CBA baseball dealing with injury-filled season BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent Not many high school baseball teams could lose two of its top three pitchers to injuries and still find itself in the midst of a heated divisional race. But that is exactly what the team from Christian Brothers Academy is doing this spring, as a number of players have stepped up and contributed on the mound for head coachMarty Kenney and his Colts. "We've kind of had our ups and downs thus far," Kenney said. "We've played very well against some very good teams, and played poorly against some other teams. We just haven't found that consistency." The Colts were 5-3 entering what promised to be a very busy week, but could easily have a much better record. "I think we could have been 7-1 or 6-2 with how well we've played," Kenney said. "I think in two of our three losses we just beat ourselves. There was one game where we got flat-out beat, but the other two games we could have won. "I'm just hoping to turn things around this week. We've had a lot of guys get a chance to play so far, and we're starting to see some guys pick it up." Overcoming the loss of two starters could not have been easy, especially since Kenney didn't know he wouldn't have them at his disposal until the season began. "We lost a couple of guys who probably would have been our top two in (senior)Mike Zuppe and (junior) Nick Falcone," the coach said. "They certainly would have been big contributors for us on the hill this year." Zuppe, who is headed to the University of Pennsylvania on a baseball scholarship, has shut it down for the spring, after reinjuring his shoulder during the hockey season this past winter. "Zuppe didn't play last year after initially hurting his throwing shoulder, but by mid-summer and into the fall, it was feeling better," Kenney said. "But he told me that he took some hard hits during the hockey season, and it just reaggravated the injury.He tried to give it a go, and we planned on trying to put him at first base and hide him a little bit, but even swinging the bat he was hurting, so we decided he should probably just shut it down." As for Falcone, he has already had arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder. "Nick had some problems over the summer and thought it was just tendonitis," Kenney said. "But when it was still bothering him in February, he had it checked out and they found a tear in the labrum." In their absence, junior Pat Light has emerged as the team's ace. "We expected good things from Pat anyway, and he has done a nice job, no question," Kenney said. Sophomore Jim Yacobinis has also emerged as a legitimate varsity starter for the Colts, as has senior lefty John Moller. "Jim was very good in his last start, and has kept us in the game in his other starts," Kenney said. "We're expecting big things from him. He's a big kid who throws hard and has a pretty good breaking ball. He'll pitch in a lot of games this year. "And Moller has had a couple of good starts as well, and has kept us in the game." Senior Jordan Gilruth is the Colts' top reliever, but will get some starts when the games get backed up this spring, Kenney said. Junior Mike Rossi is another pitcher the coach plans to use a lot in relief. "We also might look to some sophomores as the year goes on to give us some starts," Kenney said. Tyler Cuming (who is also an outfielder) and Mike Hanlon (a second baseman) were the top two pitchers for CBA's freshman team a year ago, and will get some starts at varsity this year while also playing in the field. Offensively, the Colts are just starting to put it all together. Senior center fielder Steve McSherry, who is headed to Fordham University, has been hitting well, batting over .450 in the third spot in the lineup. Junior shortstop Anthony Cirillo has also looked strong in his second varsity season, hitting well over .400, while also seeing some time on the mound in relief. Junior Shawn Purvis is the second baseman and has impressed his coach with his play thus far. "He's doing a nice job and consistently seems to be getting two or three hits a game," the coach said. "He's a little guy but he somehow manages to stroke base hits." Junior third baseman Danny Avella is batting second for the Colts, and is beginning to draw comparisons to his older brother Vinny, who was an All-Stater while at CBA. "We expect Danny to have a big year," Kenney said. "He's similar to Vinny, just lefthanded." Senior John Himmelman "didn't play much last year but is contributing this year by driving in runs at a pretty good clip," Kenney said. Senior Henry Rickewich is the team's DH, while junior Zach Tanenbaum handles the catching duties. "Zach's hitting clean-up for us and started off a little slow offensively," Kenney said. "But the last couple of games he's started to pick things up." Where the Colts have struggled a bit has been with consistency. "There are games where we don't score much, and then there are games where we score a lot, but I guess that comes with the territory," Kenney said. "Whenwe lost toMiddletown South, 3-1, we had a number of guys, but we just couldn't pick them up. Then we lost to Middletown North and left 18 men on base. "I guess you can say we've had somewhat of a problem with timely hitting. But we're starting to show some signs of coming around the last couple of games." And that's not good news for the rest of the Shore. Despite their inconsistent play, CBA finds itself just one game behind Colts Neck in what is a wide-openANorth race. "Nobody's really running away with it, although I think Colts Neck is probably the most talented team in the division," Kenney said. This week promised to be an important one for the Colts' divisional title hopes. After hosting Freehold Township yesterday, the Colts will face Middletown South today, also at home, and will likely have a Monmouth County Tournament game either tomorrow or Friday. On Saturday, CBA will travel to Marlboro for another divisional affair, and then will face the state's top-seeded team from Don Bosco Prep on Saturday night at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood as part of the Shore Challenge. As far as how he would set up his pitching rotation for Saturday's twin bill, Kenney said it would depend on how the team fares this week. "As long as mathematically we're still in (the divisional race), I'll probably put more emphasis on the conference games," he said. "If we can win both games this week, I think the Marlboro game becomes a little more important."