NUTLEY, NJ – The Nutley High School varsity baseball team won three straight games, defeating Newark Academy, East Side, and Columbia to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Junior pitcher Josh O’Neil fired a one-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and three walks to lead the Raiders to a 7-0 home win over Newark Academy on April 11 Sophomore Kevin Hogan and senior Pete Lopez each had a hit and two RBI; senior Wayne Whittmann had two hits and two runs; and freshman Lou Rafaelli and senior Dan Caraballo each had a hit and an RBI.
Hogan went 2-for-2 with a walk, double, and three RBI and sophomore Justin Lucia homered and drove in three runs in the 14-0 win over East Side on April 13 at the Park Oval. Whittmann went 2-for-3 with three RBI; Caraballo was 1-for-2 with two RBI; sophomore Trevor Santos was 2-for-3 with an RBI and junior Marty Higgins was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
Higgins had three hits, two RBI and two runs; and Lopez had two hits and an RBI in the 11-5 win over Columbia on Saturday, April 14, at Underhill Field in Maplewood. Nutley rallied for six runs in the top of the sixth inning for an 11-4 lead. O’Neill and Whittmann each drove in a run.
Santos pitched three innings with five strikeouts for the win.
In earlier action, the Raiders visited Seton Hall Prep in West Orange and lost a tough 2-1 decision on April 9. Hogan had two hits and drove in a run in the first inning. But SHP answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Santos struck out six and allowed two hits and two runs in three innings.
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