Seniors help turn team around

The West Milford High School baseball team emerged with a winning record and many lasting memories this spring.

The Highlanders (16-10) won the Big North Independence Division with an 8-2 record.

“Defeating Mahwah (12-2 on May 2) was a massive win for us and propelled us to a 4-0 week,’’ head coach Taylor Pevny said. “Beating Wayne Hills (5-4 on May 12) in the county quarterfinals and then beating Wayne Hills (4-0 and 7-6) to win the conference championship were also huge moments for this team. We did that on back-to-back days.

“We had a very experienced team this year who were ready to take on the big moments and they excelled.’’

Leadership was at a premium for the Highlanders.

“Our captains and seniors did a great job all season long keeping the team focused and ready to play,’’ Pevny said. “We played 26 games in a little more than eight weeks, but they were all prepared and ready to compete daily.”

The captains were Christian Martinez, Thomas Trapasso, Jonas Paulino, Colby Scott and Chris Timmins.

“Christian Martinez emerged as one of the best catchers in North Jersey,’’ the coach said. “Our pitching staff really carried our team this year. Chase Tyburczy led the team in wins with five. Justin Burke had three complete games, including a one-hitter versus Passaic. Cole Czerepak was second on the team in innings pitched and led the team in saves. Our pitching staff as a whole showed massive improvement which helped lead us to 16 wins (the most since 2012).

“Chris Timmins, Colby Scott, Sean Conklin and Kyle Schwarzlow all gave us great offensive production all season long. Jonas Paulino, Brayden Primavera, Jack Lizza, Dane Wells, Carsen DeRobertis and Charlie Kling all chipped in throughout season and helped us tremendously in various aspects of the game.’’

West Milford advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament, losing to Vernon, 10-5, after beating High Point, 3-2, in the first round.

“This senior class really helped turn this program into the right direction after back-to-back tough seasons in 2023 and 2024,’’ Pevny said.

“Jason D’Errico, Colby Scott, Jonas Paulino, Chris Timmins, Sean Conklin, Jesse Araujo, Thomas Trapasso, Jake Elmini, Christian Martinez, Carsen DeRobertis and Brayden Primavera left their names as a part of history in this program and credit goes to them for being great representatives of our school and program the last four years. I couldn’t be more proud of them as a coach.”

Looking to next spring, he said, “We return a ton of pitchers and have a lot of talent coming up with the junior class. Some talented junior pitchers who got reps this season are Logan Grechniv and Conner Thompson. We’re looking for big things out of them in 2026.’’