Christian Pierre.
MAPLEWOOD, NJ – The Columbia High School varsity baseball team has enjoyed success for the past few seasons. CHS went 17-10 last spring, sharing the Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division title with Verona after winning the division crown outright two seasons ago.
This season, the Cougars are facing a tougher challenge as they move up to the SEC-American Division, which is the highest division in the conference.
However, first-year head coach Jim Whalen is confident that his close-knit team will be able to rise up to the challenge.
“There is a togetherness and a bond between them,” said Whalen, whose team will open the season on Monday, April 3, at Verona. “Moving up to the SEC-American Division is a step up in class, and I think that togetherness and that bond is going to help us get through some of the adversity that’s going to come, by being in that more competitive division.”
The Cougars return a nice corps. On the mound, CHS will be led by a dominant 1-2 in seniors Pete Nolet and Danny Boehmer.
Nolet posted a 6-1 record with a 2.01 earned run average, allowing just 51 hits and 19 walks and striking out 60 in 52 ⅓ innings en route to being named to the First Team on the All-SEC Liberty last season. Though he went 3-4, Boemer had a 1.95 ERA with 43 strikeouts, allowing just 32 hits and 19 walks in 35 ⅔ innings to earn Second Team All-SEC LIberty honors a year ago.
“They got a lot of varsity experience and they are going to be the anchors of our pitching staff,” said Whalen, who has stressed the importance of throwing quality strikes with consistency.
Nolet will play first base when he’s not pitching.
Palmer Krais and Michael Roseman, both juniors, are other returning pitchers.
The Cougars also return junior center fielder Christian Pierre, sophomore shortstop Elliot Dix, junior third baseman Luke Jackson, senior second baseman Reid Evans, and senior left fielder Danny Cotler. Pierre and Dix, who both made First Team All-SEC-Liberty, are the sparkplugs at the top of the lineup. Pierre last season batted .397 with 31 hits, including five doubles, four triples, 16 RBI, a .525 on-base average and .603 slugging average, while Dix was impressive as a freshman with 28 hits for a .326 average.
Jackson and sophomore right fielder Phil Whitney will lead the Cougars in the middle of the lineup. Jackson also made Second Team All-SEC-LIberty last year after batting .338 with 26 hits, including seven doubles, one triple, and 25 RBI.
Junior Danny Lawall and senior Jack Niggli are battling for the catcher’s position.
Offensively, the Cougars plan to turn up the pressure by putting balls in play and utilizing smart, aggressive base-running.
Schedule
April 3, Verona (Away), 4 p.m.
April 5, Livingston (A), 4 p.m.
April 7, Newark Academy (Home), 4 p.m.
April 8, Nutley (A), 11 a.m.
April 10, Seton Hall Prep (H), 4 p.m.
April 11, North Hunterdon (A), 4 p.m.
April 13, Bloomfield Tech (A), 4 p.m.
April 15, Hoboken (H), noon, at Cameron
April 17, Montclair (H), 4 p.m.
April 20, Millburn (H), 4 p.m.
April 24, Livingston (H), 4 p.m.
April 26, Newark Academy (A), 4 p.m.
April 28, Nutley (H), 4 p.m.
April 29, Caldwell (A), 11 a.m.
May 1, Seton Hall Prep (A), 4 p.m.
May 3, Millburn (A), 4 p.m.
May 5, Verona (H), 4 p.m.
May 9, Roxbury (A), 4 p.m.
May 15, Bloomfield (A), 4 p.m.
May 16, Chatham (H), 4 p.m.
May 17, Montclair (A), 4 p.m.
May 20, Immaculata (H), 11 a.m.
May 23, Bloomfield (H), 4 p.m.
NOTES – Whalen served as an assistant coach for the West Essex baseball program for the past 15 seasons…
The other teams in the SEC-American Division are Seton Hall Prep, Millburn, Nutley, Montclair, Newark Academy, Bloomfield, and LIvingston.
This season, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has instituted a pitch count rule. Here are the guidelines:
Varsity Pitch Limit
1-30 pitches, 0 day rest
31-50: 1 day rest
51-70, 2 days rest
71-90, 3 days rest
91-110, 4 days rest
- A pitcher who reaches the max while facing a batter may continue to pitch until the batter reaches base, the batter is put out, or the third out is made to complete the half-inning.
- A pitcher cannot throw 3 calendar days in a row.
- A pitcher cannot throw more than 50 pitches in consecutive calendar games.
- For State Tournament games that may be suspended and resumed at the point of interruption, if a pitcher has thrown 1-50 pitches before the game was suspended, that pitcher’s pitch count shall carry over to the next day.
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