Central Regional Middle School Baseball Team Caps Season With Tourney Appearance

Led by a core group of eighth-graders, the Central Regional Middle School baseball team put together a stellar spring 2011 season.

The Golden Eagles (10-2) dropped just one game in conference play, a 9-2 loss to Pinelands Regional, to win the Ocean County Intermediate Athletic League Blue Division title. A 5-4 loss to the Carl W. Goetz Middle School team of Jackson in the championship of the Ocean County Tournament was the only other blemish on an otherwise solid season.

“It was a heartbreaking loss,” Central coach Mike Morreale said, noting Central took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before Goetz tied it. A two-out single in with two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh gave Goetz the victory.

The Golden Eagles relied on the leadership of pitchers Evan Lang and Jake Dominguez, as well as catcher Frank Rose, right fielder Anthony Arneth and third/first baseman John Forrester, who all played as seventh-graders.

“I was comfortable that core, at any given point, could come through for us,” Morreale said, noting that at one point five players were batting nearly .400.

Dominguez in particular wielded a big bat, finishing with a .564 batting average. Center fielder Blake Czajkowski batted .429 for the season and drove in two key runs in the victory over Pinelands that clinched a share of the division crown, while fellow outfielder Mike Quick hit .353. Rose, who Morreale noted could really drive the ball, hit .306 for the season.

Their ability to hit was the source of that confidence, and twice resulted in comeback victories over Southern and Barnegat.

“We were down 5-0 against Barnegat at one point,” Morreale said, but the team closed the gap to 6-4 and forced extra innings. “They have no quit in them.”

Other key bats were designated hitter Mike Yager, who batted .296; Arneth, who batted .303 for the season, and Tony Colbert, a third baseman/shortstop, hit .323.

Lang, who was 4-1, and Dominguez, 4-0, both right-handers, evenly split the mound duties, with Joe Firetto, an eighth-grader, and Forrester picking up some innings as well. Firetto and Forrester contributed solid hitting in addition to mound support, with Firetto, who also played second, batting .278, and Forrester, who played third and first in addition to pitching, hitting .286.

Their lone regular-season loss was to Pinelands on May 23. After playing the remaining innings of a game that was suspended due to rain on April 28 and clinching the division title 5-1, the Golden Eagles fell 9-2, opening the door to the possibility of sharing the title. Their victory over Point Boro on May 25 sealed their division crown.

“Their growth from a baseball standpoint from March until now has been great to see,” Morreale said. “They’re a nice bunch of kids, fun to be around.”