The 2006 Hudson Reporter All-Area High School Baseball and Softball teams once again represent the immense talent that Hudson County produces in the respective sports year after year.
There isn’t a shortage of brilliant performers on either team and there isn’t a lack of repeat honorees from last year’s team, meaning that Hudson’s finest were able to duplicate the feats they achieved on their respective fields of play a year ago.
On the All-Area Baseball Team, there are eight repeat honorees, including one, Rubiel Mercado of Hudson Catholic, who earned his place among the Hudson County elite for a remarkable third time.
Mercado becomes the first three-time All-Area honoree since another former Hudson Catholic product, Brian Ellerson, turned the trick nearly a decade ago.
On the All-Area Softball Team, there are nine returnees, with three players, April Jacob and Lauren DeGrushe of High Tech and Natalie Lugo of Hoboken, joining the elite group of honorees who have been selected four times.
Three others, Tiara Smith of North Bergen, Danielle Gaffey of County Prep and Cory Roesing of Secaucus, earned their third straight selection to the All-Area team.
The All-Area Baseball Team’s Player of the Year is St. Mary’s shortstop Miguel Lugo. The fiery infielder, headed to NJIT to play baseball there in the fall, was the inspirational leader for the Ramblers, who enjoyed a 20-win season and one of the best years in the program’s history.
The Pitcher of the Year is Hoboken senior Ryan Fitzpatrick, who recovered nicely from a mid-season shoulder injury to lead the Red Wings to the HCIAA Seglio Division title and the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I state crown.
For the second straight year, the 2006 Hudson Reporter Most Valuable Player is Memorial senior shortstop/pitcher Jesus Castano. There was no finer pitcher in Hudson County this season than Castano, who won nine games on the mound, but also provided flawless fielding at short when he wasn’t pitching and provided his fair share of clutch hits throughout the course of the season.
Castano becomes the first-ever two-time recipient of the Most Valuable Player honor.
The Hudson Reporter Baseball Coach of the Year is Hoboken’s Buddy Matthews, who took his young team to county and state titles.
On the softball team, the Player of the Year for a second straight year is High Tech senior third baseman Lauren DeGrushe, who batted an amazing .668 with five homers this season. DeGrushe takes her talents to the college level. She will play at Pace University in the fall.
The Pitcher of the Year is High Tech’s senior April Jacob, who won 20 games for her fourth straight season and enjoyed perhaps her best year, posting a 0.51 earned run average and striking out 220 while firing 14 shutouts, leading her team to the HCIAA Seglio Division championship for the third time in four years.
The 2006 Hudson Reporter Most Valuable Player is Natalie Lugo of Hoboken, who had a brilliant year on the mound and at the plate for the Red Wings. Natalie Lugo (no relation to the St. Mary’s shortstop) won 22 games on the mound with a 0.66 earned run average and 243 strikeouts. She also batted .483 with five homers and 50 RBI as the top run producer for the Red Wings.
Lugo also kept the MVP tradition in the family. Her older brother, Chris, who is currently pitching in the Washington Nationals’ organization, was the 2004 Hudson Reporter Baseball MVP.
The Hudson Reporter Softball Coach of the Year is Joe Troncoso of Holy Family Academy, who took a team filled with seven sophomores to the HCIAA Coviello Division championship, defeating favorites St. Dominic Academy and North Bergen in the semifinals and finals.
Besides Mercado, Fitzpatrick, Castano and Miguel Lugo as repeaters on the All-Area Baseball Team, the others are: Yoken Castro of Emerson, Danny Arocho of Hoboken, Ramon Feliz of Memorial and Gabe Torres of St. Peter’s Prep.
Other than the aforementioned returning members, the repeat honorees on the All-Area Softball Team include Amanda Coletta and Grace Keller of Holy Family and Nicole Degenhardt of Secaucus.
– Jim Hague