TAPinto South Plainfield
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ -- Coming off a 22-win season, the South Plainfield baseball team will open its 2025 campaign at home against Edison on Tuesday, April 1.
And a lot of the same players who spearheaded the Tigers to the championship games of both the Greater Middlesex Conference and North 2, Group 3 tournaments are back this year.
Head coach Scott Gleichenhaus calls this "an experienced group of battle-tested ballplayers," and, while South Plainfield won the Red Division of the GMC, coming up short in both of the aforementioned title games will "serve as motivation to this team, who is determined to do whatever it takes for another opportunity to compete against conference and state powerhouses for another chance at gold."
The graduation of two all-conference players -- third baseman Jay Alvarez and Red Division Player of the Year shortstop Zach Robinson -- "leaves an offensive and defensive void that must be filled," the coach said.
Three seniors will head a deep pitching staff: Left-hander Kevin Penny and righties Mike Castagna and Ryan Balent. In 20 innings, Balent had the lowest earned-run average on the team. 0.70. Castagna posted a 1.60 ERA in 35 innings and struck out 27 batters. Penny was second on the staff in strikeouts with 36 in 39 2/3 innings.
Junior lefty Aiden McCarthy and junior righty Jayden Jimenez will swing between the starting rotation and relief. The Tigers possess a collection of other arms who will be called upon to get some tough outs throughout the course of the season. "All of the guys worked tirelessly in the off-season to improve their craft, so we are excited to see how these guys will attack opposing hitters through the course of the season," Gleichenhaus said.
Team captain Dan Kapsch, a senior who batted .376 last year, will move from second base to shortstop this season. Nick Irizarry, who batted .378 and paced the Tigers with 35 stolen bases, will move from left field to second base. Penny and McCarthy will split time at first base, while Chris Loniewski and Lorenzo Fuscoletti compete for time across the diamond at third base.
Steven Studlack, after being pressed into a starting role at catcher as a sophomore last year, will be back behind the plate this spring.
Junior center fielder Dominic Massaro already has 61 career hits. He batted .310 last season and is a tremendous fielder who also stole 13 bases. Dom covers as much ground as anyone in the state. Balent will play right field when he's not pitching, and junior Joe Stanzione will play left.
At bat, Gleichenhaus said, "(We'll) rely on the bats of Massaro, Irizarry and Kapsch to punish opposing pitching staffs. Kevin Penny and Aiden McCarthy are also good hitters who have experience facing the top pitchers on opposing teams, will now find themselves having plenty of opportunities to drive in runs, hitting behind the trio of Massaro, Irizarry and Kapsch."
The coach added, "Veterans like Studlack and Balent should also thrive when given the chance to hit with runners in scoring position. Both have the ability to work the counts in their favor and to put the ball in play. There are several other players who will be given opportunities to swing their way into the lineup. It’s a long season. Players need to compete every time they step foot on the diamond, whether it's at practice or during games, and make the most of their opportunities when called upon."
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 2025 BASEBALL ROSTER
Dan Kapsch (Sr. ss)Nick Irizarry (Sr. 2b)
Kevin Penny (Sr. LHP-1B-OF)
Ryan Balent (Sr., RF-RHP)
Mike Castagna (Sr. RHP)
Steve Studlack (Sr., C)
Jack Jones (Sr., RHP/OF/DH)
Lorenzo Fuscoletti (Sr., RHP-IF)
Anthony Tomei (Sr., DH/IF)
Dave Butrico (Sr., P/DH)
Matt Falcone (Sr., RHP)
Dominic Massaro (Jr.,Cf)
Aiden McCarthy (Jr.,LHP-1b)
Jayden Jimenez(Jr.,RHP)
Joe Stanzione (Jr.,LHP-Of)
Dylan Oller (Jr., U-DH)
Alex Pigna (Jr.,RHP-U)
Aidan Kaplan (Jr.,(RHP-OF)
Ed Budzinski (Jr., LHP-OF)
Chris Loniewski (So.,3B-C-Of)
Andrew Bena (Fr. LHP)
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