By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
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AUDUBON — Aaron Pilla and the rest of the Audubon High baseball team walked off the field last June with a sour taste in their mouths after a heartbreaking loss to Schalick in the South Jersey Group 1 final.
The Green Wave didn’t get the desired result in their return to action in a season-opening, non-league setback against Clearview last Tuesday, but their first game back in their home field went a lot better.
Audubon cruised to a 15-1 victory over Camden Catholic in five innings in its home opener on Monday. Pilla had one of the best games of his career, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs.
“We work so hard to just try to put something together out here, especially since we lost a lot of guys from last year,” said Pilla, who only saw varsity action as a base runner last spring. “That team last year was really close, so it hurt. I didn’t play a lot, but it still hurt. This year we just want to get better. We just rebuild.”
Pilla, who also plays center field, was taken out of the lineup in the Green Wave’s game at Clearview after struggling in scrimmages. He refocused after a long week of practice and improved his play to earn the opportunity on Monday. The hits and RBIs were the first of his career.
“I was waiting for him to come out. We DH’d for him the other day because he was struggling in the scrimmages, but guess what? When you get a chance to break out, he broke out,” Audubon coach Rich Horan said. “So, guess who’s playing center field for a while?
“It’s great for the morale of the team. We’ve been working real hard and the dividends today paid off because we practiced before this game today and we got a lot of swings in,” the coach added. “They’re fun to be around because they work hard. And that’s half the war when you’re playing with young kids.”
With no outs and the bases loaded in the third inning, Pilla nearly hit a grand slam to center. Instead, it landed near the fence and he settled for a two-run triple to help the Green Wave (1-1, 0-0 Colonial Liberty) open the floodgates, as they raced out to a 13-1 lead courtesy of a eight-run outburst in the bottom of the third. They led 5-1 heading into that frame after scoring three times in the first and twice more in the second.
“I wasn’t in the lineup last game. I didn’t hang my head or anything, I just kept working in practice,” Pilla said. “With runners on, you have to put the ball in play. I just saw a fastball and turned on it.”
Sophomore Evan Paxos allowed just one hit and recorded five strikeouts in three innings of work. Chase Bozarth had four strikeouts and allowed no hits in two innings of relief for the Green Wave.
A yearly contender in the Group 1 playoffs, Audubon is eager to have another successful spring under Horan and Co.
“That’s the main idea,” the longtime coach said about once again making noise in the Colonial Conference and Group 1. “When we’re at home, we always want to play well and get after it. Forget about what happened the week before. That’s the way it is.”
Paxos, Jude Cotter and Cade Schofield each had a pair of RBIs for Audubon, and the Green Wave took advantage of six Camden Catholic walks while also pounding out four triples and two doubles.
WHAT’S NEXT: Audubon hosts West Deptford on Thursday at 3:45 p.m. Camden Catholic (0-2, 0-0 Olympic National) travels to Paul VI on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m.
