WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep baseball team had another great season with a 20-6-1 final record. The team captured its fourth consecutive Super Essex Conference–American Division title — the team’s ninth in the 11-year history of the conference. The Pirates won 19 of their final 23 games of the season, which included an 11-game and a five-game winning streak.
The team defeated the Middlesex County Champion St. Joseph’s 8-2 and the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Champion Hunterdon Central 7-6.
The highlight of the season came on May 10 at Millburn High School when the Pirates defeated the Millers 11-2. That gave head coach Mike Sheppard Jr. his 800th victory in his outstanding coaching career. He is only the third coach in New Jersey high school baseball history to achieve this mark. He currently stands third in New Jersey with an overall record of 810-214-5 behind Ken Frank of Toms River South High School with 906-314-3 and Marty Kenney of Christian Brothers Academy with 832-349.
Various media outlets and conferences have announced their postseason teams and postseason All Star Games have been played.
- Super Essex Conference–American Division: Named to the first team were junior shortstop Chris Maldonado and junior designated hitter Ryan Sprock. Named to the second team were junior right-handed pitcher John Cerwinski and senior first baseman Karson Harcourt. Honorable mention was attained by senior infielder Andrew Fernandez and junior outfielder Sam Nomura.
- Sideline Chatter: The team was ranked No. 3 in the final Essex County ranking. Named to the all–Essex County first team were Maldonado and Sprock; to the second team was Cerwinski; and to honorable mention were Harcourt and senior catcher Dominick Carlucci.
- NJ.com: The team was ranked No. 27 in the state, No. 3 in Essex County and No. 10 in the final non-public group. Maldonado, Cerwinski and Sprock were named to the all-state non-public group second team.
Additionally, Maldonado was selected to play in the Diamond Nation Garden State Games. Cerwinski and Sprock were selected to play in the Quad-County All Star Games representing Essex County; following the games, Cerwinski was selected as the Most Valuable Player.
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