Wilson, Camden coaches look at different numbers

Most baseball coaches look at these numbers: hits, runs, wins.

Steve Murray and Joe Delecce focus on a different set of statistics.

Murray is excited about this season at Woodrow Wilson, and not just because the Tigers are 2-0 after Thursday's 15-1 victory over Camden in a crosstown clash at Farnham Park.

"We've got 30 kids in the program," Murray said. "This is the most kids we've had in a long while. We're even going to play a couple of JV games."

Delecce is excited about this season at Camden, even though the Panthers are 0-2 after dropping their "Super Bowl" to their school-district rivals.

"We had 35 kids come out," Delecce said. "We lost a few, but we're carrying 19. These kids want to get better. Things are looking up."

Optimism and patience are must-have qualities for high school baseball coaches in Camden.

The two programs have struggled for years and years, with inexperienced players taking their lumps against far more accomplished competitors in the Olympic Conference.

In recent seasons, the two programs have played independent schedules. That has helped, and for Woodrow Wilson, so has an influx of players who have gained experience in Cramer Hill's youth baseball program.

"That's where I learned the game," said Woodrow Wilson senior Giovanni Derieux, who struck out 17 in eight innings in a 4-3 victory over Bridgeton on Monday and had two hits and two RBIs on Thursday

Murray, who has been Woodrow Wilson's head coach for nine seasons and served as an assistant for several seasons before that, knows his team is a work in progress.

"It's not like we're playing Gloucester Catholic," Murray said, referring to the No. 1 team in The Inquirer Top 10. "But last year, we played more seven-inning games than we have in a long time. We used to get beat by 10 runs all the time and only play five innings.

"We're playing a much more competitive schedule, and it's helped with the kids' confidence."

Camden doesn't get players who competed in youth baseball in the Cramer Hill section of the city. In fact, most of the Panthers never played organized baseball before high school.

"The other day was our first game, and six of the nine guys we had in the lineup were playing a game for the first time in their life," Delecce said. "We have some athletes, but our kids are raw as far as being baseball players."

On a sunny day on a refurbished field with a smooth, "skin" infield, both teams played hard and generated good baseball vibrations - chattering for the batter from the dugout, calling out the situation in the field, looking alive.

Woodrow Wilson rapped eight hits, including a leadoff homer by speedy centerfielder Jerry Rodriguez. The Tigers also received a strong pitching performance from sophomore Noel Rosario, who said he moved to Camden from the Dominican Republic last summer.

This wasn't a great game. This wasn't Camden vs. Woodrow Wilson in basketball or even Camden vs. Woodrow Wilson in football.

But think about it: That reflects an even brighter light on these kids and these coaches. Baseball is not an easy game to play, especially for athletes who haven't received much coaching, if any, before high school.

"These kids know what we're up against even more than we know as coaches," Delecce said. "They know. They understand the situation.

"But they want to be out here. They are motivated. I don't see how they won't just continue to get better and better."