By Andy Loigu

A pair of Warren Hills graduates, Madey Smith and Anthony Veneziano, enjoyed Hall of Fame worthy Blue Streaks careers but have not rested on their high school laurels. Seeking greater challenges at the next level, they are competing and winning at the highest rung of college sports, Division I, Smith at Penn State and Veneziano at Coastal Carolina. Both are in their junior seasons.

Smith was a four-time letter winner as a softball pitcher at Warren Hills and was chosen to the All-Skyland Conference team each year. Her sophomore stats earned her All State honors, with an incredible 319 strikeouts and a miniscule 0.51  earned run average.

Thus far in her junior season in the Big 10 Conference, she has appeared in five games and has a 2-1 won-loss record with the only loss coming in a game in which Louisiana Tech shut out the Nittany Lions.

Veneziano, a lefty who will pitch in the Cape Cod League this summer before many big league scouts, posted an 0.74 ERA with 64 strikeouts and just 18 walks in 47.1 innings as a Warren Hills senior. He struck out 16 in an 11-inning 1-0 win over Sparta and was awarded first team honors on the LehighValleyLive.com All-Area team.

A two-sport athlete, he scored over 1,000 points for the Blue Streaks in basketball and helped Warren Hills win a long awaited sectional title in North 2 Group 3.

With Coastal Carolina, he got plenty of run support on Friday evening in a 27-2 win at Georgia State. He started but only pitched four innings, with a reliever picking up the win. It’s a team game and Veneziano will be needed for plenty of big games in the upcoming post season as his team is 21-8 with big goals on the horizon. On Friday he was touched for two runs on four hits. He struck out six but walked three. That was enough pitches for his coaches to turn the laugher over to the bullpen.

Last year, in his sophomore season, he was 7-1 with a 3.81 ERA for Coastal Carolina.

Meanwhile, closer to home at County College of Morris, Jake Hall continues adding to his school record with his 15th and 16th homers coming over the weekend. He enjoyed a Hall of Fame worthy career at Hackettstown High School as an outfielder who impressed with both the bat and glove.
Scouts have been watching and there is a good chance he will be chosen in the June draft with a shot at progressing through the minors to be the second ever Hackettstown Tiger to play in the majors.

BLUE STREAKS BOUNCE BACK

After a fast start, the current Warren Hills baseball team hit a slump and was eliminated from the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament by Hunterdon Central in a forgettable 15-0 game.

The Blue Streaks bounced back on Saturday with a mercy-rule shortened 11-0 win over North Plainfield, giving them a 6-5 overall record with hopes for a favorable state tournament seeding.

Starting pitcher Kylan Lourdon allowed three hits in his five-inning outing on the bump. On offense, Ryan Bell was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three RBI. Jeff Crawford and Bobby Delghiaccio each had a two-hit and one RBI game for Warren Hills.

Warren Hills also topped North Plainfield 8-3 in softball on Saturday.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.