Raritan baseball trying to get ahead of the pack BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA Staff Writer The Raritan High School baseball team is got off to a 3-4 start, but coach Bob Devlin thinks that will change when his hitters come around. Devlin's team can swing the bat as evidenced by the 18 hits the Rockets accumulated in a victory over Red Bank Catholic. In the three games after that, Raritan scored just four runs in 22 innings and winning just once, against Red Bank Regional, while dropping decisions to St. John Vianney and Manasquan. "Coming into the season we thought hitting would be the easy part for us," the coach said. "So far we've faced a lot of our opponents' number one guys and that's always tough. It's just a matter of finding a way to get to them. As a team, our guys have been pressing too much. What we really need them to do is just keep things simple and concentrate on getting on base." Raritan has generally received good pitching as Charlie Rivera, Dan Benfer and sophomore Corey Chomko have picked up one victory apiece on the hill. While the defense has made a few errors, Devlin said that for the most part his team has fielded well. "Our division (Shore Conference Class A Central) is pretty much on a par this year and we're still in the first go-round of divisional play," Devlin said. "It's pretty wide open. If we start hitting, we can be right in the mix. And when our guys are on they can hit with anyone. That will also take some of the pressure off our defense." Thus far, first baseman Tom Evancho and third baseman Devin Noonan have been the Rockets' top hitters. Evancho has been hovering around the .400 mark and has seven RBIs. Noonan, who also plays left field, is at .350 with a team-leading three home runs. Other key players include Rivera and Chomko, who play shortstop and second base, respectively, when not pitching. Sophomore Matt Facendo also sees time at the hot corner. Eddie Martin, who also pitches, plays left field, with Joe Doerrer in center field and junior Anthony Bizien in right field. Dave Shrum is behind the plate and Robert Palmer is the designated hitter. "We have a lot of talented players and with the division so evenly matched, it's really a matter of what team comes out and plays better on a given day," Devlin said. "We want to be that team and that means consistency from game to game. That will be the key."