Sayreville H.S. baseball team off to a good start
The Sayreville War Memorial High School Junior American Legion team is off to a 7-3 start this spring in the Middlesex County American Legion League.

In 10 games over 64 innings, the Sayreville contingent has scored 87 runs, while allowing 54. Coach Tom D'Agostino's team is batting .350 and its pitchers have delivered an overall ERA of 3.09.

"The three keys are always timely hitting, timely pitching and timely defense, and we've had all three," said D'Agostino, a Bishop Ahr graduate who serves as a volunteer assistant on Sayreville coach Mike Novak's staff.

Four players are batting over the .400 mark led by clean-up hitter Zach Browning with a .486 average to go with 14 RBIs, which also tops on the team. Lefty first baseman/outfielder Tyler Strauss is not far behind with a .455 batting average and seven RBIs. Both players will be juniors in the fall.

Matt Rivera, an outfielder who will be a sophomore, is batting .423 with a homer and eight RBIs and senior first baseman Scott Morelli is batting .400 with seven RBIs and six runs scored. Both are lefties.

Shortstop Christian Campbell, a freshman, is tied for the team lead with 13 runs scored and is batting .364 with nine RBIs. Andrew Doerer, another lefty outfielder, is batting .357, while Brian Truchan, the starting varsity center fielder, is hitting .333 with 13 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. Shortstop Blake Cuomo is at .313 with 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored. Two seniors, utility man Jake Werb and infielder Matt Monte have played well as has junior catcher Chris Drabik.

Campbell leads the pitchers with a 2-1 mark and a 1.41 ERA in 17 innings of work. Cuomo is also 2-1. Sophomore Scott Griffin is 1-0 and has not permitted an earned run (he's also hitting .400 in limited at-bats). Jimmy Rosato, a junior, is 1-0, while Browning is 1-1. Junior Bill Zrebiec and sophomore Jimmy Kraivec also see time on the mound, as does junior Dan Seaman, who also played first base. Seaman is out of the lineup recovering from an injury.

D'Agostino, who previously coached Legion ball for five seasons at the Father & Son post in Edison, said that while his primary goal is helping develop players for the Sayreville varsity, he also has his sights set on qualifying for the American Legion District Tournament.

"We have a good team and they play well together," he said. "This is a good opportunity for all of them to show what they can do. Eight seniors graduated from our varsity and that means eight positions are up for grabs. These players are getting a jump-start on next season by showing what they can do now."

D'Agostino is assisted by Brandon Beard, Chris Virag and Bryan Elvina, the latter two played for the coach during his tenure at Father & Son.