Robbinsville was excited to build on last year’s 18-win season
Every coach’s first year at a new school comes with a bit of trial and error.
The second year, as the players become more accustomed, is when that coach can truly begin to settle in.
Except for any coaches in the Mid-Atlantic region expecting to enter their second season with a team in the spring of 2020.
Robbinsville High varsity baseball coach Mike Kinsella is experiencing that predicament firsthand.
After an 18-9 inaugural campaign in which the Ravens reached the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II sectional final, Kinsella was eager to get back out there with his team, which returned about as many players as it had lost.
“This year, I was excited about the chance to instill my style,” Kinsella said. “We were going to go through some growing pains, but I felt we had a good core of experienced and inexperienced players to deal with it.”
The six seniors Robbinsville had were equally ready for the challenge.
There was catcher Colin McCunney, right-handed pitcher/outfielder Chris Au, left-handed pitcher/outfielder Dan Surtz, infielder/righthanded pitcher Joe Penzone, outfielder Justin Penzone and infielder Marcus Gonzales.
However, before the Ravens or any other New Jersey team could get too invested in the 2020 spring season, it was postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Two months later, the season was called for the same reason.
“I was hoping we’d get the chance to do what we did last year. We wanted to prove that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan,” McCunney said. “Our class worked hard to show that it wasn’t just the seniors from last year, it was a team effort, why we were successful.”
“I’ll miss playing baseball with the guys, especially the seniors. It would have been good to get to make one more run with them,” Au said. “We went through a lot of hard work to get ready for this season because we had to be leaders for the younger players.”
Those leadership qualities have not been lost on this group, even as they prepare to move onto bigger things next year.
“I’d probably tell them that you’re not always going to go 4-for-4 and get the key hit. So if you can’t contribute on one side of the ball, contribute on the other,” said McCunney, who’ll continue his career at
DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa. “That’s why, when I was catching, I tried to stop every ball from getting past me and tried to call the best game I could. Even though I might not be hitting, I wanted to make sure I contributed.”
“I’d tell them, ‘Just be you! Do what you can to play your own role,’” said Au, who plans to play baseball and study finance at Rowan University. “Everybody’s got a role on the team whether you are a starter or a bench player. By doing your part, the best you can, you’re helping the team.”
As difficult as the lost season has been for the seniors, it’s also been tough on their teammates, all of whom have seen their field time stunted since schools and facilities are closed the rest of the 201920 academic calendar.
“I feel bad for all the kids,” said Kinsella, who was being assisted by Jeff Fisher, Jerry Chiemelewski, Joe Washington Jr. and Gregg Lerner. “The seniors were eager to take the next step. I was also excited for the younger kids. But it didn’t happen. It’s wild.”
Even with the problems COVID-19 has caused, Kinsella has tried to implement some of his character-building and team-building ideas like “Teamwork Tuesdays” to help his players grow into fine young men.
“It’s tough, as a teenager, to motivate yourself,” Kinsella said. “In some cases, that’s what they’ve had to do because of this. It’s going to be so different next year.”
With everyone being a year older, with one less season of varsity experience, Kinsella’s third year at R’ville may seem more like his first.