Stevens wins despite defensive, injury problems BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer EDISON - There was a lot riding on last week's match-up when the J.P. Stevens High School baseball team opened the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament with a preliminary-round meeting with Bishop Ahr. Not only would a loss bounce the Hawks from the county tournament, but a loss would prevent them from playing in the state tournament. The team entered the game 8-9 with the cut-off date for state tournament eligibility looming large. Thanks to a pair of seventh-inning errors, Stevens beat the Trojans 8-7 to live to see another day. "It was a big game for us," Stevens head coach Dave Marzano said. "The win got us to .500 and the state tournament." While it was a sloppy game on both sides, Stevens took advantage of a pair of miscues after Stevens' Mike Zinno tied the score at seven in the late innings. With the score tied in the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Chichester reached second base on an error. Teammate Matt Boracas entered the game as a pinch runner for Chichester. After Bishop Ahr intentionally walked Anthony Montalbano, the Trojans were victimized once again by an infield error. This time it was Jesse Sattler's ground ball that proved to be troublesome, allowing Boracas and the winning run to score. "It was one of those games in which whoever made the least mistakes was going to win, and fortunately that was us this time," Marzano said. "Bishop Ahr put a bunch of runs on early without getting the ball out of the infield, as both sides were sloppy. There were a combined nine errors committed." Designated hitter John Stillitano came up with the big hits for Stevens as he finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. While the performance was a bit cleaner, the outcome was the same for Stevens in the next round, with a 4-0 victory over Middlesex. Hurler Doug Wislinski was impressive tossing a five-hit shutout against the tournament's No. 6 seed "Doug pitched a great game," Marzano said. "He worked out of some early bases-loaded, one-out jams and took control of the game." Zinno and teammate Matt Miller provided the big hits for Stevens. Both came through with two-out, two-RBI singles. With the win, No. 11 Stevens will take on No. 3 South Brunswick today at 3:45 p.m. at a neutral site. The first time the two teams met, Wislinski pitched a gem to record the 3-2 win. In the most recent match-up between the two Red Division schools, South Brunswick cruised to a 10-2 win. "We have our pitching set up right where we want it, and we'll go with Conner Medler against South Brunswick," Marzano said. "He pitched well against Bishop Ahr but just didn't have defensive support behind him. He comes in with a 2.50 ERA." Part of the reason the team has struggled at times defensively is due to injuries. "I think it is amazing that we've been able to win so many games with so many guys playing out of position," Marzano said. "Everybody is out of position, and we're not as strong as we could be defensively. I do have to give the guys credit for getting the job done despite the setbacks."