Colts Neck players headline All-District team
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

Joe Locascio

Winning a championship was so much fun that the Colts Neck High School baseball team decided to do it twice.

Back in the cold days of April, the Cougars set out to win the program's first championship. Four-year starters A.J. Rusbarsky and Dominick Hayes spearheaded the drive, but they got a lot of help from players like catalyst Ashton Jackson and pitcher Anthony DeSclafani.

Mike Yorke's squad put together a solid Shore Conference A North Division season, winning the big games in the final week to finish 11-3 and share the title with Christian Brothers Academy (CBA).

The Cougars, though, did not stop there. They relied on their pitching to negotiate their way through the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT). In the semifinals against Wall, the Cougars rode a pair of home runs from Rusbarsky and Hayes' lights-out relief pitching to reach the SCT for the first time.

In the final, played at the home field of the Lakewood BlueClaws, DeSclafani limited CBA to five hits and Hayes smacked a grand-slam home run that led to an 8-2 victory and the SCT title.

The 22-7 season was the best in school history.

Manalapan and Freehold Township put together big seasons themselves.

The Braves, who like Colts Neck, started the season in Florida, remained in contention all season long in A North. They even beat CBA twice. The Braves were 16-10 and finished just one game shy of the school record for wins in a season. It was a big turnaround campaign for the Braves who received a lot of help from the underclassmen, who will be looking to break that school record and bring home a championship in 2008.

Freehold Township, last year's A North champions, graduated 18 of its 19 pitching wins, yet the Pats still put themselves into the postseason with a gritty May and finished with a winning record (12-10).

Howell took time to get things going in 2007, but, once they did, they finished the season playing as well as most. From 3-10, the Rebels won six of their next seven games to just miss the state playoffs.

The double champion Cougars placed the most players on the News Transcript's 2007 All-Freehold Regional District Baseball Team. Representing the Cougars are Hayes (outfield), Rusbarsky (outfield), DeSclafani (pitcher), Ashton Jackson (outfield), Ethan Jackson (pitcher) and Pete Salvati (infield). From Manalapan, there is Nick Turano (catcher), Dave Becker (infield) and Chris Lamboy (outfield). Chris Ballester (infield), Matt Grajek (pitcher) and Chase Majewski (outfield) are Freehold Township's All-District players. Brian Battaglia (designated hitter), Joe Locascio (infield) and Frank Ozello (utility) of Howell, Colton Ruggieri (outfield), Joe Quinones (catcher) and Jeff Frost (infield) of Freehold Borough, and Adam Helfgott (infield) of Marlboro round out the team.

Rusbarsky and Hayes have been the face of Colts Neck baseball since their very first day at practice as freshmen. Each year the Cougars improved, and this year they helped deliver the championships they so wanted to be their legacy at the school.

Shortstop Rusbarsky put together perhaps his best season this spring. He batted .436 with 12 doubles, two triples and three home runs. He had 22 RBIs, bringing his career total to 77, and scored 31 times. He stole 19 bases. As usual, his defense was every bit as important to the team as his offense. He was a career .401 hitter for Colts Neck with 138 hits, including 36 career doubles. He'll continue his baseball career at Seton Hall University.

Center fielder Hayes added starting pitcher to his role this year and went 4-4 for the Cougars, including his big win in relief in the SCT semifinal. With the bat, Hayes had another very productive season for the Cougars, batting .381 with eight doubles, two triples and three home runs among his 37 hits. He had 26 RBIs and 27 runs scored. He graduates as the team's all-time leader in hits (155) and with a career batting average of .415. He'll take his talents to the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Junior DeSclafani made the same impact at Colts Neck that Rusbarsky and Hayes did as ninth-graders. He has been the team's ace. This year, he had 84 K's in just 60 innings of work. He was 8-2 with a 1.72 earned-run average and won the biggest game of the season, the SCT final against CBA. He is 18-8 for his career with another season to go. He has 222 career strikeouts in 162 innings of work.

Ethan Jackson turned out to be the Cougars' wild card. He stepped up and became the needed No. 2 starter behind DeSclafani, which helped the team before the A North champions. He was 6-1 and teamed with DeSclafani to form one of the best one-two rotations in the Shore. He had a 2.58 ERA and had 37 K's in 40.2 innings of work. The good news for the Cougars, they'll have the rotation that was a combined 14-3 back next spring.

For sheer consistency, no one could match Howell junior Brian Battaglia. He hit safely in 24 of his team's 25 games and had a school record 44 base hits. He batted .506 for another school mark. He was a perfect catalyst at the top of the lineup getting on base, but he was more than that. Make a mistake, and the ball is headed out of the ballpark. Battaglia had 13 doubles and six home runs among his 44 hits, and he had 20 RBIs. He scored 28 times.

