Baseball Falls to Roselle Catholic in Season Opener

CRANFORD—It was a beautiful spring day when the Summit High School boys baseball team took on the powerful Roselle Catholic Lions in the opening game of the season.  The Lions would take the game, 8-1, mostly because they simply outhit the Hilltoppers.

"They outhit us definitely," said head coach Kevin Zaleski. "We gave them a game though.  It was 3-1 through the fourth inning and then they got another one and just pulled away.  But we kept with them, we just couldn't score."

This game, the first of the season, was more of a diagnostic game for the Hilltoppers.  Though the team is mostly seniors, many of them did not see much playing time last season.  And despite the score, there were many high points.

Nick Oristanio made the right fielder's job look easy for the first couple innings.  Gradually more hits pulled toward center field and Kenny Miller was there.

"Kenny Miller had a great game in center field," Zaleski said. "Him and Nick Oristanio did their jobs in the outfield."

Oristanio also performed well at bat.  He had a sensational double, and put as much power behind the bat as any of the Lions.  Some well-played defense on the Lions part kept him from scoring.  It was the starting pitcher, Jay Crisfield, who secured the lone RBI when he batted in captain Ben Roessle off of a line drive double in the second inning.

Crisfield took the mound to start the game.  Pat Birosak came in as the relief pitcher at the end and played well, though neither was able to hold off the Lions.

Overall, Zaleski was pleased with the effort though.

"We'll come back out on Saturday and get another chance," Zaleski said. "We win that one, we're back to .500.  That's the great thing about baseball.  We kept fighting all throughout the game.  We had runners on in the sixth and seventh.  We just couldn't get that hit."

Individual performances look promising.

"Oristanio and Miller look good," Zaleski said. "Pitching came through toward the end, too.  And there was good relief.  Crisfield and Birosak worked well together."

The Hilltoppers next take on Mountain Lakes High School on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Mountain Lakes.