Columbia HS baseball team posts good summer season

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MAPLEWOOD – Coming off another banner season this spring, the Columbia High School summer varsity baseball team gained more invaluable experience this summer.

The Cougars, under CHS head baseball coach Joe Fischetti, once again competed in the challenging High School Development League. The team had a good mix of youth and experience, finishing with a respectable 9-9 record.

The Cougars defeated Elizabeth, 10-2, in the quarterfinals of the league playoffs, July 18, at Underhill Field before losing to Scotch Plains, 4-0, in the semifinals in Scotch Plains, July 19, to finish the summer.

In the high school season this past spring, the Cougars tied with Verona for the Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division, finishing with a 17-10 record, 13-3 in the division. It was the Cougars’ second straight SEC-Liberty Division title. In 2015, the Cougars outright won the divisional title.

This summer, the Cougars had a few experienced players from the CHS spring varsity team, such as rising sophomore shortstop Eliot Dix, rising junior third baseman Luke Jackson, rising senior pitcher Reid Evans, rising junior pitcher Palmer Krais, rising senior first baseman/pitcher Pete Nolet and rising senior right fielder Lucas Peterson.

Other players this summer were rising junior center fielder Rowan Marbury, rising junior catcher Dan Lowall, rising sophomore left fielder Phil Whitney, rising junior first baseman Aidan Mayberry, rising junior second baseman Jake Lefferts, and rising senior second baseman Isaac Schmidt.