It’s another softball season for Tom Eagleson. It’s an event he has been enjoying for more than 30 springs as the head coach at North Bergen and the longest standing coach, either for baseball or softball, in all of Hudson County.
So that’s why this particular preseason was more trying than any other in Eagleson’s storied past. The winter weather drew Eagleson’s ire.
“We had not had one outside practice on the field yet,” Eagleson said in the days prior to the Bruins’ scheduled opener. “We had scrimmages, but not one practice. It’s been terrible. After a while, it gets boring. We can’t go over cutoff plays or rundown plays. I don’t know what to do. I usually move girls into different positions, but it’s been hard without being able to practice. This was the first year in my career where we never had a single outdoor practice.”
Eagleson doesn’t know what to expect from his team, which finished 13-8 last season and lost a total of eight games due to weather cancellations.
“We have a lot of girls coming back and with the new girls we have, we should be good enough to contend in the county,” Eagleson said.
Eagleson does have a bit of a concern to start the season. Standout freshman second baseman Jaila Grimes, who exploded onto the scene last year and earned Hudson Reporter All-Area honors, playing varsity softball as an eighth grader, will miss the first few weeks of the season due to academic difficulties.
“She’s going to miss at least 10 games,” Eagleson bemoaned. “She’s our best player.”
But Eagleson is lucky enough to have junior right-hander Victoria Avella back on the mound. Avella was elevated into the starting role last year and handled herself admirably, earning Hudson Reporter All-Area honors.
“She’s throwing better than she did last year,” Eagleson said. “She really loves the sport. She’s always practicing, always looking to get better. She’s either taking pitching lessons or taking hitting lessons. I have nothing to worry about with her.”
Sophomore Elisa Lopez is the new starting catcher.
“She started a few games last year,” Eagleson said. “She’s an excellent catcher. She’s also our cleanup hitter. She has good power at the plate and a great arm behind the plate.”
Senior Amber Antigua is the starter at first base. Antigua was the starting third baseman for the Bruins last year.
With Grimes out, Eagleson had to move junior Melanie Luna from right field to second base.
“It’s been patchwork since we lost Grimes,” Eagleson said.
But Eagleson is happy about his new shortstop, freshman Arianna Diaz.
“She’s going to be a real good one,” Eagleson said. “She’s a great hitter and fielder.”
Eagleson said that Diaz will be the team’s No. 2 hitter.
Sophomore Marilyn Rodriguez is the new third baseman. She played mostly in the outfield last year.
“She’s our No. 3 hitter,” Eagleson said.
The left fielder is senior Xiomara Taylor, who is a three-year starter and is the team’s leadoff hitter and best stolen base threat.
“She’s our fastest girl,” Eagleson said. “She can run.”
Senior Jaylene Grimes is the team’s starting centerfielder. The elder Grimes sister is a three-year starter and mainstay in the Bruins’ lineup.
“She was a .400 hitter last year,” Eagleson said. “We’ve dropped her to No. 6 in the order this year. That’s how good the rest of the team has become.”
Sophomore Casandra Minyetty is the starter in right fielder.
Junior Brittany DeHaseth and freshman Lauren Cabrera will also get plenty of playing time.
Needless to say, Eagleson is pleased with the Bruins’ lineup and chances this season.
“I am pretty happy with the way the team looks,” Eagleson said. “When and if Jaila Grimes comes back, we will be right there. We did get some scrimmages in on turf. We like the turf. The one thing we’re used to is the turf.”
The Bruins were slated to begin their 2015 season _ where else? _ on the artificial turf at the Monastery Field in Union City against the Soaring Eagles. Count on the Bruins to be right in the mix with the top teams in the county this season…
Again, this miserable weather that we experienced this spring just adds fuel to the fire that the spring seasons start way too early in New Jersey.
April 1 is not a reasonable start date whatsoever. Most of the local baseball and softball teams did not have sufficient time to prepare for the start of the season. Like noted here, North Bergen’s softball team did not have one single outdoor practice before they began their season last Wednesday.
Now, how insane is that idea?
Here’s the take of one prominent local baseball coach.
“The spring sports get absolutely screwed,” the anonymous coach said. “Football gets to prepare for three months before they play. We get three weeks and those three weeks are usually in bad weather. This year, the weather was the worst. And we’re expected to play? It’s not fair to us.”
Have to agree with that sentiment.
Here’s an idea for the NJSIAA. Make the starting date April 15 instead of April 1. Sure, it might extend the season into the middle of June, but who cares? At least the kids who play baseball and softball will get six weeks of decent weather instead of the bad weather they began with this year.
The temperatures are still in the 30s and we’re outside playing baseball and softball? We’re risking illness and injury to our young men and women. And why? Because some administrators want to start their summer vacation earlier? That’s just absurd.
Let’s see if we can get a groundswell to start the season April 15. Can’t hurt, right?…
Here’s to hoping that two of Hudson County’s greatest baseball coaches ever, namely Mike Hogan and Buddy Matthews, are recovering nicely so they can both return to their respective teams as soon as possible.
Hogan, the Hudson County Hall of Fame coach from Ferris, recently had surgery and said that he’s recovering fine. Matthews, who should be in the Hudson Hall of Fame, also had surgery and is itching to get back to his St. Anthony team shortly.
Between the two, they own nearly 1,000 baseball victories in their careers combined. Hogan is the only coach to win state championships at two schools (St. Anthony and Marist). Matthews was the long-time coach at Hoboken before retiring there three years ago, then became the athletic director and baseball coach at St. Anthony. Matthews led the Red Wings to five state sectional championships and three state title game appearances. The two are local and state legends and it wasn’t the same not having them in their respective third base coaching boxes to start the current season. So get well soon…
The NJIT men’s basketball team had a spectacular run in the College Insider.com Tournament, advancing all the way to the semifinals before losing to Northern Arizona last Tuesday night. One of the key players for the Highlanders is former St. Anthony standout Tim Coleman, who had 21 points in the Highlanders’ quarterfinal win over Canisius last Saturday night. Coleman is only a sophomore at NJIT, so his star is certainly on the rise. The Highlanders were the last college basketball team in New Jersey still playing Tuesday. It’s quite a turnaround for a program that once set the NCAA record for consecutive losses, dropping 51 in a row six years ago. Those days are definitely in the rear view mirror. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.