Mater Dei Prep Baseball Having success in Transitional Year By John Sorce

MIDDLETOWN – Despite losing key contributors from last year’s squad, the Mater Dei Prep baseball team is defying expectations. The Seraphs are 9-5 overall and 8-3 in league play, good for third place in B Central. 

“We lost a lot of kids from last year, so I thought we’d be around a .500 team,” said Mater Dei head coach Pat Riddel, who is in his 14th year at the helm. “We started 1-3 and we kind of turned it around. We added a new kid, Brandon Sansone from Middletown North, and that kind of added a new dimension attitude-wise for us in a very positive way. The kids picked it up and we’ve been 8-2 since the 1-3 start. We’ve been playing better defense and I’ve gotten better pitching than I thought I might get, so that’s been big as well.” 

Sansone, a junior third baseman and pitcher, has come over and made an immediate impact for the Seraphs, hitting nearly .400 and leading the team with seven walks at the plate and striking out 21 batters in 16 innings pitched on the mound. Also a key part of the Mater Dei pitching staff is senior Greg Bender, who has an ERA of 3.23 and is 2-1 on the season. He also leads the team in hitting with a .667 average (10-for-15). 

“Greg has been doing fantastic for us on the mound,” Riddel said. “He changes his speeds and his arm angle, which really keeps people off balance. He threw a complete game against Point Beach and threw six strong innings the first time against St. Rose when we lost, 4-2. They got four two-out runs off him in one inning, and that was all they got off him. He’s been a pleasant surprise.” 

Sean Turner has taken big strides between his freshman and sophomore seasons. The Seraphs shortstop is hitting .385 with a team-leading six doubles and is 2-0 as a pitcher. Senior outfielders Joe Profaci and Ryan Turner have also been key players for Mater Dei. Profaci is hitting over .360 and Turner is hitting .476 with eight RBI. 

“Those guys will be sorely missed after this year because they play great in the outfield and they are great bats in the lineup,” Riddel said. 

With a lot of experience coming off the team through graduation, it was up to some players to step up and fill bigger roles this season. As the season has gone along, more players have stepped up.

“A lot of these guys had experience last year, but they weren’t key players,” Riddel said. “They were bottom-of-the-order guys like Mike Dunne, my catcher, was a .230 hitter last year. He’s made that adjustment this year (hitting .360) and he’s swinging the bat really good for us right now. Bender didn’t have the best year on the mound last year and he’s made adjustments. Profaci and Ryan Turner were solid for us last year, and Sean Turner made that adjustment from his freshman to sophomore year and I think if most teams watched him play, they wouldn’t think he’s only a sophomore.

“We had some guys who really struggled at the plate last year and we lost a couple bats, but they’ve been able to fill that spot. Thomas Olausen didn’t play last year because he wanted to focus on playing football, but he came back this year and is hitting cleanup for us and playing a terrific first base. Some of our guys grew up a bit, which was nice to see.”

Being one of the smaller schools in the Shore Conference, Riddel knows that competing in the Shore Conference can be difficult. But they are sitting in a position where they will qualify for the postseason, and anything can happen from there. 

“We have a lot of hope right now,” Riddel said. “We have a lot of competitive games coming up with Point Beach, Monmouth Regional who is a top 10 team, Pinelands who has two really good arms, and Manasquan. I try to set our schedule up so we have competitive games leading into the tournament so that we are going into it ready to fire as best as we can. I’d love to get one or two wins in the states and a win in the Shore Conference would be awesome.”