Spartans to face 2-A champion

The NCAA Basketball Tournament isn't the only noteworthy bracket this week. At least not for South Caldwell baseball fans.

The Spartans take the field in the first round of the Shelby Savings Bank Easter Tournament Monday, and their first-round match-up is an intriguing one. The defending 4-A state champs will face East Rutherford, a defending champion in its own right in the 2-A.

“This is two good programs, two champions, coming together,” South Caldwell coach Jeff Parham says. “It's going to be a battle. This is like a playoff game.”

South Caldwell will have some added motivation if it needs any - revenge. Last season, East Rutherford busted up the Spartans' attempt at a perfect regular season when the Cavaliers spoiled South's 18-0 mark with a 2-1 win. The game ended when Michael Milam smashed a walk-off home run off Spartan ace Madison Bumgarner in the bottom of the seventh inning. The blast earned East Rutherford the Shelby Savings Bank Tournament title.

Parham insists, however, that the 2008 Spartans aren't thinking about what happened last April

“That was last year, and this is this year,” he says. “These guys know what it's about. And Monday at 7 p.m., we're going to go out there and play this East Rutherford team.”

Both teams will be without significant firepower from a year ago. East Rutherford standpoint Ryan Leach (who signed with the University of North Carolina) and Bumgarner (who was drafted by Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants) are gone, but their old teams remain strong. South Caldwell sports an 8-1 overall record, 3-1 in the Northwestern 4-A conference. The Spartans have won two straight since their lone loss, a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Watauga.

Spartan ace Jimmy Messer (2-1) is expected to take the mound Monday.

East Rutherford (7-2 overall, 3-1 in Southwestern 2-A conference), meanwhile, retained top players Seth Baldwin, Cullen Park and Milam from last year's squad.

Baldwin (a UNC-Chapel Hill signee), the team's right fielder (and a pitcher) hit 13 home runs in 2007 and led the team with 47 RBIs. He hit for a .434 season average.

Park, the Cavaliers' No. 1 pitcher, is expected to take the mound Monday opposite Messer. At the plate, Park hit .420 last year with seven home runs and 30 RBIs.

Milam, the catcher on last year's outfit, has moved over to play center field in his senior campaign. Last year, he went .358 with six homers and 27 RBIs.

In addition to Leach, the Cavaliers lost Zeke Blanton to graduation. He also signed with UNC-Chapel Hill.

In other tournament action, West Caldwell competes in the Freedom Easter Tournament. The Warriors will face host Freedom Monday at 7:30 p.m.

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