Back to School

After the weather wiped out our annual Memorial Day game in Newtown, the Neshanock were glad to get back on the field on Friday evening. To say we enjoyed much nicer conditions on our third visit to the Hun School in Princeton is to put it mildly.  Pristine is the only word to describe both the weather and the playing field (some might prefer splendiferous, but we'll go with pristine). The prior two visits were part of the school's Next Term program, specifically a class entitled "Baseball More than a Pastime," taught by Bart Bronk, the Head of School.  The class wasn't held this year, but the Neshanock were invited back to play a game with the Hun varsity baseball team.  Considering the team won the State Prep Group A championship it was no small challenge. 

Box Score of a September 1, 1858 game between two private schools in Bloomfield, NJ - All remaining photos by Mark Granieri

Perhaps the most surprising part of the evening was how close the game was for the first three innings.  After the Neshanock tallied once in the top of the first, Hun matched it in their first opportunity at the striker's line.  The next two innings were scoreless due to solid pitching and defense on both sides.  After that however, Hun took over, scoring fourteen runs over the next three innings in route to a dominant 15-2 win.  Although not quite splendiferous, it was an enjoyable evening playing a game with some fine young men  

Not even the coin toss went Flemington's way 

While not many Neshanock runners crossed home plate, Jim "Jersey" Nunn did have three hits, missing a clear score only because he was put out once on the bases.  Sam "Ewing" Ricco, Jeff "Duke" Schneider and Rene "Mango" Marrero had hits two apiece.  "Mango" also contributed an impressive play on defense, luring an unsuspecting Hun runner into an easy out at third.  One negative note was an injury suffered by Ken "Tumbles" Mandel while hustling back to third.  His many fans will be pleased to know his finger wasn't broken or dislocated and he plans to return no later than the June 27 game in Princeton.  Charlie Hoepfner once again helped out the Neshanock playing solid outfield defense and getting a hit.  

Game action at the Hun School's pristine field

Charlie Hoepfner waits his turn at the striker's line

The old and the new of New Jersey prep school baseball was on display Friday night.  The new was obvious - the Hun varsity baseball team - young men all still in their teens.  Also new, or at least modern, was the equipment and the playing field itself.  But playing a game by 1864 rules was also a reminder that prep school baseball in New Jersey goes back to the earliest days of the organized game.  Almost a decade before the original Neshanock were formed in 1866, two prep schools in Bloomfield played a best of three series.  To my knowledge those 1858 games are still the earliest known instances of inter-scholastic baseball in the United States.  Playing by 1864 rules gave the Hun players a small taste of baseball history and, I hope, a sense of how they continue the long New Jersey tradition of prep school baseball.