THE SEASON

Second baseman Gerard Ortepio makes another good play        "It's a good day to swing away," coaxes Coach Martin as our bus pulls up to the grassy expanse of Montgomery High School's new baseball stadium on a clear windy day in late May. "It's blowing out to left center," notes first baseman Mark Geisslinger after licking his finger and holding it up to the wind. "The righties will have a field day!"      After four wins in a row our confidence was growing as we faced the wealthy township bordering Princeton. A blue collar team like Bound Brook relished the chance to take the rich kids down a notch or two.       The team bus was heading south on Route 206 when manager Arnie Martin realized our number one fan Mr. Matthews was not behind us. He called for the driver to pull into an old country store and ran in, emerging a minute later with a huge grin and a jumbo pack of Big Red chewing gum. The baseball gods had started to favor the...

  Shortstop Veronica Gumerlock takes a pitch      "Tony!" squeals black-haired and tube-topped sophomore Patti Stine from the football bleachers along left field after our third baseman makes a diving catch and then leaps up to jam the tagging-up runner in the chest. "You saved my ass on that one," Sean Doremus grins as he snags Izzo's toss and steps back to the mound, a one-run lead preserved by the solo double play. "Finish 'em off, Sean," trills beautiful junior and future actress Heidi Bohay from behind our happy-go-lucky scorekeeper Sharon Barber as the next Watchung batter steps to the plate in the top of the fifth inning.      It was Sean's first start since a rotator cuff strain, and the rising heat of early June had loosened him up over the first four innings of the Somerset County championship game.  We'd already knocked off longtime rival Somerville, Group 3 Bridgewater East, and highly ranked Immaculata to get to the final.  Th...

Player-coach Tom Moriau       “Listen up,” booms Coach Martin wobbling down the center aisle of the Romano’s school bus heading east on Route 22. “I’ve known you guys since JV and you don’t need me calling the shots.” “Ye-goints, Arnie’s losing it,” whispers left fielder Glen Gulyas from the back bench to titters from others slouching nearby in various stages of pre-game dress. “Hey, no more back seat driver,” our manager continues, laughing along with the team as we approach the Roselle Park exit. “You have the experience to bunt or swing away, make plays in the field, steal or hold a base, and throw your best pitches.”      On the day before this crucial road game against last year’s conference champion there was a track meet at LaMonte Field. Our previous manager Doug DeGhetto would have insisted on playing baseball in the middle of the meet. Coach Martin instead caught catcher Matt Vischetti in the hallway by our lockers and called for practice at Memor...

  Starting pitchers Richard Jeskie and Sean Doremus      “Time to turn it over, Sean?” appeases Coach Martin holding out his palm for the ball with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh inning at the Middlesex field. “My arm’s got one more out in it!” exclaims our left-handed starter brushing blond locks under his white mesh cap with red brim and front panel. “Sammy’s ready when you are,” proclaims our manager skipping over the right field foul line on his way back to the bench.     Long hair and cigarettes were the order of the day for rebellious athletes in the post-Vietnam period of the middle 1970s. The time when jocks played sports and freaks played pinball was morphing into a new and better era. Our two starting pitchers, senior Richard Jeskie and junior Sean Doremus, were good at letting that freak flag fly both off and on the field.      Most of early April had been rained out so the late month brought bunches of games each ...