Ashton Jackson gave the Cougars a new dimension at the top of the lineup - speed. He would turn a walk (he had 10 of them) or a single into a double and jump-start the Cougars. With a .418 batting average, he was on base often waiting for Hayes or Rusbarsky to drive him in. The junior scored 27 times. He had 38 hits with five doubles, four triples and two home runs. He had 20 RBIs.

Salvati delivered a number of clutch hits for the Cougars during their championship run. The senior batted .391 with seven doubles, one triple and one home run. He had 22 RBIs and scored 19 runs.

Turano is as good as any backstop in the Shore, and he's still a junior. He batted .424 with 39 hits on the season. He had 10 doubles and 23 RBIs, both tops on the team, like his batting average. He scored 21 runs. Defensively, he has all the tools - strong, accurate arm, quick feet and handles pitchers well.

Becker made his contributions to a team that averaged more than seven runs a game. The senior infielder batted .389 (28-72) head had six doubles, one home run, 14 RBIs and scored 18 times. He was 3-2 on the mound with a 3.89 ERA.

Outfielder Lamboy was also in the middle of a lot of the Brave offense. He was 26-for-80 for a .325 average and led the team in runs scored (24). He had five doubles and a triple and drove in 19. He is a senior.

Ballester has a very bright future at Freehold Township. The junior third baseman saw limited action as a sophomore, but showed promise in the brief stint. He delivered on the promise in 2006, turning into the team's most consistent offensive player. He batted .373 with seven doubles, two home runs and 13 RBIs. He was voted by the team as the MVP.

Majewski was the Patriots' most improved player. He went from a light-hitting .250 hitter as a junior to .333 this year and a team-high 17 RBIs. While producing the most runs as a hitter, he saved runs with his sterling play in center field.

One of the reasons that the Patriots were able to get back to the postseason was Grajek stepping up and becoming a quality starter. In his first varsity season as a starter, the right-hander went 5-3 and pitched to a fine 2.69 ERA. Not overpowering, he relies on control (just six walks in more than 52 innings of work) and getting batters to hit his pitch. He won the team's Goldwater Award for his drive and work ethic on the diamond.

Ruggieri put up big numbers for a Colonial team that was hampered by injuries to the starting rotation. The outfielder flirted with .500 ending the season at .492 (32-for-65). He became one of the leading power hitters in the Shore with six home runs and nine doubles. He had 16 RBIs and scored 23 runs. His on-base percentage was .529.

Teammate Frost, an outfielder, batted .349 with seven doubles, a triple and a home run for the Colonials. He tied Ruggieri for the team lead in RBIs with 16 and scored 18 times. Injuries kept him from pitching this year, but, he made up for that with his fine offensive production.

Quinones batted .338 with nearly half of his 20 hits going for extra bases. The junior had seven doubles, one triple and one home run while scoring 14 times and driving in 13.

Everyone who played Marlboro's goal was to not let Helfgott beat them. The senior infielder completed a distinguished career batting .479 despite not having a lot of support around him. He has been consistent a hitter as the District has had over the last three years. He was pretty good with the glove. He had a .960 fielding percentage at second base.

Locascio was one of the players who sparked Howell's comeback. The third baseman batted .359. Of his 28 hits, three were doubles and five were home runs. He had 11 RBIs and scored 14 times.

Ozello batted .322 for the Rebels with five doubles and a home run among his 29 hits. He had 20 RBIs and scored 14 times. The senior was one of the team's workhorses on the mound going 3-3 with a 3.25 ERA.

Those earning honorable mention in 2007 were: Frank Piazza, Joe DeNora and Pat Specchio of Colts Neck; Matt Yuhas and James Frost of Freehold Borough; Rodger Wilmot, John Whitley, Brian Cooney and Matt Cadigan of Freehold Township; Chance Carrick of Howell; Mark Holmes, Shawn McGrance, Jason Goldheimer and Craig Peterson of Manalapan; and Craig Bodziner and Anthony Castelli of Marlboro.

2007

All-Freehold Regional District Baseball

Team

Pitcher

Anthony DeSclafaniColts Neckjunior

Ethan JacksonColts Neckjunior

Matt GrajekFreehold Townshipjunior

Infield

AJ RusbarskyColts Necksenior

Dave BeckerManalapansenior

Adam HelfgottMarlborosenior

Chris BallesterFreehold Townshipjunior

Pete SalvatiColts Necksenior

Joe LocascioHowellsenior

Outfield

Dominick HayesColts Necksenior

Colton RuggieriFreehold Boroughsenior

Chris LamboyManalapansenior

Chase MajewskiFreehold Townshipsenior

Ashton JacksonColts Neck junior

Catcher

Nick TuranoManalapanjunior

Joe QuinonesFreehold Boroughjunior

Designated hitter

Brian BattagliaHowell junior

Utility

Frank OzelloHowellsenior