New faces, same expectations for CBA team

BY GEORGE ALBANO
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff CBA second baseman Dan Diaz makes an off-balance throw to first during the Colts' impressive season-opening win over Freehold Township in Middletown on Saturday. The Christian Brothers Academy baseball team returns only four varsity starters - three position players and a pitcher - from last year's outstanding team.

"So we're gonna be a little bit young this year," veteran head coach Marty Kenney said.

But in the next breath, Kenney says he expects this year's Colts to "do a lot of the same things" they did a year ago.

That's saying quite a bit when you consider CBA finished 27-4 in 2005, including a perfect 14-0 record en route to the Shore Conference A North Division championship. Shortly after that, they also won the Non-Public A state sectional title.

"We graduated eight seniors from that team, and all eight are playing college ball," Kenney pointed out. "They were largely responsible for our success last year."

So you would think the Colts would be hard-pressed to duplicate that kind of success this spring. But Kenney apparently isn't the only one who thinks they can. In the preseason poll, CBA was ranked No. 2 in the Shore Conference, and they did nothing to dispute that claim with an impressive 12-1 win Saturday over Freehold Township, the third-ranked team.

"I don't want to go by polls," Kenney, beginning his 33rd season, said, "but we did get off to a nice start beating the No. 3 team in the Shore Conference. I was surprised we won as easily as we did."

Speaking of surprises, Toms River East, the No. 1 ranked team in the Shore preseason poll, lost its season opener 8-0 to Brick High School. That should open the door for CBA to be the new No. 1 team. Not bad for a young team.

But Kenney has good reason to be optimistic. One of them is the return of senior outfielder Vin Avella, who batted .374 last year with five home runs and 36 RBIs.

"He had a good junior year and showed some pretty good power," Kenney said.

"He might do a little bit of pitching for us this year too."

Two more key returnees are twin brothers Jim and Dave Laufer.

"They're both pretty talented," Kenney said of the juniors. "Jim will primarily play first base, but he does a little bit of catching too. Dave will play center field, and he will also do quite a bit of pitching this year. He pitched a little in relief last year."

Both can hit the ball too. Dave Laufer batted .357 with a home run as a sophomore, while Jim Laufer hit .326 and tied Avella for the team lead in homers with five.

The fourth returnee could be one of the most important ones. Senior Jordan Warncke is the only pitcher back with extensive varsity experience, after going 4-1 last season with a 2.26 ERA.

Warncke will head a pitching staff Kenney says will be the key to the season.

"We're trying to replace 20 of our 27 wins from last year," he said. "We graduated two pitchers who went 20-2."

Kevin Lillis, now pitching at Rutgers, and Sean Driscoll, now hurling for Bucknell, both went 10-1 for the Colts last season.

"The whole key with us is trying to replace them," Kenney said. "We're probably not going to replace those 20 wins with two pitchers, but hopefully with three or four."

So far, Warncke and Dave Laufer are penciled in as two starters on the mound.

"I'm looking for them to replace Lillis and Driscoll if we're to have the kind of year we had before," Kenney said.

The CBA coach is also looking for junior Kyle Slate to contribute on the mound.

"He threw well in the preseason and he had a nice year on JV," Kenney noted. "So he will definitely get innings. I'm also hoping for Avella to throw. He throws hard, but right now he has a little bit of a sore arm, so we're shutting him down. We'll see how he feels next week."

Meanwhile, Kenney expects a pair of juniors, third baseman Mike Galeotafiore and catcher A.J. Szatowski, to be what he calls "impact players."

"We expect big things from Mike," he added. "He did a little pinch-hitting for us last year, but this year he'll hit in the middle of the lineup. He can hit for power we expect him to drive in runs. He can also hit for average.

"A.J. played a little bit last year, too. He's a good defensive catcher and he can hit for power. We also expect him to hit for average and to get on and steal bases. But what he brings to the team is he's an excellent defensive catcher with a strong arm."

Senior Ed Danielle will take over at shortstop after playing last season behind Pete Delleani, who's now at Wagner.

"Ed played some varsity, but he was mostly JV," Kenney said. "So this is his first opportunity to play full time."

Junior Dan Diaz, also up from the JV ranks, will be at second and "might also do a little bit of pitching," Kenney said. "He's a real hard worker and we expect him to hit .300. He's got a little bit of quickness, too. He'll hit either seven or eighth in the lineup."

Anthony Lombardi, a senior who saw some varsity action a year ago, will be in left field.

"He gives us a left-handed bat in the lineup, which is nice," Kenney said.

Junior Marc Sanservere will also play the outfield and right now is the Colts' leadoff batter.

"He's probably our quickest player," Kenney said. "He was also mainly JV last year, but he saw some action at the end of the season. I used him as a pinch runner in tournaments. This year I expect him to lead the team in stolen bases. So we'll look to run when he gets on base."

Senior Danny Morris, also up from JV, is also being counted on to help with the pitching.

"He'll probably get some innings," Kenney said. "So we have him, and Diaz can also throw. I hope to have five or six guys and find some people who can help us. Right now it's up in the air, but it's early. We won't really settle anything with our pitching until the first couple of weeks."

Kenney is certainly used to putting successful teams on the diamond every spring. In the past two decades, CBA has won 24 championships, including 10 division titles, four Monmouth County crowns, another four Shore Conference tournament titles, five sectionals, and a state championship in 1977.

And when Kenney looks at this year's team, he sees no reason why the 2006 Colts can't add a few more banners.

"I pretty much told the team I expect to do a lot of the same things we did last year," he says matter-of-factly. "Even though we're a little bit young, I think they're talented. If the work ethic is there, they can achieve a lot of the things last year's team did.

"That's why I was a little concerned in the preseason. I thought we were underachieving. I didn't know what to expect [Saturday], but if they play like that, game in and game out, we'll be fine. It all depends on the pitching. We'll hit, and we can play defense. It's just a question if our front-line pitching can beat some of the better teams.

"We'll be good," Kenney concluded, "but we have a chance to be really good."