Teams from L’ville, Hun, Pennington, TCA in Last Dance
With any of New Jersey’s high school baseball teams able to be part of the Last Dance World Series presented by RWJBarnabas Health, some of the state’s prep schools wanted to join the numerous public and parochial schools entered.
That was especially true in Mercer County, where prep baseball is always strong. The coronavirus pandemic has been just as difficult for those schools in 2020.
Since spring sports were canceled when school buildings and their facilities were closed for the remainder of the 201920 academic year because of COVID-19, the N.J. Last Dance World Series was created as a way for high school baseball players who missed out on the 2020 season to get to play some meaningful games with their classmates before many seniors head off to college.
The 222-team summer tournament sanctioned by the United States Specialty Sports Association plans to abide by the directives of the New Jersey Department of Health, the National Federation of State High School Associations and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. This is not an NJSIAAsponsored event, so teams cannot wear school uniforms or use school transportation.
When schools like Hun, Pennington and Lawrenceville showed interest, they were added to the Trenton Regional, along with Trenton Catholic Academy, at the time the pairings for July 14-16 pool play were announced. The Program, Red Raiders, Big Red Machine and TCA (as these teams will be known for Last Dance) were placed in the Trenton half of the eight-team, Bordentown-Trenton Regional.
With a dual bracket, it will run as two, four-team regions the first two days. The top seed in each will play the fourth seed in each, and the second seed will play the third seed, July 14.
The next day, Tuesday’s Trenton
Regional winners and losers will meet at 4 & 7 p.m., respectively, at Trenton Babe Ruth.
On July 16, the remaining winners from Trenton and Bordentown will meet at 6 p.m. at Trenton’s Arm & Hammer Park for the right to advance in the tournament. Tickets for all Last Dance games at Arm & Hammer Park need to be purchased in advance at trentonthunder. com. These will be mobile tickets only. Tickets will NOT be available for pick up at Will Call, nor will there be any walk-up sales.
For those unable to make it to Arm & Hammer Park, all Last Dance games at the Trenton Thunder’s stadium will be videostreamed live at wbcbsports.com and on WBCB’s Facebook Live page, beginning with The Trentonian Pre-Game Show.
Thursday’s three other crossover games (with Bordentown Regional teams) will be played at Gilder Park in Bordentown, beginning with the winless teams at 11 a.m.
The winner from the Bordentown-Trenton Regional will then advance to play the Lawrenceville Regional winner at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 21 at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, home of the Blue Claws.
With 14 players back from a team which went 22-2 and won its fourth consecutive New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep A title in 2019, The Program (the boys from Hun) earned the top seed in Trenton and should be as strong as any in the Last Dance field.
The team has a nine-member senior class led by third baseman/right-handed pitcher Jake Sloss, catchers Cole Palmeri and Louis Bencardino, outfielder/left-handed pitcher Anthony Bencardino, outfielder/ righty pitcher Scott Reicheg and infielder Jake Marcin. The squad also has plenty of younger, talented players who want to see how far they can keep The Program going against some of the state’s best.
“These kids love baseball, and they work so hard at it,” said Tom Monfiletto, who has been Hun’s head coach the last four years. “I don’t think that’s a situation that’s unique to us. The kids just have a great work ethic, and they enjoy being around each other. We know the competition in this tournament will be good, so we’re all looking forward to it.”
Like his team, Monfiletto had an all-star group of alumni come back to coach the squad with names like Jack Erbeck, Jason Applegate, Danny Melnick, McGwire Tuffy, Ryan Strype, Adam Wijaya, Frank DelGuercio, Blaney Soper and James Werosta joining Steve Garrison and Pat Jones to help The Program prepare for its opener at 7 p.m. July 14 at Trenton Babe Ruth versus the Red Raiders.
A year ago, the Red Raiders finished around .500 and have four seniors returning who wanted to get the team back to its winning ways.
Seniors Ameer Hasan (lefthanded pitcher/first baseman), Rickey Eng (outfielder), Chad Brunner and Pete Tarpinian (both infielders/right-handed pitchers) hope to lead their green, but eager club through its tough games.
“They’ve been looking really, really good,” said Steve Kowalski, the fourth-year head coach at Pennington who is being assisted by Steve Elliott, Byron Kou, Jeff Sumners and Chris Wirth-Kenyon. “We have a lot of young guys who’ve been pretty impressive. There’s no pressure on us. We just have to go out there and shock the world.”
TCA, which is coming off a 14-9 campaign in 2019 in which it reached the NJSIAA Non-Public B South final, earned the second seed for the Trenton Regional, where it will host Big Red Machine at 4 p.m. July 14 at Trenton Babe Ruth.
With a senior class highlighted by infielder/righthanded pitcher Ali Pompey, outfielder/righty pitcher Anthony Devalle, right-handed pitcher Connor Egan and infielder Justin Moreno (a transfer from the Peddie School), plus talented juniors Jedier Hernandez (catcher/first baseman) and Angelo Herrera (first baseman/catcher), TCA should prove to be troublesome for a lot of good teams.
“The kids are enjoying it. They’re super-anxious to get after it. They can’t wait,” said eighth-year head coach Keith Naylor, who is being assisted by Marteese Robinson, Tremayne Funchers, Austin Minton and Matt Million. “I think the seniors are at a point where this is almost a relief for them. They get to play with their teammates one last time. Whatever happens, happens. It’s going to be fun.”
The third-seeded Big Red Machine hopes to send its four seniors out in style, while gaining some big-game experience for its younger players.
