Baseball Preview: New Chargers Coach Excited to Build Program

When Arthur Alessandroni was hired as the new head coach of the Timber Creek varsity baseball team this past winter, he immediately thought about building up the program to the heights others at the school have reached.

Championships have become the expectation for the football, boys’ soccer and track teams. The baseball team is not there yet, but the first-year head coach is hopeful that he can bring a winning tradition to the diamond.

“Program-wise, I want to get out into the community, go out to the middle school, meet the kids and coaches, and encourage them to play at the highest level,” he said. “At the Little League level, I intend to hold some camps here in the summer and really make Timber Creek go through the community right from T-ball through all the way up. I will have a lot more time to communicate with the community now that I have everything in place. I came on board a little late, but I am excited about the future of getting involved with the kids all the way from 6-7 years old and up.”

Alessandroni spent three years working with the program as an assistant coach and has also served as an assistant at Gloucester Catholic—a school known for its baseball. This is his first go-around as a head coach and he is embracing the challenge of building a winner at Timber Creek.

“A lot of the paperwork and organizational things are kind of new, but as far as baseball is concerned, there’s not a lot of change,” said Alessandroni. “We are down a program right now (no freshmen team) so practice-wise we have about 35 players in the program. We are hoping to get our third program back (next year).”

Last week, the Black Horse Pike Regional School District Board of Education approved the resumption of sports at the freshmen level so Alessandroni should get his wish. As for this year, he is hopeful that a large group of juniors, combined with a few senior standouts, will help the Chargers take the first step in building a winning tradition.

“There are about 12 juniors on varsity so this is their year to come together,” Alessandroni said. “They themselves have a plan for this year, but an even bigger plan for next year. What we want to do for this year is make sure that we come together as one group. We have a tough conference and tough division so we want to compete and be in every game."

At Highland, the focus will be on rebuilding after the Tartans graduated 12 seniors. After earning a No. 1 seed in the Group 3 playoffs each of the last two seasons, the bar has been raised at Highland. However, reaching that bar this season will be difficult as only four letter-winners return. Head coach DJ Gore will be counting on experienced pitchers Joey Sigismondi and Tyler Allen to keep the team in games until the offense comes around.

Despite the team’s overall lack of varsity experience, the players should be quite comfortable with each other. Gore said the team had a great turnout over the summer where it took on a schedule that featured 40 games. He is hoping the offseason work will pay off as the team tackles a brutal regular-season schedule. In addition to their conference games, the Tartans will take on schools with winning baseball traditions including Washington Township, Immaculata and West Windsor.

Triton is looking to build off of 4-14 season, but enters the season with a host of question marks. The Mustangs return six players from a year ago, but only three that logged heavy varsity innings. It may take some time for Triton to find its groove, but head coach Frank Marciano is confident in his players.

“We’d like to challenge in the conference, hopefully make the playoffs and make a run,” said Marciano. “We’ve got a lot of young guys on this team and guys who haven’t played varsity, so hopefully we can build and get some wins as the season goes through.”

Bellow is a look at how the local baseball teams stack up:

Highland

Coach: DJ Gore

Last year’s record: 16-7

Returning letterwinners: Joey Sigismondi (sr., SS/P); Tyler Allen (sr., 3B/P); Chris Giambi (sr., 2B); Justin Manyon (sr., C).

Promising newcomers: Frank Angeloni (jr.).

Outlook: After graduating 12 seniors it will be difficult for the Tartans to reach the same heights as the previous two seasons. However the team has some promising young talent that should keep it competitive.

Timber Creek

Coach: Arthur Alessandroni

Last year: 8-15

Returning letter winners: DJ Robinson (sr.) CF; Mike Stout (sr.) P; Tyler Rambo (sr.) SS/2B; Bobby Missovolous (jr.) P, SS; Brandon Cornelius (jr.) LF; Billy Burton (jr.) 2B. Steve Rodier (jr.) P, 1B, 3B; Kyle Taylor (jr.) P/1B.

Promising newcomers: Nick Harrison (jr.) C; Evan Holland (so.) OF; Danny Williams (so.) P, 3B.

Outlook: The Chargers may be a year away from making some real noise, but with a core of eight returning letter winners, the team should improve greatly on its eight-win season and challenge for a winning season.

Triton

Coach: Franz Marciano

Last year: 4-14

Returning letter winners: Nick Brocious (LF); Alex Barkasy (OF); Bick Concepcion (RF); Kevin Whisler (P); Art Flemming (SS); Joe Kelso (IF).

Promising newcomers: Eric Stone (RF); Andrew Shaw (P); Troy Gallagher (1B); Brett Horner (3B); Marco Martucci (2B/P); John DeLuca (C).

Outlook: The Mustangs only return three players that saw significant varsity playing time last year, but are still hoping to contend. Marciano believes a playoff spot is realistic if the team’s pitchers can step
up.