Spring, 2023 - Sports

Newton softball ready to swing their way to victory

by Kaylee Mangual

Softball has started their season! The girls every single day are practicing after hours to get ready for what they might encounter this season. They are striving for nothing, but to be the best and to successfully take home their division, which is known as the Colonial Division.

One of the main goals that the team is looking forward to accomplishing would be to continue with constant improvement, especially at the plate where that has been a struggle for most of the girls. Another goal is to win the Colonial Division which the team almost won last year. One of the top returners from last year is senior captain Allison Mountford who plays shortstop and bats at the top of the lineup. Another is junior Catherine Vena who played a big role last year; she is a returning offense player, and plays in the outfield. There are many juniors from last year returning as seniors and sophomores returning as juniors. Junior Melissa Fehr being the new pitcher for varsity, Katie Golden-Ryan being the catcher this year for varsity and who brings a good addition to the batting line up. There are many underclassmen on varsity, and many still competing for a spot. An underclassman who will be playing on varsity is freshman Bella DeLeon plays in both the outfield and infield. She has worked her way up and strives to be better everyday.

The team is not focused on beating any team this season, they are taking it game by game, and being consistent in their play which is something that the team is aiming for more this season.

There are a lot of girls who were the star players who have graduated. Also, there are many girls in different roles this year including in the pitcher position. There are many girls who have not had varsity experience. Four or five girls are adjusting to playing on varsity which will be a challenge getting them accustomed to the level. During an interview with Coach Filan he said, “One being as a team, we are aiming to win our division, the Colonial Division. As individuals, a lot of them are continuing to build their softball knowledge, their softball skills. As individuals, one of the things we strive for is to become better everyday.”

Melissa Fehr winding up for a pitch
Photo by Jordan Short

The Newton boys tennis team focuses on senior leadership this season

by Shannon Rittie

The Newton boys tennis team's new season just officially began. At post time, they have only played in one scrimmage, against Warren Hills, and they played great for the first time this season. Newton High School's boys tennis team is coached by Coach Boyle, with Coach Muller serving as his assistant and junior varsity coach. Coach Boyle is very pleased with his team's senior leadership and is hoping that their physical strength and experience will translate to success on the court. This season, the team will put a lot of emphasis on senior leadership. He will be looking for the seniors to play a significant role in defining what is expected of the team as a whole. Nick DeFini, Stephen Miller, Dylan Olsen, Josh Johnson, Armin Arjun, and Billy Widgren are the team's seniors. Stephen Miller and Nick DeFini are the captains.

The boys' tennis practices are divided into drills for serving and returning, groundstrokes and volleying, and match play. In a recent interview with The Brave Bulletin, Coach Boyle was asked what he thought the biggest challenge most athletes were facing at the time. He responded, “From my perspective the greatest challenge facing athletes today is managing their time and ensuring that they are not spread too thin in any one area.” For 26 years, Coach Boyle has been teaching tennis in the Newton district. Having coached for a number of years, his opinion on what it takes to be an effective coach is that the coach must have a strong understanding of the sport they are coaching, but that the coach's ability to connect with his or her players is just as important, if not more so.

Coach Boyle gave insight on what he does when a player is struggling, “During the course of a tennis match there tend to be periods where players are playing well and there also tends to be periods of time where they are struggling. During those times of struggle I try to point out and remind the players of the positive things they have done and refocus them into the positive things that they have worked on in practice.”

NHS golf taking its course with a new season

by Kaylee Mangual

The season has just started for the NHS golf team and they are ready to take on the golf course. Mr. Bitondo, who is a middle school teacher at Halsted, has been the head coach for two years now. Coming into the new season, he has many goals for the new players, and one being is to continue to improve. Not only was improving his goal, but he has an expectation for a new senior to step up as a top scorer along with many of the younger players. As matches go on and the season is in session, he wants the members to learn, grow, improve and play golf for a long remainder of time even after their highschool experience is over.

Last year, the team did not make it to states. This year, they hope to qualify for states as well as compete for the league crown. There was never a win streak last year, they were in the middle of their league 4-4 and strive to improve on reaching further more this season. Some players who were remarkable last season, coming back this season are CJ Nicholas,Cooper Armstrong, and Bruno Groth. The team is coming into the season with 3 of the 4 top performers. Coach Bitondo wants them to drastically improve on their averages and hopes someone new emerges as one of his consistent scorers. The league matches is something the team is looking forward to, especially when going against Kittatinny, who has beaten Newton twice. Newton strives to be better in tournaments, and would like to take home the win against Kittatinny. Coach Bitondo when asked to describe his team he said, “Enthusiastic! A lot of people are new to the sport and excited to learn.”

The Newton Braves baseball team starts their season off with one of their toughest opponents

by Christine Ahmad

The Newton Braves baseball team has started their season with one of their toughest opponents this season, High Point. The team worked hard the entire game adding extra innings to the end. The game ended in a devastating 12-8 loss. At post time, the team’s record is 2-5.

The team's expectations are high this year as they continue to work and play hard. Their goal is obtain a conference title and to advance in the HWS tournament and later advance to the State Tournament.

In a recent interview, Newton’s baseball coach, coach Zymet stated, “the strength of our team is the deep pitching staff that we have this year.” Coach Zymet also mentioned that some notable players were returning players, Brayden Nolan and Domenic Lotruglio who are Captains and have earned their letters in their previous years. Other notable players he mentioned were Matthew Williams, Jake Benitz, Merrick Buckley, Garrett Wikander, Rob Rhine, Sam Gonzalez, Ryan Maffia, Pat McNulty, and Jacob Knehr.

