Edison baseball on four-game hot streak
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
After Friday's 5-2 victory over division foe St. Joseph's High School, the Edison High School baseball team improved to 4-2 on the season. The Eagles will look to stay among the top teams in the GMC Red Division this week when they take onMontgomery today and East Brunswick on April 18.

Edison is coming off an impressive week in which it went 4-0 after dropping its first two games of the season. For pitching ace Shawn Renner, his completegame shutout in a 4-0 win over South Brunswick was just what he needed to get back on track after taking the loss in the season opener, an 18-10 defeat at the hands of J.P. Stevens.

"Shawn was solid," Edison head coach Vin Abene said. "You can imagine how important this week was for him to have a good outing and bounce back from the loss to Stevens."

Third baseman Steve Nappe led the Eagle offense with a home run in the win against South Brunswick. Nappe stayed hot in the team's follow-up victory, a 10-0 win over East Brunswick. Nappe knocked in four runs with a double and a triple. Starting pitcher Jared Shukis allowed just two hits while striking out six for his first win of the season.

In what resembled a football score, Edison got its third win of the week in a 21-9 drubbing of Woodbridge. Chris Virag picked up the win. Shukis and Nappe hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning. Shukis finished with two three-run homers. Centerfielder Steve Loriot drove in a pair of runs off three hits.

Friday's victory over St. Joe's marked the fourth straight for Edison. Renner improved to 2-1 on the season with a sixstrikeout performance as he cruised into the seventh inning with a 5-0 lead. St. Joe's managed its two runs in its last atbat. Nappe came through for the Eagles once again, with a triple and a run-scoring single.

"Nappe has been hitting the ball really well," Abene said. "He hit two home runs this week and came up with some timely hits."

The Eagles' impressive week could not have come at a better time. After losing the season opener to cross-town rival J.P. Stevens, the team lost to Old Bridge despite getting a one-hitter from Shukis.

"That first game against Stevens was a wild one," Abene said. "J.P. [Stevens] is the favorite to win the county this year, and they hit the ball really well. We did, too - balls were flying all over the place. The next game was the complete opposite. The wind was howling in our face, but we managed to hit the ball. Old Bridge just made all the plays it needed to."