Seton Hall Prep’s Sheppard Jr. notches his 800th victory

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep baseball team went 4-1 last week to raise its record to 13-3-1 on the season. On a cool afternoon at Millburn High School on May 10, Seton Hall Prep defeated their Super Essex Conference–American Division rival 11-2. This victory gave head coach Mike Sheppard Jr. his 800th victory in his outstanding 36-year coaching career. He is now the third coach in New Jersey high school baseball history to reach 800 wins as his 800-210-5 .790 record puts him in select company with Ken Frank from Toms River South and Marty Kenney from Christian Brothers Academy. 

Sheppard coached at West Orange High School for one year in 1986 and 35 years at Seton Hall Prep since 1987. His teams have captured 12 Iron Hills Conference–Iron Division Titles, eight Super Essex Conference–American Division Titles, 15 Greater Newark Tournament Titles, 10 NJSIAA Non-Public “A” North State Titles and seven NJSIAA Non-Public “A” State Titles. 

On Monday, junior Matthew Monteleone hit a grand slam home run, his second of the season, and junior Chris Maldonado hit a three-run home run to lead the Pirates vs. Millburn while junior Ryan Sprock (2-0) pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one hit and having six strikeouts. 

On Wednesday, the Pirates hosted Caldwell in the quarterfinal round of the 88th Greater Newark Tournament at Porcello Field in West Orange. Junior right-handed pitcher John Cerwinski (3-0) threw five innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Maldonado was (1-3) 2 RBI; junior Alex Kim was (2-3) 2 RBI; and senior Andrew Fernandez, Sprock and senior Cole McGonigal each had one run batted in. 

On Thursday, the Pirates traveled to the Park Oval to take on Nutley and defeated them 14-0. Senior left-handed pitcher Jayden Barroqueiro (2-0) allowed two hits with five strikeouts. Sprock hit a grand slam in the first inning, Maldonado drove in four runs with two singles, and senior Karson Harcourt had a three-run homer in the fifth inning. 

On Friday, the Hun School traveled to West Orange and defeated the Pirates 7-2, snapping their 11-game winning streak. Maldonado had an RBI single in the third inning and Sprock had an RBI single in the sixth inning. 

On a beautiful Saturday, Seton Hall Prep hosted the semifinals of the Greater Newark Tournament for the first time ever at Porcello Field. In the opener, the 2nd-seeded Pirates defeated No. 4 seed West Essex 10-1. Kim hit a two-run double in the second inning to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. In the third inning, Maldonado hit his first two-run homer of the day to increase the Pirates’ lead to 4-1. In the fifth inning with the bases loaded, Sprock hit a long double into the left field corner to extend the lead to 7-1. In the sixth inning, Maldonado launched his second two-run home run over the 365-foot sign in left center field and Sprock closed out the scoring with a sacrifice fly to center field. Nick Pomponio (2-0) picked up the win with three innings of scoreless relief with one strikeout and one walk. 

Millburn won the second game 5-3 over Montclair. This coming Saturday, May 22, at 1 p.m., the Pirates will take on the top-seeded Millers at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State University in the Greater Newark Tournament Championship Game.

  Seton Hall Prep baseball