By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
SEWELL — Before Cole Urban even stepped on the mound Monday, his Clearview Regional High Pioneers already held a four-run lead.
And he just had a feeling that it was going to be a smooth-sailing type of day.
Behind a big first inning at the plate and an impressive pitching performance from the junior throughout, No. 6 Clearview cruised to a 6-0 shutout over Gloucester County Institute of Technology in a Tri-County Conference Royal Division matchup.
“Since the warmups even, I felt amazing, I felt great. Especially after the 4-0 lead, I had to pitch with the lead and get the job done,” said Urban, who recorded seven strikeouts and scattered two hits in six-plus innings. “I have all the trust in my team. They always give me run support no matter what, and my confidence just skyrocketed after that.”
The Pioneers were able to get off to a hot start in the opening inning, mixing three walks with a single and a sacrifice fly to score their first two runs before the game’s first out. Ean Marcussen doubled on a fly ball to center field to drive two runs home for a 4-0 lead that the Pioneers held onto until the rest of the way.
“This is a huge win, because we only have two losses on the season, and these guys were one of them. This just shows that we can come back and win anything,” said Marcussen, also a junior. “It’s just about getting started off early. You have a great pitcher on the mound that’s going to pitch his butt off. You have to be there for him and hit the ball, that’s it.”
GCIT (7-6, 2-4 Tri-County Royal) upset Clearview, 5-4, back on April 1. Urban struggled on the mound in that contest, recording just one strikeout and allowing five hits. He was much more settled this time around.
“Cole has been phenomenal,” Clearview skipper Nick Core said. “He had a rough first outing, actually against (GCIT), but after that he’s now at 16 straight scoreless innings. He’s pitching with a lot of confidence and filling up the strike zone.”
Urban and Marcussen make up just two members of a strong junior class and underclassmen group as a whole. A young lineup so strong that while most schools opt to not play a game during senior trip, Core didn’t hesitate to remain in the Coaches vs. Cancer showcase tournament on Saturday when the Pioneers (10-2, 4-2 Tri-County Royal) earned a huge 5-1 triumph over Delsea Regional. In that game, sophomore pitcher Josh Yurgin went the distance with 14 strikeouts.
“Saturday was a huge win with the seniors on senior trip. The young guys played really well,” Core said. “It was the Coaches vs. Cancer event (in Margate), so I didn’t want to back out of it and lose our spot for the following year. It was a good opportunity for some of our young guys to get after it and see what we have to look forward to next year.
“Ean is a strong kid. He has that country strength in him,” Core added. “They don’t make kids like him too much anymore. When he gets hold of it, he can really swing it. He has really worked on his approach and he’s taking quality swings.”
Said Marcussen, “we had 30 freshmen try out when I was a freshman, and most of those kids have been here ever since.”
Exactly how special is this junior class?
“It’s special,” Urban continued. “We’ve been friends, no joke, since we were in preschool. Everyday hanging out, every weekend. This organization doesn’t just stop at the seniors, it doesn’t stop at all. We’re all basically a family.”
Clearview improved to 10-2, earning its fifth straight victory with the triumph. The Pioneers are the current No. 3 seed in the South Jersey Group 3 power-point standings and expect to be a strong contender in the section come state playoff time.
“We have a good group. We were looking forward to this year two years ago,” Core said. “We knew this would be a really good group, really good kids, really good baseball players. If we get hot and play our best baseball at the end of the year, we definitely have a shot.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Clearview hosts Schalick on Thursday at 4 p.m. Schalick takes on Paul VI on Saturday at 10 a.m. in West Deptford.
