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Sports

SPF Baseball Round Up: 3 to Compete in College

The team finishes the season 11-11.

With just one non-pitcher returning starter, the baseball team held its own this year, finishing with an 11-11 record. If not for inclement weather resulting in rainouts, the team could have finished above .500.

Nevertheless, the Raiders did reach the Union County Tournament semifinals for a fourth straight year, perhaps the top highlight of the team’s 2011 season.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood won at in-town rival Union Catholic in the quarterfinals, defeating a Viking team that went on to win 19 games and capture the Union County Conference’s Mountain Division title.

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Three players from this season’s squad will continue in college, led by the only returning starter who wasn’t primarily a pitcher, senior Marcus Rivera. He is joined by right-fielder Ryan Haggerty and pitcher John Howarth.

Rivera, a four-year starter, will continue at Division II Southern New Hampshire. Haggerty will play at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, and Howarth compete at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Both are Division III schools.

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Rivera finished with 123 hits for his career. He played third base as a freshman and junior, second base as a sophomore, and switched between third base and shortstop as a senior. Rivera also took the mound, pitching as a starter and reliever in his sophomore and junior seasons, and as a reliever this year.

“He was the main guy for us this year,” eighth-year head coach Tom Baylock said in a telephone interview. “He was a leader and someone who everyone looked to when things around us were going bad…. He was the one with experience, so there was a lot of weight on his shoulders this year.”

In 16 games this season, Rivera batted a robust and team-leading .480, with 24 hits in 50 at-bats. He slugged four doubles, a triple and a home run, while driving in 16 runs and scoring 19.

On defense, he was perfect, producing a fielding percentage of 1.000 – cleanly stopping all 54 chances that came his way cleanly, including a double play. He registered 41 assists and 13 putouts.

“Marcus was also one of the best infielders we’ve had come through here,” Baylock said.

Howarth finished the season with a 2-3 record and an ERA of 6.51 in nine appearances, including six starts. He struck out 26 and walked 25.

He earned the mound victory when Scotch Plains won at Union Catholic 7-1 on May 4 in the UCT quarterfinals. In 5 and 2/3 innings he allowed only one run on a wild pitch and three hits. Howarth struck out eight and walked three in a 104-pitch effort.

“My curve was sharp and I was feeling it out there, where the zone was,” Howarth said.

He retired 11 batters in a row and drew two outs from a double play.

“He did exactly what we expected of him,” Baylock said. “He attacked the zone and limited his walks. His fastball was on and his curve was working…. He did what we challenged him to and he came through for us.”

Haggerty, a prominent first-year varsity performer like Howarth, made the most of his senior season. Playing in all 22 games, Haggerty batted .357, with 25 hits in 70 at-bats.

He led the Raiders in RBIs with 24 and, with sophomore James D’Angelo, co-led the team in home runs with four. He also slugged two doubles, two triples and scored 18 runs.

“Ryan did a great job for us batting cleanup,” Baylock said. “He got a couple of big hits for us and gave us some pop in the middle of our order.”

Like Rivera, Haggerty also proved perfect in the field, not making a single error in 21 chances – all putouts – in right.

Perhaps the team’s most improved player was senior Sean Reilly, who will be attending Virginia Tech, but will not be playing baseball there.

Reilly became a reliable left-handed pitcher for the Raiders during the past two seasons. He also developed into a skilled first baseman and strong power-hitter.

Reilly, playing in all 22 games, batted an impressive .444, which included 28 hits in 63 at-bats. He slugged two doubles, a team-leading three triples and two home runs, including a shot over the left-field fence at Roselle Park on the coldest day this spring. Reilly also paced the team in runs scored with 27.

Senior center fielder Connor Thompson led Scotch Plains in hits with 30 and batted .423 with three home runs and 18 RBI. He made only one error in 34 chances for a .971 fielding percentage.

Junior catcher Ryan Henkels had 23 hits and batted .383 with 11 RBI. D’Angelo batted .369 with 24 hits, 17 RBI and his four home runs. Thompson, Henkels and D’Angelo played in all 22 games.

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