Opportunity Knocks for Young Mariners

Reading the box scores from last year’s Ocean County high school baseball games, one might think Toms River High School North changed its name to Toms River High School Gilbert.

In a season that saw the Mariners go 11-12, senior pitcher-slash-third baseman Brian Gilbert was a one-man wrecking crew, pitching gem after gem and driving in run on top of run to carry his team back from a 3-7 start to the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV semifinals.

Ultimately, the rest of the Toms River North team found out Gilbert could not win it all alone, as the senior ran out of gas in a 13-2 loss to Manalapan in which he pitched despite battling a stomach virus.

With Gilbert now starting at Seton Hall University, this year's Mariners – most of whom were starters on last year’s team – are out to prove that they can win it all without Gilbert.

“When you hear all season and all off-season that it’s just one guy winning games, it makes you want it even more,” senior starter and No. 1 pitcher Ben Musicant said.

Two years removed from an NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV championship, the Mariners hope to get a jump on their next state championship when they open their season Friday at Manasquan with a team comprised heavily of juniors and sophomores with a scattering of senior starters mixed in.

“I really like this group,” Toms River North’s 18-year head coach Ted Schelmay said. “It’s a talented group and I think most importantly, they have a great attitude. They work hard at practice every day, they’re coachable, so I expect this team to do very well. It’s a very tough conference, but we’ll be competitive.”

Schelmay would know about championship teams because it was not too long ago that he was around one every day. The Mariners won consecutive sectional titles in 2008 and 2009 and managed to reach a sectional semifinal in a “down year" last season.

“We had a few good seniors, but for the most part, we were a very young team last year,” Schelmay said. “They got valuable experience during the season and in the state tournament and now they know what’s expected of them.”

After getting a taste of the postseason, the Mariners core remains largely intact with the notable exception of Gilbert. Seniors Eric Pecoraro, Mike Daniels and Tyler Lawrence will play in the everyday lineup, with Pecoraro leading off and playing center field, Daniels playing first and hitting out of the No. 3 spot and Lawrence playing right field and pitching while hitting lower in the order.

“I know I feel like I can hit the ball better this year and I think we’re all swinging the bat better so far this preseason,” said Daniels, who is a safe bet to be the Mariners No. 1 source of power at the plate.

The Mariners feature three relatively young players up the middle of the defense along with Pecoraro, most notably sophomore shortstop Karl Blum. After hitting .291 as a freshman, Blum has worked his way into the No. 4 spot in the batting order. Junior second baseman Scott Buxbaum will join Blum in the middle infield, while junior Adam Chiaravalotti will handle the pitching staff behind the plate after winning the catcher job in the middle of last year.

“We’re looking forward to this season,” Blum said. “I think we’re going to be much more of a team this year instead of just one guy carrying the load. Everybody is looking forward to contributing and stepping up.”

Third baseman Brett Fontenelli and left fielder Nick Brebner are two more juniors that will start and play a key role in the lineup. Brebner made his mark last year when he hit a game-winning home run in the top of the eighth inning of Toms River North’s 7-5 win over Howell in the Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals.

Toms River North will trot out plenty of senior experience on the mound with Musicant, Lawrence and Ryan Miholkovitz heading the effort. Musicant was the No. 2 starter behind Gilbert last year and is eager to take the ball in big games this coming season.

“I take it as my job to go out there every other game and win every single time and not give up any runs,” Musicant said. “I want to be just as good as Gilbert, if not better. It’s not an easy job, but I have the confidence to do it and I have the confidence in my defense to do it.”

With Toms River South and Jackson gaining notoriety as two of the top teams in the state, the Shore Conference Class A South division will be as tough as any division in the state. Given the opportunity to beat those two teams, the Mariners could quickly gain the reputation as a very good, very dangerous young team.

“We’re going make mistakes as younger players, but the younger you are when you’re making those mistakes, the less you’ll make them when you’re older,” Blum said. “The key is to learn from them and to try to get better and I think we got a lot of that out of the way last year.”

“We beat Toms River South once last year because we felt we had something to prove,” Pecoraro said. “The fact that we’re the underdog makes us dangerous this year.”