EC Athletics: 2022 Spring Season Summaries

LACROSSE

2022 was a memorable and landmark season for our varsity lacrosse program, finishing 11-2 and capturing our first ever division championship! Head coach Ryan Baitzel returned to the team and along with assistant Mike Reed led the boys to an undefeated league season and a win in the county tournament. Junior middie Michael Cook led the team in scoring and became the first 100 point scorer in program history. Senior attack Ben Visbeen and pole Sean Post joined Michael as 1st team all league selections and will be missed next year along with classmate Danny Lazor. With sophomore goalie Liam Reinmuth and many promising newcomers including sophomore pole Lucas Genuario and freshman attack Luke Baitzel amongst others contributing already, the team appears poised to challenge for another run at a league championship in their new and more challenging division next year on their brand new home turf!

BOYS TENNIS

This year’s 10-man roster included 5 second-year players and 5 newcomers to the sport. The season was characterized by hard work, rapid improvement, and a high degree of sportsmanship. From day 1, the team pursued a goal of improving 1% per practice. This goal was well-surpassed by each team member and set a trajectory for growth which, if continued, will guarantee an improvement on this year’s 4-9 record. Earning the 1st singles position, Jonathan Dykman logged 4 wins against opposing teams’ top players. Rand Fang also earned 4 wins at the difficult 2nd singles position. With all 10 players expected to return to next year’s squad, the Eagles will look to re-establish a prominent position in the league and county. 

GOLF

With a senior heavy roster this year, the EC Golf program had its strongest numbers in nearly 10 years. With a unique cast of characters, the team was able to secure 3rd place in the NJIC, the team’s 4th consecutive top 3 finish. The five seniors on the team helped to anchor solid scores, averaging a 219 foursome score in 9-hole competitions, while also proving to be great mentors to underclassmen during practice sessions at the range. Evan Hopeck had a special performance to secure 3rd place at the NJIC tournament and his 44.3 average for 9 holes will be hard to replace on the course next year. Freshman Joe De Luccia will be exciting to watch develop in the coming years along with five other returning underclassmen.

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SOFTBALL

Playing in their 2nd season together the EC/HCA softball team played with a never say die fire and finished with a .500 record. They worked hard both on and off the field to improve themselves and each other, finishing the season with a .300 team batting average while slugging 7 home runs.  Elizabeth Lopez ended her career with 588 strikeouts including over 200 this season earning her 1st team all league and 2nd team all county honors!   Allie Spalt, Brooke Talsma,  Aline Ellis and Gabriella Angelucci were also recognized for their excellent play. While Liz, Gabbi and Capri Kuiken will be missed next season, 11 returners provide optimism for the growth of this program.

BASEBALL

Displaying determination and resilience throughout, our EC/HCA baseball team finished the season at 10-8-1 marking the second year in a row with a record above .500. Highlights included the Defender Eagles winning a Passaic County Tournament game against Eastside in dramatic fashion with a walk-off grand slam down by 3 in the bottom of the 7th! The boys also defeated Roselle Catholic in the first round of the Non-public B State Tournament with a convincing 10-3 win.  EC senior starters Jake Faasse, Cameron Melone, and Jack Veenema along with Zach DeVries off the bench each played important roles in the team’s success this season. Cameron Melone and Jake Faasse were both selected as NJIC Patriot First Team All-conference at their respective positions. Cameron also received Second Team All County recognition while Jake and junior Luke Connelly were recognized as Honorable Mention All County.  

TRACK & FIELD (BOYS)

Coach Apol’s Men’s Track Team was one of the largest in recent history with 30 members, 15 of which are freshmen.  Wins over Garfield, Elmwood Park and Pompton Lakes along with close losses to Lodi and Manchester put the team in 6th place in the NJIC Colonial Division. High points of the season included the Freshman County Championships and two new Freshman Records:  Caleb Kuperus in the 400 Intermediate Hurdles and Alex Culp in the 1600 M Run.  Both Ruslan Gorter and Sebastiano Secades earned Second Team All League recognition. Luke Parker and Daniel Park earned All County Honorable Mention awards.  Senior leadership from Luke Parker, Dan Park, Josh Steen, Griffin Stansel and John Zhang, along with Julien Arcay whose injury has kept him sidelined, are going to be sorely missed but the large amount of returning athletes bodes well for next year’s season!

TRACK & FIELD (GIRLS)

With an impressive 24 member roster (16 of which are Freshmen and Sophomores), the Lady Eagles posted  7 wins against 3 losses and finished 3rd at the NJIC Championships. Strong performances in the 400 hurdles from Julianna Hopeck and discus from Jaclyn Steenstra led a well balanced team effort that included contributions from Kendra Heerema, Anneke Kuperus, Katherine Marshall and Hannah Visbeen.  All County Awards include First Team for Jaclyn Steenstra, Second Team for Anneke Kuperus and Julianna Hopek and Honorable Mention for Hannah Visbeen and Kirsten Braunius.  Senior leadership from Sidney Bolt, Allison Borduin, Rachel Post and Tehilah Mwenya is going to be missed.  Like the Men’s team, the Ladies are very well represented by underclassmen and next year can be a big one for them.  Both teams owe much of their success to a great coaching staff featuring Ms. Lyndsey Smith, Mr. Tim Steen and Mr. Stephen Bailey.

Post Season Awards:

Boys Tennis

County
2nd: Jonathan Dykman
HM: Rand Fang
HM: David Zhang

League
2nd: Jonathan Dykman
HM: Rand Fang

Golf

County
1st: Evan Hopeck
HM: Joe DeLuccia
MH: Hank Hagedoorn

League
1st: Evan Hopeck
2nd: Hank Hagedoorn
HM: Joe DeLuccia

Boys LAX

County
2nd: Michael Cook
HM: Benjamin Visbeen
HM: Sean Post

League
1st: Michael Cook
1st: Benjamin Visbeen
1st: Sean Post
2nd: Lucas Genuario
2nd: Luke Baitzel
HM: Nicholas Toresi

Baseball

County
2nd: Cameron Melone
HM: Luke Connelly

League
1st: Cameron Melone
1st: Jake Faasse
HM: Jack Veenema

Softball

County
2nd: Elizabeth Lopez
HM: Brooke Talsma

League
1st: Elizabeth Lopez
2nd: Allie Spalt
2nd: Brooke Talsma
HM: Garbiella Angelucci

Track

County
1st: Jaclyn Steenstra
2nd: Juliana Hopeck
2nd: Anneke Kuperus
HM: Luke Parker
HM: Daniel Park
HM: Kirsten Braunius
HM: Hannah Visbeen

League
1st: Juliana Hopeck
1st: Jaclyn Steenstra
2nd: Kendra Heerema
2nd: Ruslan Gorter
2nd: Sebastiano Secades
HM: Katherine Marshall
HM: Anneke Kuperus
HM: Juliana Hopeck
HM: Hannah Visbeen