JFK baseball will open against Union on April 1 Team went 17-11 last year BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer After finishing in second place to Spotswood the past five seasons in the competitive Blue Division, the John F. Kennedy High School baseball team will look to make 2008 the year the Mustangs finish atop the division when the new season begins on April 1. Coming off last year's 17-11 season and an appearance in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament semifinals, the team's second in the past three seasons, JFK will open the new campaign with an out-of-division match-up against Union. "We always play a tough schedule," Kennedy head coach Jerry Smith said. "This season we have somemore depth than we're accustomed to, and that will give us a lot more options. Everyone understands his role, and as long as the players keep that up, we should have a pretty good season." The Mustangs suffered a key loss with the graduation of standout shortstop Rafael Cordero last spring. Cordero finished his prestigious career atKennedywith 124 hits, which put himatop the school's all-time list. Cordero is currently playing Division I baseball for the Temple Owls. In addition to the loss of Cordero, Kennedy lost four other starters, including its top defensive player, middle infielder Mike Cabonilas.Cabonilas is currently playing forMiddlesex County College.Also gone from last year's team is catcher Vinny Marciano, centerfielder John Lemongelli and right fielder Billy Russyk. "Basicallywe lost everything right up the middle," Smith said. "Each of those guys was a major contributor for us defensively." This season Kennedy will lean on fouryear starter Chris Grimes. Grimes began his playing career for the Mustangs as their designated hitter before stepping into the third base position. This year Grimes is also expected to be one of the team's top pitchers. "Chris comes into this year with 79 career hits," Smith said. "If he can get 21 hits and reach 100 for his career, Chris would be just the fourth Kennedy player to reach that milestone. He's another Division I player headed to St. Peter's in the fall." Grimes went 5-1 on the hill last season with his only loss coming at the hands of Spotswood. Also expected to play a major role this season is junior Brian Schroeder. Schroeder was the team's closer the last two years and will move into the starting rotation with Grimes. Schroeder will also be the team's full-time catcher, with sophomore Jason Stolz behind the dish when Schroeder takes the mound. Senior Mike Kress started for the Mustangs a bit last season at second base when Cordero took the mound.He is expected to be the team's fulltime second baseman. ClassmateMikeKuba is off to a strong preseason swinging the bat, which has helped him grab the designated hitter slot. Senior John Martelle is expected to round out the starting pitching rotation, with Alex Weinstein and JoeMarciano also likely to see mound time. Martelle is also battling junior Chris Kornmann for the vacancy at third, while Marciano is vying for the shortstop position with junior Erik Enright. On the other side of the infield, seniors Anthony Golba and Greg Fruehwirth are competing for the first base job while senior Chris Lubertowicz should see time at second when Kress takes the hill. The Kennedy outfield will be led by senior left fielder Mike Giordano. A three-year starter, Giordano has committed to play college ball at Division II Felician College. "Mike will be in the mix at the top of the order and providing leadership in the outfield," Smith said. "Right now the centerfielder position is still up in the air as sophomores Kyle Grimes and Jorge Rivera are still battling it out. Both are great defensively, and they'll probably be in the outfield at the same time during the season. Our depth gives us this ability this year. I've coached with 10 players on varsity, but this year we'll have the luxury of carrying 16 guys."