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Sports

All Hands On Deck For Shore Regional Baseball

Shore Regional baseball team looks to reload after graduation of talented seniors.

For the past two seasons, Shore Regional High School's baseball team has been one that has relied heavily on its stars, whether it was Todd Juliano, Rob Corsi, Mark Britton, or Matt Marsh.  

This season, it will need to be a total team effort for a young Blue Devils team that will be playing a significant amount of newcomers after graduating Britton and Marsh from a solid senior class that powered last season's team.  

“A lot of young kids are going to see playing time, so we could see improvement as we get later into the season,’’ Shore coach Jeff Karpell said.

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“We know this year that a lot of the younger guys have to step up,’’ said senior pitcher and outfielder Alex Cameron. “It’s not going to be one person that has to do it all. Everyone is going to pitch, and everyone is going to hit.’’  

The primary returners are junior pitcher/right fielder R.J. Bohnert, a three-year varsity starter, along with Cameron and senior pitcher/infielder Evan Ruane. Cameron and Ruane cracked the starting lineup during last season and showed plenty of promise down the stretch. In the last 10 games of the season, Cameron hit .478 and also showed a strong arm from the outfield. 

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“(Cameron) could definitely have a breakout season,’’ Bohnert said. “He was on fire for multiple games at the end of last year.’’  

Cameron may also have to play some centerfield while Bohnert heals from a thumb injury on his throwing hand that he attained towards the end of basketball season. He said he will most likely not pitch for the first week or two, but is almost at the point where he does not have to wear any kind of brace on his hand.  

The Blue Devils will need Bohnert to heal up quickly because pitching remains the teams biggest question mark. Britton was the ace of the staff last season, following in the footsteps of Corsi from a year earlier, and Marsh was the closer. Those two pitched in almost every big game, and the Blue Devils also lost another starter, senior Anthony Okupski, whom Karpell said is no longer with the team.  

“We don’t have that dominant starter, so it’s going to be a few innings for this kid and a few innings for that kid,’’ Karpell said. “It’s just a matter of everything coming together.’’  

Ruane and senior Rob Quackenbush, who is also an infielder, could see some time on the mound along with freshman newcomer Matt Cosantino and senior Matt Dwyer. Most likely every game will be pitching by committee, according to Karpell, with no pitcher throwing complete games in order to keep everyone fresh.  

The Blue Devils also have to replace Marsh behind the plate, as he was the starting catcher. Senior Mike MacStudy, a standout offensive lineman on the Blue Devils’ state championship football team, looks to be a prime candidate along with senior Nick Hahneman.  

While Bohnert became a starter as a freshman because of injuries on the Shore team that reached the NJSIAA Group II final, Cosantino looks to be the starting leftfielder from the beginning for the Blue Devils. Cosantino has the potential to be a middle-of-the-order hitter in his first high school season.  

“He has a lot of moxie, and he’s not afraid,’’ Karpell said. “He’s been a little overwhelmed at times in our scrimmages, but he has also shown flashes of good things.’’  

Ruane, who is a three-sport athlete and headed to Monmouth University on a football scholarship, will play shortstop and also pitch. Like Cameron, he finished strong in 2010 and should be an anchor in the middle of the lineup.  

As for the newcomers, the infield candidates include sophomores Mike Blaney and T.J. Sempkowski, as well as junior Mike Shannon and seniors Phil Lehman, Mike Gandler, and Kris Vosk.  

The outfield is set with Bohnert, Cameron and Cosantino, and there should be plenty of depth in that area with juniors Brendan Dula, Tom O’Horo and Greg Scala, along with Dwyer and seniors Ryan Sandoz and Mitchell Seninsky.  

Given the inexperience of the pitching staff, there may be some pressure on the offense in the beginning.  

“We need the bats to produce because our pitching isn't as good as it usually is, so we need to get on teams early and take the pressure off our pitchers,’’ Bohnert said.  

Shore’s division, Class A Central, is fairly wide open now that 2010 division champion Red Bank Catholic has been moved to Class B North under the latest Shore Conference realignment. There is no dominant team that everyone will be chasing, so if the young players and newcomers get up to speed quickly, the Blue Devils could find themselves right in the hunt.  

“That’s what I’ve been talking to T.J. Sempkowski, Mike Blaney and Matt Cosantino about,’’ Bohnert said. “I’m just telling them to stay relaxed and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We have talent on this team, so we just have to go out and prove it.’’

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