Baseball Finish

The Middlesex County College baseball squad has not lived up to the lofty expectations placed on them in the pre-season up to this point. After being ranked 15 nationally by NJCAA.org before the season began, the Colts now find themselves with a very 'average' 15-11 record after going 1-3 in two double-headers against second nationally ranked Gloucester County College and fifth nationally ranked Brookdale Community College respectively on Apr. 18 and 19. After being a chief contender for the Region 19 titles seemingly every season, the Colts in 2009 have not fulfilled the promise they began the season with in early March. After beginning the season with an unblemished 10-0, the Colts have since fizzled out, going just 5-10 during that stretch. With the seasons schedule nearly played out, time is running low on the Colts and every win coming down the stretch will be critical to the team's playoff aspirations. ""We had such high expectations coming into this season," said sophomore infielder Nick Arena, "We started out so well but then parts of our team started to fall apart, first it was hitting and now it's the pitching who isn't performing as well as they could be." "The way we're playing bothers me," said sophomore leadoff hitter Jason Mickley, "We have so much more talent than the way we are playing. At this point we have to finish out the year strong because we still have about six region games left." All it requires to make the playoffs is a record above the .500 mark. Much like a wild-card team in the Major League Baseball playoffs, regular season record means nothing once the playoffs begin as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays showed last season by making it to the World Series without winning their division. The playoffs are for the mentally tough and strong-willed teams, if and when the Colts make the playoffs, they cannot reflect on the regular season disappointments. "As long as we finish five hundred we can make the playoffs," said Mickley, "As long as we get in it means we just keep on playing and trying to win, from there anything can happen in the playoffs." Stud sophomore hurlers Julian Laguna and Ryan Curtis continue to dazzle hitters and keep them off balance with a 1.00 ERA and 2.73 ERA respectively. Laguna who has posted a 2-1 record and Curtis with a 5-2 mark have kept the Colts within striking distance in nearly every contest they have started. The offense that had been the achillies heel of the squad all year long is beginning to find its stride at the perfect time. "My job as a pitcher is to give us a chance to win every time I take the mound," said Curtis, "I feel like so far I've been doing that, as a pitcher though, you can only control so much." Mickley, the team's offensive spark plug, was batting .220 just two weeks ago, but since then has raised his average all the way up to a very respectable .293 mark, and it has shown in the team's performance at the plate. It is no secret for the Colts to perform well they need Mickley to be on base with regularity. "I've gone up to the plate more relaxed and confident," said Mickley, "I think I went on a six game multi-hit streak to raise my average. I know it's very important for the team that I get on base because it gets us all going, I just go up there and look for my pitch." In addition to Mickley, Arena has taken the lead claiming the highest batting average on the squad, hitting a stellar .403 on the season with one homerun to go along with 12 RBI's. Sophomore outfielder Bryan Elvina, who lost his team-high batting average lead to Arena, is batting .393, also with a homerun and a team-high 27 RBI's. Additionally for the Colts, freshman first baseman CJ Mooney has batted .375 on the season with 14 RBI. As the playoffs approach, the recent success of the offense must sustain consistency that they have struggled to find all season long in order to make a deep post season run. "If we piece everything together at once that we have had sporadically, we will be fine," said Curtis. Arena added, "It's very important that we finish out the year strong because we have to finish over .500 in either the conference or overall, there is no more room for losing."