A New Era Begins For Cape Tech Baseball

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The beginning of the regular season is a grand opportunity for a team in any given sport to have a fresh start, with a fresh sense of optimism, confidence and even a vision of lofty goals to be achieved over the next few months.
This sentiment particularly rings true when one considers the 2019 Cape May County Tech High School baseball program.
The Hawks are beginning a whole new era and it all starts at the top with first-year head coach Kyle Morinelli. Morinelli, a 2011 graduate of Middle Township High School takes over a squad that finished with a solid overall record of 12-11 and advanced to the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 1 Sectional Tournament before losing a one run game to Schalick with Jason Vilimas at the helm as the head coach last year.
Key returning student-athletes for the Hawks this spring include Mike Brown (senior, pitcher, infield, outfield), Zach Powers (senior, catcher), Sam Lynch (senior, first base), James Longstreet (junior, pitcher, third base, first base), Cooper Gehring (junior, outfield) and Aidan Hoffman (sophomore, short stop, third base).
Promising newcomers looking to positively impact the varsity lineup include Tyler Chiera (senior, outfield), Zack Kershaw (junior, outfield, pitcher), Anthony Paluch (junior, outfield, pitcher), Joel Sheptock (sophomore, pitcher, outfield), Billy Holly (sophomore, infield, pitcher), Nick Clemens (sophomore, second base, pitcher) and Ryan Couse (freshman, catcher).
 “My four seniors based off of experience [will be looked upon as leaders] and they are vocal,’’ Morinelli said. “I rely on them to back the culture us as coaches are placing on the program and continue it in the right direction. We have not named team captains yet, but overall the team is buying in to what we are doing together.’’
 The Hawks compete in the Cape Atlantic League United Division along with Buena, St. Joseph’s (Hammonton), Holy Spirit, Wildwood Catholic and Pleasantville. On April 2 they are scheduled to host Middle Township. They have a road challenge at Holy Spirit scheduled for April 9.
“[We want to] have a winning record in our Conference this season and qualify and win the first State playoff game in school history,’’ Morinelli said. “I view us as a team that will compete, we have a strong core and our pitchers are mainly juniors and sophomores with tremendous upside.
 “The team is just getting use to my style of coaching, so I view us putting it together as the season goes to make a strong playoff push. My coaching staff and I are working hard in changing the culture at Cape May Tech baseball. My assistants are Marc Szczur, Kenny Camp, Jason Godfrey and Warren Wade.’’