Edison team feeling good about its chances
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

EDISON - After exiting the state tournament with a quarterfinal loss the last three seasons, the Edison High School baseball team is headed to the North Jersey Section II Group IV semifinals for the first time under head coach Vin Abene.

Edison won its quarterfinal match-up with North Hunterdon 15-9.

Abene's fifth year as head coach of the Eagles has been a year for firsts. Not only did his team get past the Group IV quarterfinals for the first time, but Abene's Eagles took home the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division title for the first time under his guidance.

"We're happy to finally make it over that hump," Abene said after his team's win over North Hunterdon. "Now that we've gotten over that hump, it's time to see how far we can go."

Edison reached the quarterfinals with a 9-3 win over crosstown rival J.P. Stevens. Edison ace Gary Thompson defeated the Hawks for a second time this season with a four-hitter.

"Gary works ahead as he uses his fastball to get ahead of hitters before going to some off-speed stuff to get outs," Abene said. "He got a lot of help offensively as we were able to give him a nice lead early."

Right fielder Jared Shukis and center fielder Alberto Ruiz both went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Second baseman Julian Laguna was 2-for-2 with two runs, and first baseman Phil Okner came up with a big two-run single in the third inning.

Thompson was the winning pitcher in last week's slugfest against North Hunterdon and improved his mark to 7-3 on the season.

"It was a crazy game," Abene said. "The ball was carrying all game and we got up to an early 13-1 lead before we fell asleep and North Hunterdon fought its way back. The two teams combined for 26 hits and at least 10 of those were for extra bases."

Dylan Laguna led the Eagles with four hits while brother Julian went 2-for-3 with five RBIs. Third baseman Stephen Nappe nearly hit for the cycle going 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple.

"We simply outslugged them," Abene said. "That's not how we often want to win them, but it worked this time. Geoff Toro came up with a big pinch-hit triple in the sixth inning to give us some much-needed insurance runs."

No. 6 Edison was scheduled to meet Columbia in the Group IV semifinals earlier in the week with a trip to the title game at stake. Thompson was likely to get that start as well.

"Gary is our bulldog and we've been riding him," Abene said. "The way the tournament is set up, you can use your No. 1 starter through the first three games and that's why anybody can beat anybody on any given day. You could be up against a .500 team with an ace that's 6-1 on the year. That's why I don't look at any of the early-round results as upsets."

No. 10 Columbia reached the semifinals with wins over Perth Amboy and No. 2 Elizabeth.

"I know Columbia plays a lot of small ball and they're an energized team," Abene said. "They are very athletic and anything can happen."