The South Hunterdon Regional baseball team can look back on the 2022 campaign with a great deal of pride.
The Eagles’ season ended with a 2-1 loss to Florence in a New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association first-round game on Wednesday, June 1 at home.
Aaron Parisi had the lone RBI for South Hunterdon, and pitcher David Cooper fanned 10, gave up six hits and walked three.
They finished the year 11-10 overall, 6-4 in the Skyland Conference Mountain Division.
“It was a good season,” South Hunterdon coach Chris Skolka said. “We had a lot of quality wins against higher caliber competition.
“We beat Vorhees and they won the Group Two title. That was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of. Also we beat Delaware Valley for the first time in eight or nine years, Gill St. Bernard’s for the first time in about 10 years and Bernards for the first time in I don’t know how long.”
Cooper, a senior, was the ace of the pitching staff, ending the season with 62 strikeouts and a 3.60 ERA. He also helped out with his bat, finishing the season with 17 hits, five RBIs and a .321 batting average. He was a two-year varsity starter and will play at Norwich in the fall.
Senior Donald Gallagher led the team in almost every offensive category. The first baseman ended the season with 25 hits, 25 RBIs, nine doubles, two home runs and batted .385.
Senior Jackson Kilmer, the catcher, was a three-year starter and was second on the team in almost every offensive category. He had 23 hits, 16 RBIs, three doubles and batted .354 for the year.
“He was our rock,” Skolka said. “He’ll be hard to replace. He would have been a four-year starter if not for COVID and he did a great job for us. He was by far the best fielder.”
The Eagles had five seniors on this year’s team, including two three-year letter winners, so they have a number of players returning for next season, including three sophomores who started in the infield.
Freshman Nate Lawton ended the season 5-2 on the mound with two saves, 45 strikeouts and a 3.90 ERA.
“He’s going to be our guy going forward,” Skolka said. “He commands the strike zone well. He was on the mound when we beat Bernards and he was a lot in of our main games. The sky is the limit for him over the next few years.
“We’ll miss our seniors, but the future is bright. As long as we keep our competitive spirit, I think we’ll reload pretty well.”
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