Edison baseball suffers two consecutive losses to end season
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
It was a rough two days that marked the end of an otherwise great season for the Edison High School baseball team. Last week's 2-1 loss to Phillipsburg in the NJSIAA North 2 Group IV Tournament was followed by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Old Bridge in the GMC Tournament semifinals.

"This was a senior-laden team we had this year," Edison head coach Vinny Abene said. "Thirteen of the 16 guys on the varsity roster are seniors, and they will be sorely missed come next spring. These guys did a lot for our program, and many of them played a big part in winning a sectional title last year."

Senior Shawn Renner pitched his final game for the Eagles in last week's loss to Phillipsburg. Renner allowed just one earned run and struck out seven in the loss. He finished his senior season 8-2 on the hill.

"Shawn was the tough-luck loser in that game," Abene said. "Phillipsburg was able to push the winning run across in the eighth on a squeeze play. You have to give them credit. They pitched well."

In its loss to Old Bridge the following day, Edison faced more outstanding pitching in the form of star hurler Mike Augliera.

"In both losses, we struck out 12 times in each game," Abene said. "We faced some great pitching and had some good at-bats, but just couldn't string things together. Both teams also got timely defense and timely hits."

Edison junior Jared Shukis was the losing pitcher in the Old Bridge game. Shukis dueled right with Augliera, but a wild pitch and a passed ball in the sixth inning proved too costly for the Eagles to recover from.

"Three of our five losses this year were to Old Bridge," Abene said. "Two losses were to Augliera. They are a good team with a great pitcher, and our kids battled. It was devastating to lose two close ones to finish the season, but the seniors handled everything like men, and we're very proud of them."

Along with Renner, Edison will certainly miss the services of three-year starter Dylan Laguna. A staple atop the batting order and in the Eagle outfield, Laguna, with his leadership and talent, will be tough to replace.

Middle infielders Matt Rohal, Bob Stalling and Dan Shymanski will also graduate this spring along with outfielder Steve Loriot and catchers David Goodman and Nick Errico.

Along with a talented crop of younger players expected to move up to the varsity ranks next spring, Edison is expected to lean heavily on Shukis, Steve Nappe and Andrew Rivera next season. Shukis drove in the only run in the loss to Phillipsburg with an RBIdouble while Nappe scored the lone run for the Eagles against Old Bridge.

"Our sub-varsity programs have been winning, and the coaching staff always does a nice job getting players ready to play varsity baseball. We'll miss this year's seniors, but things look good for the future of the program."