Memorial baseball looks to forget all about 2019

 Junior Ernesto Polanco is perhaps the best two-way player (pitcher and hitter) in Hudson County

Senior first baseman/pitcher Tomas Martinez will be one of Memorial's top pitchers

It’s safe to say that everyone involved with the Memorial High School baseball program would want to forget that 2019 ever existed.

Just take the entire year and rip the pages right out of the calendar. Take the school yearbook and destroy any and all remnants of the usually powerful baseball campaign. For all intents and purposes, try to pretend that the year just didn’t take place in the first place.

You see, an unfortunate and terrible hazing incident involving several of the Memorial baseball players took place right before the 2019 season was about to begin.

The extent, the seriousness of the incident has never been reported. Like any other rumor that gets circulated around Hudson County, about 75 percent of the rumors were indeed true. The bottom line is this: A younger player was indeed hazed by some older players. The coaching staff was not present at Miller Stadium when the incident took place.

The West New York Board of Education decided to suspend head coach Danny Marroquin and his assistants for the entire season. Some of the players were removed from the roster for the entire year, while others served sporadic suspensions throughout the course of the campaign. Ready for some incredible numbers? A total of 20 different players manned a position for the Tigers last year, while 12 different players took the mound. For high school baseball, those numbers are astronomical.

The end result was a completely uncharacteristic 9-13 record for the Tigers. It was supposed to be a year of high promise, with the Tigers challenging eventual county champion Bayonne and runner-up St. Peter’s Prep for top honors. It turned out to be a season of ruin – with the hope that a lesson was learned by everyone involved.

“I feel really bad for our kids, especially our seniors,” Marroquin said. “I thought we were going to have a good year, but then the incident happened and it killed our year. It’s just a thing that went bad for us. We could have challenged for a county championship.”

The nightmare of 2019 was put in the rearview mirror. Marroquin was brought back to maintain his position as head coach. He didn’t deserve to lose his job over the ridiculously stupid incident. The players are the ones who pulled the prank – and they ultimately paid the price by having an embarrassing lost season.

Now, the Tigers were poised to begin their 2020 season this weekend with a game against Elizabeth – a tough way to kick off the new season – and bam! The coronavirus has put a stop on all athletic activities in the state, so the Tigers have to wait even longer to wash the bad taste of last season out of their mouths.

Whenever the season begins, the Tigers have to be considered one of the favorites to contend for the county tourney title, just because of the amount of talented depth they possess on the bump.

“We have a lot of arms,” Marroquin said. “We were ready to go. We had six practices and had our scrimmages lined up. Whatever kind of season we will have, we will be ready.”

Leading the way on the deep pitching staff are two hurlers who earned All-Hudson County honors last year as infielders.

Junior right-hander Ernesto Polanco is the Tigers’ ace. Polanco pitched in a ton of hard luck last year and lost a slew of games because of poor defense behind him. But Polanco has a litany of excellent pitches.

“He’s going to be our No. 1,” Marroquin said. “He can throw a fastball in the high 80s and has a good change-up and good curve. He’s going to be very good. He’s a good pitcher.”

The other is senior Tomas Martinez, who earned All-County honors as a first baseman last year.

“He wasn’t used much as a pitcher, but he can throw,” Polanco said of the lefty-throwing Martinez.

Sophomore left-hander Sebastian Martinez (no relation to Tomas) is a pitcher with a lot of potential.

“He has a lot of promise,” Marroquin said of Martinez. “He’s going to see some big innings this year. We’ll see what he has.”

Sophomore Samir Lopez was tossed into the fire right away last season and will grab the ball again this year.

“He pitched a lot of big innings for us last year,” Marroquin said. “He’s a bulldog. He takes the ball, goes out to the mound and throws strikes. He’s not going to overpower you, but he gets outs.”

Junior righty Edison Gonzalez “has the potential to throw really hard,” according to Marroquin.

Junior righty Juan Alberto has joined the program from his native Dominican Republic. “I think he’s going to do well,” Marroquin said of Alberto.

Without question, that’s a deep pitching staff.

The main catcher is returning starter Ricky Tuero. Tuero, obviously a righty, is also a pitcher.

“He’s a good defensive catcher,” Marroquin said of Tuero. “We will see who we’ll have out there on the mound.”

If and when Tuero throws, then senior Emanuel Zapata will step in and do the catching. Zapata will also see time at first base, in the outfield and designated hitter.

“Emanuel will be in the lineup somewhere,” Marroquin said.

First base will be manned mostly by Martinez, who batted .320 with two homers and 13 RBI last year.

“He has some good pop in his bat,” Marroquin said. “We’re expecting big things from him.”

The second baseman will be Samir Lopez, with Polanco moving over from second to play shortstop. Polanco had an unconscious season a year ago, batting an astounding .579 with six doubles, three triples, one homer and 14 RBI. Polanco has already drawn interest from 2016 NCAA Division 1 World Series champion Coastal Carolina.

Third base is owned by junior Yasiel Alvarez, with Tuero seeing some time there.

The left fielder will be Edison Gonzalez, with his brother Anderson Gonzalez in center field and junior Saul Rosado in right field. Zapata will also see time in right.

Sophomore Sairon Reyes is a versatile player who can catch and play third.

“I think this is the year that he comes along and plays a big role,” Marroquin said.

Sophomore Jesus Santos is a pitcher/outfielder.

“He still may do something special,” Marroquin said of Santos.

Senior Hunter Sauerborn, the West New York Little League darling a few years ago, can play second base or the outfield.

“He plays all over the place,” Marroquin said. “He took a hiatus from baseball and ran track. Now he wants to come back and play baseball one last time.”

Needless to say, if there is a season this year, then Marroquin is ready for a total transformation.

“I think people may think we’re down because of what happened last year,” Marroquin said. “But that is not the case. Our goal is to win the county championship and make some noise in the state tournament.”

Sounds like business as usual for the Memorial baseball program.