WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep baseball team went 2-1-1 in the opening week of the 2024 season.
In their opening game, the Pirates and Montclair played to a 1-1 tie called for darkness by the umpires after Seton Hall had taken a 4-1 going to the bottom of the ninth and the score reverted back to the last complete inning, which was the eighth inning.
After a couple days of rain, the Pirates hosted Millburn at Porcello Field in West Orange on Thursday, April 4. The Pirates defeated the Millers, 1-0. Senior Andrew Hladik picked up the victory, going 4 ⅓ innings and allowing five hits with three strikeouts and two walks and hitting one batter. Junior Nick DeSena threw 1 ⅔ innings, allowing one hit with one strikeout, one walk and one hit-batter, and junior Michael Bravette pitched the seventh inning to earn the save with one strikeout.
In the bottom of the fourth, with one out, sophomore JJ Drennan was hit by a pitch and went to third when William Garrett doubled into the left-field corner and scored on an infield-throwing error. Garrett and Bravette each finished 2-for-3 on the afternoon.
The next day, the Pirates hosted Columbia and defeated the Cougars, 10-0, in five innings. Drennan threw the shutout, allowing two hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Senior Peter Peluso was 1-for-2 with three RBI, while junior William Mahala was 1-for-3 with two RBI, senior Jonathan Rodriguez drove in two runs with two sacrifice flies and Bravette was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and one RBI.
Following the game, Drennan said, “I felt confident in the bullpen before the game and my plan was to get ahead in the counts early. I have great faith in our defense, so I knew all I had to do was pound the zone and let them do their job. I was really excited for this outing. There is nothing better than getting the start and performing well with my team.”
On Saturday, April 6, Randolph came calling on the Pirates and defeated them, 6-4. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third inning, Seton Hall tied the score when junior Gavin Fochtman hit a leadoff single to left field and later scored on an RBI single to center field by Bravette.
The Rams scored five unearned runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-1 lead.
Seton Hall rallied in the bottom of the fifth with three runs to make the score 6-4. Bravette had an infield single to drive in a run, and Mahala and junior catcher Henry Ayers each had RBI fielder’s choices. Bravette was 3-for-3 with two RBI, while Fochtman was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Junior Roman Baldwin was the hard-luck loser, allowing six unearned runs on six hits with four strikeouts in four innings pitched. Senior Lucas Fernandez threw 2 ⅔ innings, allowing two hits with four strikeouts, and senior Marty Edson pitched the final out in the top of the seventh.
The Pirates will host St. Joseph (Metuchen) on Thursday, April 11, at 4 p.m.; host Nutley on Friday, April 12, at 2 p.m.; host Christian Brothers Academy on Saturday, April 13, at 11 a.m.; visit Livingston on Monday, April 15, at 4 p.m.; and host Montclair on Wednesday, April 17, at 4 p.m.
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