When asked to describe this year's baseball team, coach Zymet stated, “This team is led by its senior class. They have played together for a long time and a number of them return to our starting lineup. We will lean on them to carry us throughout the season.” Good luck with the rest of your season!

Robert Rhine sliding safely into second base
Photo by Jordan Short

The Braves esports team continues to grow and work together to improve on tactics for competition

by Loretta Samples

Since the beginning of the year, a lot of students have joined Esports which was a big goal for the team. Esports isn’t just about competing and winning, but also about making friends and having fun.

In a recent interview, Mr. Seryapov the coach of Esports said, “They don’t have to be good at whatever games we play; they can just come and play for fun, get to know people, and get involved.”

For spring competitions, the team is playing Valorant, Super Smash Bros., and Rocket League. There are still some games left, but at post time the win-loss record is 3-2 for Super Smash Bros. and about the same for Rocket League. The current star players are Matthew Cronin who plays Valorant and Rocket League as well as Elijah Carlson and Travis Geisinger who both play Super Smash Bros.

“Everybody else is also putting in the work; we wouldn’t be able to do it without them. So, every player is very valuable,” said Mr. Seryapov.

The Esports team is working on improving a team for each of the games, since a lot of students of the players are interested. They are seeing who works best together and what tactics they’ll use against opponents to win. The team's goal is to make it further into playoffs until they get to finals and win the whole thing. Good luck to Esports and hopefully spring competitions end on a positive note!

Newton Braves lacrosse is playing to knock on the championship door this season

by Jordan Short

The Braves season started with a hard and heavy schedule playing six games in 12 calendar days at press time. In a recent interview with The Brave Bulletin, Head Coach Dave Gallucci commented, “Although this has put some stress on our athletes physically, we may have an advantage in some upcoming games as we are more prepared. Due to the season being moved back this spring, we had less time to prepare for our games, and playing often will help us down the road.”

The Braves have a record of 4-3 at post time. “I like to look at teams we beat last year and teams we beat this year. Currently, we are even in that category, having beat Wayne Hills (who beat us last year), but dropping to Kinnelon (who we beat last year),” said Gallucci.

This is Gallucci’s second season coaching the Braves. During last year's season, he led the team to the quarterfinals of the HWS tournament, as well as the NJSIAA Group 1 tournament and ending the season with a 11-7 record.

Even after saying goodbye to six of their high powered players, Gallucci has a team of both returning valuable varsity players as well as new and up-incoming powerhouse players that continue to leave an impact on the field at every game.

Returning senior goalie Ryland Ivaldi, who was spectacular in the teams win over Morris Hills on Saturday, April 15th, with a 23 save performance in a 6-2 victory. Ryland has a 64% save percentage in the first six games.

Senior midfielder Robert McCullough, who has 13 goals and 7 assists (20 points) in the first six games. Sophomore Attackman Ty Guzzo, who has 18 goals and 2 assists (20 points) in the first six games.

Defensively, Matt McLean, Pasquale Festa, Matt Teets, along with experienced defensive midfielders Matt May, Evan Robinson, and face off specialist Aiden Akturk have led the teams defense to holding opposition to a 6.83 goals per game average.

Freshman Attackman Max Faye, who has 10 goals and 9 assists (19 points) in the first six games, including a spectacular 8 point performance (4 goals, 4 assists) in the teams 10-12 loss to Blair Academy.

Defensively, newcomers sophomore Ryan Corino and junior Yasin Tabatabaee, along with freshman Sean Carson have played vital roles in the teams defensive structure.

For this team the next game is always the most important.

“We play Hackettstown and Voorhees this week, both away,” Gallucci said. “Both teams are much improved from last season. As we defeated both teams on their home fields last year, we will be trying to repeat that result. Voorhees will be especially interesting as we earned a one-goal victory last year by scoring with less than ten seconds left in regulation. We also play Boonton the following Monday, April 24th. This is a 7:00 start. Personally, I’m hoping to see a good home crowd help us take on the Bombers–a team that has a rich lacrosse history.”

Feel free to go and support the Braves at any of their upcoming games and don’t forget to be loud and proud.

Matthew McLean keeps opponent away.
Photo by Jordan Short

The Newton track team proves to be a force to be reckoned with

by Allison Iliff

Coach Eigner is gearing up for a great track season! The boys are already dominating 2-1, with wins over Kittatinny and Hopatcong. The team had a great season last year, sending 6 athletes to State Group Championships. Key athletes this season are Sebastion Montalvo, Demarius Posey, Alexi Jimenez, Riley Fleming, Zach Salib, Colin Daggett, and Jacob Quarmout.

Eigner’s goal for the upcoming season is to help every athlete achieve their personal best times, jumps, and throws throughout the season. With up and coming athletes like Orion McGowan and Tyler Ramos-Womack working hard to improve each day, the team will be left in good hands when seniors graduate. When asked about the team's strengths, Eigner said in a recent interview, “Our athletes are willing to be versatile and jump into events where they can help the team score points. In addition, our new athletes are trying many different events to see where they best fit in with the team.”

The girls team is currently 1-2. Sierra Strasser and Madalyn Nolan are leading the team this season. Sierra Strasser is currently ranked in the top ten in the state in the pole vault, and she is undefeated in both the Pole Vault and High Hurdles. Madalyn Nolan has been scoring big in the long jump and triple jump. The shuttle hurdle team dominated the relays when Sierra Strasser, Emma Eigner, Madalyn Nolan, and Emma Karr took 1st place. The Pole Vault team of Sierra Strasser, Madalyn Nolan, and Emma Karr also excelled, taking fourth place in the Aviator Relays. It is safe to say that the Newton Track Team is going to go far this season.