Guarino Expects Jaguars to Repeat As Class A South Champs
By Mike Ready
JACKSON – Although hit hard by graduation, the Jaguars still appear to be the team to beat again this season in the Class A South division.
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The Jaguars took their biggest hits at catcher, where they lost first team All-State and All-Shore catcher Matt Thaiss. Thaiss was a 32nd round selection of the Boston Red Sox in last year’s amateur draft, but will continue his career at the University of Virginia.
Also moving on was first team All-Shore shortstop Spencer Young - now the starting shortstop for Brookdale Community College - and pitchers Anthony Rocco and Chris Gehrsitz. Rocco was a second team All-County performer, named to the Coaches Class A South All-Division team and is currently pitching for Pace University, while Gehrsitz was third team All-Ocean County and is pitching for Ocean County College.
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The Jaguars won 23 games last season and were a perfect 14-0 in Class A South play. They were ranked second in the final Shore Conference poll behind No.1 ranked Toms River South, who they lost to in the finals of the Ocean County Tournament and again in the semifinals of the Shore Conference Tournament.
As the No.2 seed in the NJSIAA Group 4 playoffs, the Jaguars made a nice run into the semifinals before running into a buzz saw and getting shutout, 2-0, by Brick Memorial ace Brian Cottrell on four hits. Cottrell was third team All-State and a first team All-Shore pick after going 6-1 and striking out 81 batters.
Jackson does return first team All-Shore selection Matt Guarino, who will be counted on at the plate as well as on the mound. The first baseman/pitcher hit .411 with a 1.089 OPS including a .621 slugging percentage. He belted three home runs and drove in 31 runs with nine doubles, a triple and 20-runs scored. On the mound, he was 3-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 27.2 innings of work with a tidy 1.397 WHIP.
“We’re excited about this year,” Guarino said. “We feel like we have a good chance at winning the A South again this year. Our pitching and defense look to be our strong suit with our offense right behind it.”
Junior Brandon Janofsky will have some big shoes to fill at shortstop, and is also penciled in in the starting rotation. He will look to do what Guarino did last season and become a two-way player while hoping to break out at the plate. Last season he hit .250 with .617 OPS while driving in eight runs with two doubles, 13-runs scored and six stolen base
Sophomore Kyle Johnson returns at third base after a stellar freshman campaign where he batted .355 with a .812 OPS while driving in 10 runs with two doubles, 15 stolen bases and 27 runs scored. He possesses top of the order speed that sets the table.
The Jaguars also welcome back two starting outfielders in Joe DeMaio and Mike Petrizzo, as well as senior Nick Dabrio, who missed nearly all of 2013 with a back injury after getting his feet wet as a sophomore with significant playing time.
Petrizzo, who will also DH, had a solid 2013 season, hitting .345 with a .892 OPS with 14 RBI’s, two doubles, a triple and 10 runs scored, while DeMaio recorded a .295 batting average with a .691 OPS, 12 RBI’s, five stolen bases and 11 runs scored. Junior Matt Crispe will see plenty of action in the outfield as well after hitting .250 in limited playing time off the bench as a sophomore.
Probably the biggest area of concern for the Jaguars will be filling the huge hole behind the plate. Senior Nick Babin gets the unenviable task of replacing Thaiss after Thaiss held down the position for the last two years. Babin did stroke one home run last season but nobody is expecting him to put up Thaiss like numbers.
The Jaguars appear to have enough offensive firepower at other positions to allow Babin time to work with his pitchers and get comfortable behind the plate.
Senior Rick Aviles (4.42 ERA in 6.1 IP), junior right-hander Ryan Takacs and sophomore left-hander Chris Hawryluk will join the rotation with the starting order working itself out as the season progresses. The Jaguars had an entirely new pitching staff at the start of last season and the feeling is that this year’s staff has the potential to duplicate the success of last year’s staff.
All told, the Jaguars appear to have enough returning talent to overcome key losses and with the addition of some potentially dangerous new faces, they appear primed make another run at the division title and post-season tournaments.
The Jaguars, ranked third in preseason polls, got off to a good start with a 5-0 win over Brick Memorial in Tuesday’s opening day festivities.
Brandon Janofsky threw six scoreless innings and scattered six hits for his first career win as a Jaguar.
Nick Dabrio went 3-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base and scored two runs. Matt Crispe was 2-for-3 with an RBI while Kyle Johnson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
