Seton Hall Prep head baseball coach Mike Sheppard Jr. moves into second place on state all-time wins list

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep baseball team went 1-1 last week to improve its season record to 2-3-1.

The highlight of the week, and the season thus far, was their game on Wednesday, April 12, against Verona at Doc Goeltz Field where the Pirates defeated the Hillbillies 10-2. 

That victory marked the 833rd career win in the outstanding coaching career of head coach Mike Sheppard Jr. He is now in sole possession of second place on the all-time wins list for New Jersey high school baseball coaches. 

Sheppard passed former Christian Brothers Academy coach Marty Kenney and is only behind current Toms River South coach Ken Frank who is the state’s all-time wins leader with 921 wins as Sheppard’s current record stands at 833-224-6. 

Following the victory, Sheppard said, “It’s nice because it represents that I have been fortunate enough to do this a long time. It’s something I love to do. I love coaching. I love working with young men, and I’m in a good situation here at Seton Hall Prep where I coach and teach.” Sheppard’s career began at West Orange High School in 1986 before he became the head coach at Seton Hall Prep in 1987. Since then, Sheppard has continually fielded some of the top teams in the state. Under his guidance, the program won 12 Iron Hills Conference–Iron Division titles, 10 Super Essex Conference–American Division titles, 16 Greater Newark Tournament titles, 10 Non-Public A North state titles, and seven Non-Public A overall state titles. Sophomore Marcelo Harsch, a Wake Forest commit, picked up the win  tossing five innings and allowing four hits and two runs while striking out eight batters. His older brother, senior Berkeley Harsch, sealed the win with two innings of scoreless relief with four strikeouts. 

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when junior Marty Edson was hit by a pitch and later scored on a wild pitch. In the next inning, senior Owen Baratta walked and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. 

In the fourth inning, their lead was increased to 4-0 on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Baratta and sophomore Michael Bravette. After Verona scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Pirates scored three runs in the top of the sixth when Baratta had an RBI single, Bravette drove in a run with his second sacrifice fly, and the third run scored on a wild pitch. 

In the seventh inning, freshman JJ Drennan and junior Jonathan Rodriguez hit back-to-back singles and both scored on a throwing error while senior William Kahney reached on an error and scored on Bravette’s third sacrifice fly of the game. 

Following the game, Harsch was asked how he felt and said, “I felt good out there throwing strikes and was in control of the game. Coach Sheppard has taught me a lot about the game and I felt really good that I was part of this victory.”

On Monday, April 10, the Pirates dropped a 4-2 game to Caldwell in eight innings. Seton Hall took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when senior James Grizzetti singled to left field and scored when freshman Jordan Burwell launched a two-run homer to right field. The Chiefs won the game in the top of the eighth on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch.

Photo Courtesy of Rich Morris/SHP

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