this game between the A North contenders.

Rampino fanned 14. LaCugna smacked her second round-tripper, and Jill Kwiatkowski singled in the game winner in the bottom of the first.

Manalapan is 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the division. Colts Neck is 6-2 and 3-1 in A North play.

At the same time that Manalapan and Colts Neck were playing on the softball diamond, the baseball teams played in Colts Neck, where the Cougars took advantage of six Brave errors to score a 13-6 win. Pat Specchio went yard for the home team and A.J. Rusbarsky, Dom Hayes and Frank Piazza all hit doubles, and Ashton Jackson had a triple. Five of Colts Neck's eight hits went for extra bases. Ethan Jackson was the winning pitcher for the Cougars.

Nick Turano did all he could for the Braves with three doubles. Jeff Lapollo also had a double. Colts Neck improves to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in A North, and Manalapan is now 4-2 and 1-2 in the division.