Seniors Jake Simpson (outfielder/left-handed pitcher), Jayden McMillan (first baseman), plus Chris Conyers and Aidan Kane (infielders) want to enjoy one last go-round with this team, which includes 12 underclassmen and is coached by third-year skipper Steve LaRochelle, Mike Hickey and Sam Tola, before their focus turns to college in August.
After pool play ends, Last Dance games become single elimination, with many contests to be played at minor league parks throughout New Jersey.
Single-elimination winners continue through Rounds of 8, 4 and 2 until North and South champions are determined July 29. Those two teams will then play for the N.J. Last Dance World Series title at 7 p.m. July 31 at Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton.
THE PROGRAM Head Coach Assistant Coaches
— Jack Erbeck.
— Jason Applegate, James Werosta, Ryan Strype, Adam Wijaya, Frank DelGuercio, Blaney Soper, Danny Melnick, McGwire Tuffy, Tom Monfiletto, Steve Garrison, Pat Jones.
— 22-2 overall, 10-0 MAPL, 9-0 vs. Prep A opponents, Mercer County Tournament semifinalist, NJISAA Prep A state champion, No. 2 in Trentonian Top 15.
— Drew Smiley (Sr., RHP), Jake Sloss (Sr., 3B/RHP), Cole Palmeri (Sr., C), Anthony Bencardino (Sr., OF/LHP), Scott Reicheg (Sr., OF/ RHP), Jake Marcin (Sr., IF), Louis Bencardino (Sr., C), Charlie Davis (Sr., RHP/OF), Griffin Mumme (Sr., IF), Ben Petrone (Jr., 2B), Ricky Erbeck (Jr., RHP/IF), Greg Riley (Jr., LHP/OF), Carson Applegate (So., OF/IF/RHP), Ryan DiMaggio (So., LHP/OF), Carson Wehner (So., IF/RHP), Jackson Kraemer (So., OF/RHP), Brody Pasieka (So., RHP/IF), Ben Romano (So., OF), Michael Chiaravallo (Fr., OF), Michael Jolly (Fr., C/OF).
— The school The Program comes from graduated nine players from a team
Last Season Roster Outlook
which won the Prep A state title for a fourth consecutive spring in 2019. Having 14 players with varsity experience figures to help this team stay strong in the N.J. Last Dance World Series, while dealing with a difficult bracket.
BIG RED MACHINE Head Coach Assistant Coaches Last Season
— Steve LaRochelle.
— Mike Hickey, Sam Tola.
— 4-19 overall, 1-9 MAPL, 1-8 vs. Prep A opponents.
— Jake Simpson (Sr., OF/LHP), Jayden McMillan (Sr.,1B), Chris Conyers (Sr., IF), Aidan Kane (Sr., IF), Lucas Simms (Jr., 1B/C/RHP), John Weaver (Jr., OF), Hawkins Sutter (So., IF/RHP), Ryan Visich (So., RHP/OF), Dhillon Choudhri (So., RHP/IF), Connor Kilgallon (So., RHP/OF), Sam Koenig (So., C/OF), Jack Moses (Fr., C), Jackson Sgro (Fr., IF), Charlie Rossman (Fr., OF), Shaun McMillan (Fr., RHP/1B), Hugh Devine (Fr., LHP).
— The school the Big Red Machine comes from graduated five players for a second year in a row after its 2019 season. Eight of its players, half of whom are seniors, have varsity experience and will have to steer an otherwise young contingent as it heads into Last Dance play in a tough bracket.
Roster Outlook RED RAIDERS Head Coach Assistant Coaches
— Steve Kowalski.
— Steve Elliott, Byron Kou, Jeff Sumners, Chris Wirth-Kenyon.
— 7-8 overall, 3-1 vs. Prep B
Last Season
opponents.
— Ameer Hasan (Sr., LHP/1B), Rickey Eng (Sr., OF), Chad Brunner (Sr., 1B/3B/ RHP), Pete Tarpinian (Sr., 1B/3B/RHP), Will Thompson (Jr., LHP/OF), Matt Lepre (Jr., C), Luke Kavulich (So., OF/RHP), Lorenzo Amico (So., IF), Max Gibbard (So., SS/RHP), Will Bercaw (Fr., C/IF), Caleb Hibbert (Fr., RHP/IF), Gordon Grandbouche (Fr., OF/RHP), Aidan Petolillo (Fr., RHP/3B), Gavin Leeds (Fr., C), Bryce Meccage (Fr., RHP/3B).
— The Red Raiders’ base school graduated seven players from a team which lost five games by two runs or less in 2019. With leadership from seven experienced players, Kowalski believes this club should prove more than capable of handling the challenge that the Last Dance World Series brings.
Roster Outlook TCA Head Coach Assistant Coaches
— Keith Naylor.
— Marteese Robinson, Tremayne Funchers, Austin Minton, Matt Million.
Last Season
— 14-9 overall, 5-3 BCSL Freedom, NJSIAA Non-Public B South runner-up, No. 13 in Trentonian Top 15.
Roster — Ali Pompey (Sr., IF/RHP), Anthony Devalle (Sr., OF/RHP), Connor Egan (Sr., RHP), Justin Moreno (Sr., IF), Anderson Moreno (Sr., OF/RHP), Devin Daniels (Sr., OF), Jedier Hernandez (Jr., C/1B), Angelo Herrera (Jr., 1B/C), Johnny Paskewicz (So., RHP/OF/IF), Adrian Hernandez (So., RHP/OF), Mike Liu (So., IF/C), Dylan Pope (So., IF), Austin Boddie (Fr., OF).
— The Iron Mikes had four players graduate, one transfer and some of their strongest return from a very solid 2019 club. With eight returning cast members, TCA has experience and a chance to do some damage in the N.J. Last Dance World Series, while trying to send its six seniors out with a bang.
Outlook