SJV boys earn spot among state's better teams BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer The St. John Vianney High School baseball team ended its campaign with a 19-8 record after a disappointing 2-1 loss to CBA in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinal on Saturday. By any measure, however, it was a successful campaign for the Lancers. SJV went 9-3 in the Shore Conference's Class A Central Division to capture the Non-Public title. On Saturday, coach Mike Morgan's Lancers took a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning of the Shore Conference tourney semifinal, but the Colts rallied the edge SJV, 2-1. CBA had edged the Lancers, 4-3, earlier in the week in the NJSIAA Parochial A South Tournament quarterfinal. Nevertheless, the Lancers did themselves proud and proved they could play with anyone. SJV could hit, as evidenced by a team batting average of .359 and 182 runs scored and nine players with averages above the .300-mark. Pitching was another strong point, as opposing teams batted just .257 with 102 run against the Lancers, and the defense was strong when needed - for example SJV turned three double plays against CBA in the Shore Conference semifinal. "We set expectations and demand hard work and these players all bought into the program," said Morgan, who finished his first year as head coach after serving as an assistant for several years. "Our guys took a lot of swings in practice and we have guys who field 200 grounders a day and they do the little things like hitting the cut-off." Right fielder Andrew Archer led the team with a .447 average (.519 with runners in scoring position) to go with 13 doubles and 16 RBIs. Center fielder Chris Lewnes was right behind, batting .414 with five homers, a team-leading 31 RBIs and 18 stolen bases, also tops on the team. Second baseman Gary Fare ended the season at .390 with 20 RBIs, 10 stolen bases, and he led the team by getting hit with pitches on eight occasions. Sophomore Marc Teel batted .379 with 15 RBIs, including the gamer in a win against RBC. Nick Scarillo hit .373 and finished strong, blasting five homers in the last nine games, and ended with six round-trippers to go with 26 RBIs, while displaying excellent glove work as first base. Matt Deering, who handles the hot corner with aplomb, batted .341 with 19 RBIs. In addition, DH Joe Amore, who came back after suffering a broken arm in pre-season, batted .321 in 28 at-bats and drove home 11 runs. Ed Cetnar and Brian Malloy, who split the catching duties, batted .306 and .300, respectively. Morgan noted that two juniors, shortstop Chris Ruffler and infielder Greg DeLuise also made significant contributions. Ruffler pounded out a pair of homers to go with 17 RBIs, while DeLuise, a call up from the JV, got into seven games and hit .273. On the mound, lefty Paul Bacigalupi was outstanding in posting a 10-2 mark with a 2.31 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 69 2/3 innings. Matt Wiley went 5-1 with a pair of saves and a 1.59 ERA. Sophomore Kevin MacLachlan proved to be a good fireman, garnering eight saves to go with a 2-3 ledger. Sean Beinert went 1-2 with a 2.74 ERA, suffering tough-luck losses to CBA and Ocean, and lefty Andrew Holler was 1-0, with six pick-offs. Both are juniors. "Our pitchers all accepted their roles and they understood what we wanted them to do to stay ready," Morgan said. "They knew we were going to use them a lot and that they had to stay ready. They also did the job by throwing strikes consistently." Morgan said he expects to build on his team's success next spring with players like Beinert, DeLuise, Holler, MacLachlan, Ruffler and Teel returning. "Our goal is to win consistently year in and year out," Morgan said. "We have some quality players returning and we have some good players who are ready to move up from the JV."