Hawks baseball picks up two wins last week
Stevens will look to sweep season series against Edison
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
Despite ending the week with a loss to North Bergen, the J.P. Stevens High School baseball team continues to perch atop the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division after picking up impressive wins over Bishop Ahr and St. Joseph's earlier in the week.

The Hawks needed a late-game rally to knock off unbeaten BishopAhr 11-7. Down 6-2 in the sixth inning, Stevens put five runs across to take the lead but saw it slip away in the bottom half of the inning when the Trojans evened the score.

"We really came out and hit the ball well for the first two innings, but we were hitting it right at people," Stevens head coach Dave Marzano said. "They put in a new pitcher and he held us in check for a while, but when he tired we came alive again."

In the five-run sixth, it was a grand slam off the bat of John Stillitano that helped put the Hawks ahead. Stillitano would finish the game with two roundtrippers and six RBIs. He opened the game with a two-run blast in the first.

With the score deadlocked at seven, Stevens' Anthony Montalbano spearheaded the four-run seventh with a threerun dinger that put the team ahead for good.

"Anthony pitched all right," Marzano said. "He didn't have his best stuff, but he was able to work out of a number of jams and keep us in the game."

Centerfielder Jesse Sattler also came up big for the Hawks offensively. Sattler finished the game 4-for-5 with three doubles.

Montalbano's bat was critical in the team's other big win of the week, a 4-3 victory over division rival St. Joseph's. Montalbano got the team off to a fast start with a three-run homer in the first inning. Fortunately, the team put one more run across, and starting pitcher Connor Medler was able to hold off the surging Falcons to preserve the win.

"Anthony is having an incredible season," Marzano said. "He's hitting a touch under .500 and he shows no signs of slowing down."

Stevens will have its hands full this week with a number of quality teams on the schedule. After opening the week against a tough East Brunswick team, the Hawks will travel toWoodbridge for a 3:45 p.m. contest today. In its first meeting with Woodbridge, Stevens lost 6-1.

After the Woodbridge match-up, the Hawks will play host to South Brunswick, a team the Hawks defeated 11-5 earlier in the season. The team will then close the week in a highly anticipated rematch between the Hawks and division rival Edison. In the season opener, the Hawks beat the Eagles 18-10.

"That first game of the season was on a windy day and the ball was really carrying," Marzano said. "This time we'll play at Commerce Bank Ballpark, and it should probably be just as exciting."

The two teams will square off at the home of the Somerset Patriots at 3 p.m. May 3.