Baseball:
After a 9-13 season which saw lots of highs and lows, the boys are ready to come out hot this spring. Key departures including Evan Hoeckele, Conor Laverty, and Charlie Gonnella, amongst others, are leading to underclassmen looking to fill their roles. Returning starters include Captain Catcher Matt Falzarno who feels “like we are showing that we have a lot of talent all around and just have to put it all together to be successful. The pieces to that puzzle may just be Matt’s ace junior pitcher Casey Hoeckele. Hoeckele, who is looking to fill the shoes of his older brother Evan who held a 1.34 ERA and is currently pitching at St. Johns, is primed for a breakout season. Sophomores James Gallagher, James Ferrante, Sean Arcely and senior Matty Stefani, and James Ferrante are all names to be on the lookout for other potential breakout stars.
Girls Lacrosse:
After an impressive 14-7 record which saw the girls eventful season come to an end against Rumson, they are ready to get things underway. Only losing three key seniors that included Shelby Rosen, Mckenna Schlip, and Coutrney Davis the team is already familiar with one another. The dynamic duo of Kayla Davi and Kendall Schmerler is a sight some teams might not want to see. Combining for a crazy 180 points the senior combo has high expectations and is looking to exceed that they were able to accomplish last year. Other notable returns include Addison Chislom, Ellie Thoms and Eva Malleo. Jane Staufer is stepping up in net this year for her first Varsity season.
Boys Lacrosse:
Coming off the best season in school history that saw the boys lacrosse team capture their first ever section and state title, they are looking to repeat history. Losing one of the most impressive classes this school has ever seen there are leadership roles that need to be filled. With the success of last year, and realignment of divisions, they now find themselves in the Fitch-Pit. One of the premier lacrosse divisions in the state, this division is composed of teams like Summit, Delbarton, and Seton Hall Prep. Senior Finn Vaccaro feels, “We are gonna prove people wrong this season, we lost a lot of talent obviously last year but having the hardest schedule in Bernard’s sports history will definitely get us ready for the state tournament, and hopefully we can bring another championship home”. The boys are ready to get the season underway.
Golf:
The BHS golf team will look to follow up on an impressive 2024 season, despite losing the majority of their varsity starters to graduation. Last year’s team boasted a 9-9 record, yet had an average score of 162.4, which qualified them for the North Group 2 Section 2 tournament. The graduated seniors include Hayden and Cutter Kreikemeier, Fin Spitaleri, Simon Bramwit, and Charlie Giebel, all of which spent a significant amount of time on Varsity. However, Head Coach Spautz is even more optimistic about this season than the last, saying “We had a really great season last year and are looking to build from that success this upcoming year”. If the team wants to recreate their success from the prior season, they will need Junior Noah Ochab to continue to dominate. Ochab will look to overcome last year’s defeat in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions in which he lost in a playoff. Spautz is holding the team to a very high standard this season, with the expectation of qualifying for the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions as a team, and continuing to improve as the year progresses.
Track:
Perhaps the most consistently successful sport at all of Bernards High School, the track and field program will look to continue its dominance on the track. The running program as a whole has had a remarkably successful 2024-25 school year, with the winter track and cross country teams seemingly breaking records every week. Boys Track Coach Carmen has set the expectation for this year, saying “Our goal is to repeat as division and state sectional champions.” The team will have to rebound from losing a coveted group of seniors. Last year’s graduates included Carson Crain, Ben Connell, Aiden Klaiss, Dan Adams and Cody King. Carmen will be hoping for “some of our returning varsity members in Brody Watt, Michael Dooley, Hercules Stewart, John Richardson, and others to lead us”.
The same is the case for the Girls team. The Girls running program has had an amazing stretch of years as well. Girls Track Coach Szostak has the goal of “winning our division” for the third straight season and to “qualify ten athletes to the state group championships.”
Overall, the track program is in good shape, with goals to continue to develop and get better as the season goes on. As Coach Carmen said, “we will continue to motivate and positively challenge each other daily” with a goal to “facilitate a great mind set for competitions, built by teamwork”.
Boys Tennis:
Led by Head Coach Boudreau, the Boys Tennis team will look to follow up their successful 2024 campaign with an even better one in 2025. It will be without a few of their top players from last year, most notably former first singles player Dan Nathans. However, Boudreau is not concerned, citing Nathans’ “huge gump from his sophomore to junior seasons” as evidence that players can and will grow as their careers continue. Last year the team lost in a heartbreaking fashion, dropping to West Essex in the semifinal of the NJSIAA tournament. As per usual, the goals of the team are to compete for the “divisional and state sectional title”, said Boudreau, but keeping in mind the goals to “push each athlete to get better every day”.
Softball:
Following a historic 2024 season in which the team was runner up in the NJSIAA tournament, the softball team will look to build on last year’s success in 2025. However, this will be no easy feat as Coach O’Conner explained “graduating 8 starting seniors will be difficult but we have 3 starting seniors [this year] that have varsity level experience.” It will be the job of the few players who have experience on the team to “lead by example.” Coach O’Conner is hoping that the team can “stay competitive” and “execute what [they] practice with confidence.” Though this year’s iteration of the team may not be as dominant as last year’s, the Softball program is in good hands. O’Conner set the goal for the season, understanding that the team “is not as experienced but [they] have a lot of determined young athletes”. She is expecting to see the team “grow in all facets of the game. 1 percent better every day is the goal.” The Softball Team will open up their season with a game against Bridgewater-Raritan on April First.
