High School Top Performer - Week 8: Mark Tomei (baseball), South Plainfield

Mark Tomei of South Plainfield is The Star-Ledger's top performer for baseball this week. (William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

High School Top Performer - Week 8: Mark Tomei (baseball), South Plainfield

Published: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 12:01 AM
By Josh Rosenfeld/For The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger

MARK TOMEI, SOUTH PLAINFIELD
Junior outfielder, 5-9, 185 pounds

Just the stats: The leadoff hitter, who batted ninth last season as a sophomore, hit his seventh home run of the season in South Plainfield's 7-1, opening-round victory in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 playoffs on Monday, its ninth consecutive victory. Prior to that, on Saturday he went 7-for-9 with five doubles as South Plainfield won a Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament first-round game against J.P. Stevens and then defeated Toms River South, ranked No. 9 in The Star-Ledger Top 20 at the time, in a regular-season contest. For the season, Tomei is batting an even .500 with 48 hits in 96 at-bats, 17 doubles, four triples and seven RBI. He has a .543 on base percentage and .979 slugging for a 1.522 OPS.

Thoughts on the season: "I knew we probably weren't going to be as good as we were last year (25-3), but I knew we were going to stick in there. We have a nine-game winning streak and we're going to just keep cruising. Batting leadoff I didn’t think I was going to get that many hits. My main focus is hitting and how the team is doing."

Coach's comments: "He plays hard every pitch. He will get very upset when he does not get a hit, and will play that way the entire game. He does not care who is on the mound, what team is on the other side. He's able to hit the ball hard somewhere, he doesn't swing at bad balls and he's going to work the count until he gets his pitches. We feel very comfortable when he's at the plate." -- South Plainfield coach Anthony Guida.

Favorite athlete: Jets linebacker Bart Scott. "My uncle does landscaping and worked on his house and Bart Scott invited me over to his house a couple of weeks ago to talk about baseball and other things. He's real respectable, one of the funniest guys I know."

Favorite team: Yankees.

Favorite TV show: Comedy Central's Tosh.O. "It's just funny, it makes me laugh a lot."

Favorite movie: "Clash of the Titans." "I like action movies and that movie's just all-around good."

Favorite actor: Will Ferrell.

Favorite type of music: "Whatever comes on. I like any kind of music, it doesn’t really matter."

Favorite musical artist: Lil Wayne.

Last song I played on my iPod: "John," by Lil Wayne.

Favorite food: Pasta, elbow macaroni.

Favorite school subject: History. "It's just interesting to learn about all of the things that happened back in the day."

Favorite teacher: Mr. Holt, history. "He's just one of those teachers that's laid back but gets the work done."

Pregame rituals: "Usually before a game I’ll zone out and think about everything that's going to happen during the game."

Super power: "To be the strongest person in the world, like the Incredible Hulk."

Dinner for 3: "My grandfather on my father's side, who died the week before I was born, Bart Scott and Derek Jeter."

College plans: "I'm just waiting for what this season brings, see what colleges call me. I know there's a lot of pro and college scouts coming to our games."

In 10 years: "Hopefully I will fulfill my dream of being a professional baseball player."

http://www.nj.com/hs-athlete-of-the-week/index.ssf/2011/05/top_performer_-_week_9_mark_tomei_baseball_south_plainfield.html