Hoboken ready to build on spectacular baseball season

Hoboken senior left-handed pitcher Yugal Pattni

There’s a new man in charge of the Hoboken High School baseball program. After 10 years, former head coach Jack Baker has become an elementary school administrator, so Baker had to forego his position as the lead man with the Redwings.

Enter Chris Williams. The former assistant coach to Baker for the past five seasons, Williams emerged from a strong contingent of capable candidates, some with solid head coaching experience. But the powers-that-be (included of which is athletic director Derek England) decided that Williams was the right man for the position.

“I felt like I was in line to get the job,” Williams said. “I was Jack’s assistant for five seasons and I’m fully aware of Hoboken’s fine history in baseball. I felt that giving me this opportunity was a big vote of confidence.”

It also helped that the Redwings posted an impressive 18-2 record last season, including a stellar undefeated 12-0 mark in the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League-Blue Division race, culminating in the league championship.

“I felt like I was a big part of the success last year,” Williams said. “But we lost eight guys to graduation. We do have some young players who are ready to step in and play big roles and grow in those roles.”

Williams had six days of practice last month before the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) put a hold on anything and everything involved with high school activities.

“I saw some things that really stood out in my mind,” Williams said. “I was pleasantly surprised by the younger guys. We have a couple of guys who came in and played some last year. I saw some things in practice that we can definitely build on. Some of the younger guys were really impressive. I think it all depends on how they handle the bulk of the work.”

One pitcher that Williams will not have to worry about is senior left-hander Yugal Pattni. The talented Pattni earned All-Hudson County honors last year, posting a 7-2 record with a 0.54 earned run average with 29 strikeouts in 48 innings pitched. Pattni had only one questionable start all season and that was an outing against Ferris where Pattni surrendered four earned runs. The rest of the season, Pattni was lights out.

“He’s a great kid, an awesome kid,” Williams said. “He’s ready to take on the leadership role with this team. He is sneaky fast. His fastball has a lot of natural movement. He’s not afraid to throw the ball and challenge hitters. He’s a talented kid.”

Pattni is also no slouch at the plate. He hit .367 with 18 RBI last season.

Sophomore right-hander Ryan Burke also returns. Burke got a little taste of varsity ball last year as a freshman.

“He’s a tall kid,” Williams said. “He grew a couple of inches over the summer. He made a big jump with his velocity. We’re going to rely on him a lot. He’s going to win some games for us this year. His biggest asset is his increased velocity.”

Junior righty Matthew Harasek is another key performer on the Redwings’ hill.

“He has a very live arm,” Williams said. “He was a little wild, but we’ve seemed to calm him down. I’m looking for him to get some big innings for us this season.”

Junior Jae Coto is a right-handed hurler who has transferred to his native Hoboken from Hudson Catholic. Coto should be able to pitch right away for the Redwings.

“He’s another kid who possesses a live arm,” Williams said.

Sophomore lefty Hector Vega, sophomore righty Kyle Venezuela and promising freshman Jonathan Salinas will all get ample opportunity to toe the rubber for the Redwings. Venezuela is a student at High Tech. Salinas has all the tools to be “a great one,” according to Williams.

Needless to say, that’s a deep pitching staff, headlined by one of the very best – if not THE best – in Hudson County. It’s always promising when you have a surefire stud getting the ball every fifth day.

The catcher is senior Danny Henson, who had been nothing short of brilliant in his three prior years with the Redwing varsity.

“Danny’s been our MVP,” Williams said. “He’s made our job as coaches so much easier. He has consistent energy and he’s there every day to lead the guys on defense. I don’t know what we would do without him.”

Henson added 15 RBI last season, but he has no peers in the county defensively.

Junior Anson Maldonado has been moved from right field to play first base. Maldonado had 12 RBI in spot starts and pinch-hitting roles last season. Burke will also see time at first.

Freshman Mike D’Antonio has been one of the big surprises that Williams talked about. If the season started today, D’Antonio would be the starting second baseman, nudging out a slew of others to get the nod.

“He’s a scrappy little guy,” Williams said of D’Antonio. “He’s been very good. He has a very strong arm.”

Coto will play the majority of time at shortstop, but sophomore Erik Carratini will look to get some time there. Carratini also plays third, with junior Paul Lisa in the mix at the hot corner.

Salinas will get the bulk of the playing time in left field. Pattni will play center field, which he does very well when he’s not on the mound. Harasak will also get some time in center as well as right field.

Senior Jacob Jarret will see time at designated hitter as well as the back-up to Henson at catcher.

Williams was raring to go, but then the coronavirus pandemic put the season on hold for now.

“I was super excited,” Williams said about getting his head coaching career going. “When this (the virus outbreak) all went down, I said, ‘Oh, great.’ But then I became focused on getting back out there. We want to continue the success we had last year.”