PLAY BALL– HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY MEN’S BASEBALL HAS HIGH HOPES
Highland Park Middle School baseball hadn’t won a game in at least five years and were down six runs in their next-to-last at bat against Timothy B. Christian in May 2021. Then, there were a couple of walks, then a hit, a few more walks, a double, and a wild pitch. Finally, Lucas Weinberg raced home to score the go-ahead run and three outs later, they secured the long-awaited win. That team was cobbled together in the wake of the worst of the pandemic with more than half the kids having barely ever played organized baseball. These team members now make up the bulk of the current Highand Park High School team.
While the varsity team only won five games last year and lost valuable Seniors Mark Rubin, Ewan Haley-Locke, and Nigel Bailey, there is a lot of room for optimism. The team has been holding informal “Captain” practices all winter, even in 20-degree weather, rain, and snow. Senior team leader Ralph Tawil and Junior Luca Sheldon are the cornerstones of the pitching staff, while Sophomore Seamus MacKinnon anchors the defense behind the plate. Junior David Cenci puts his speed to use in the OF and Junior Aidan O’Connell, as well as Sophomore Seth Shapiro. have been putting in a ton of work. Finn Voorhees and Chris Chenard were on that come-from-behind middle school team and are ready to contribute along with Saul Salas, Yonathan Hidalgo, Malachi Toman-Daniels, Danny Sanchez, and Rich Rodroguez rounding out the squad.
While this season might be a development year, the team is dedicated to constant improvement, they are cohesive and ready to have fun. Talk about fun, did I mention that the team has twins? Conor and Owen Roth-Zappo, just like Slapstick! Shapiro, who co-manages the teams Insta profile with MacKinnon saying “Its going to be a great season, been a lot of work put in, and we’re ready to see what comes from that.”
The team is led by Head Coach Michael Moore as well as Assistant Coaches Chris Brzozowski and Joe Policastro (Coach P). Moore adds his thoughts on the upcoming season, saying “This is going to be a bounce-back year for our young team. So many guys are stepping up to fill key roles on the team, and I believe our pitching will keep us in games. Look out for this team.”
No matter what happens, that Sophomore Core is here to stay for the next three years and along with some new players potentially coming up in the pipeline, maybe they can make some magic. Hopefully you can come out and see them play at home or on the road this year, their schedule is below and make sure to follow them on Instagram. It’s almost Spring Highland Park, so let’s play some baseball!
Link to Schedule: https://highschoolsports.nj.com/school/highland-park-highland-park/baseball/season/2022-2023
Link to Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/hpowlsbaseball/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D