Princeton High starting pitcher Eric Wheeler thorws to the plate against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame coach Joe Drulis sits in the dugout in between innings against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High’s Chase Hamerschlag dives into third base for a 3-RBI triple in the third inning against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High’s Travis Petrone, center, smiles as he talks with teammates before the start of an inning against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High’s Will Arns dodges out of the way of a pitch against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame third baseman Rocco Valentino fields the ball against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High starting pitcher Eric Wheeler delivers to the plate against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame’s Alex Vilarelle swings the bat against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame shortstop Connor Dunn fields the ball against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame starting pitcher Jamie Duffy throws to the plate against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame relief pitcher Adam Canale winds up to throw to the plate against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame’s Danny Cutrupi follows through on a swing against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High’s Nate Nydick hits the ball against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High’s Nano Sarceno follows through with a swing against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame starting pitcher Jamie Duffy delivers to the plate against Princeton High during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High’s Chase Hamerschlag watches his three-RBI triple in the third inning against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame coach Joe Drulis walks to home plate to exchange lineup cards with Princeton High coach Dominic Capuano during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High first base coach Scott Goldsmith looks on against Notre Daem during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Princeton High coach Dominic Capuano looks on against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Show Caption1 of 19Princeton High starting pitcher Eric Wheeler thorws to the plate against Notre Dame during a CVC baseball game on Saturday afternoon at Fr. John D’Onofrio Field in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Expand LAWRENCE TWP. — Nobody told the Princeton High varsity baseball players not to spoil Joe Drulis’ 80th birthday game. So the Tigers went out and did just that Saturday at Father John D’Onofrio Field by handing the Notre Dame High head coach and his players a 10-1 setback. The complete-game, three-hit, no-walk pitching of Princeton senior Eric Wheeler combined with the 4-for-5, four runs batted in hitting of junior Chase Hamerschlag applied pressure on the Irish early and often to deny Drulis his 386th win the first time he has been able to have a regular-season game on his birthday because of the early start to the 2025 season. “We walked too many of their hitters. We didn’t play well enough defensively, and we hit too many fly balls,” Drulis said of this game compared to the 2-0 start to the season that his team had earlier in the week. “They (the Tigers) played as well as they could.” Hamerschlag got the visitors going when he singled off ND starting pitcher Jamie Duffy in the top of the first inning, stole second base and crossed the plate on a one-out error. Wheeler took it from there, retiring the Irish in order in the bottom of the first. The right-handed pitcher who will be matriculating at the University of Richmond in the fall did not give up a hit until the third inning before allowing his only run in the fourth. By then, Princeton had a 6-0 lead. “Everything was working for me,” Wheeler said. “My slider was there. My control was good. I felt like I had command of everything. With an amazing defense playing behind me, there really wasn’t a time when I was too concerned.” His leadoff-hitting third baseman Hamerschlag made that line of thinking a lot easier when, after singling in his first two at-bats, he came to the plate against reliever Adam Canale in the third inning and tripled to right field with the bases loaded. “It was doing the little things,” Hamerschlag said of his team’s change after dropping a 2-1 decision at West Windsor-Plainsboro North Wednesday. “You can hear us chanting ‘STW’ because we want to be Second Thought Warriors. It’s about looking ahead offensively and knowing what we want to do whether it be getting a bunt down, stealing a base, etc. Today we went at the game with everything we had.” Even after Duffy opened the bottom of the fourth by reaching on an error, stealing a base and scoring on Joey Bonko’s RBI ground out to put the home team on the board, Wheeler would not crack. He got an inning-ending double play to avoid further damage that frame, then retired nine of the last 11 he faced to keep ND from scoring again – stranding runners at second base in the bottom of the fifth inning and third base in the seventh after a one-out triple by Tyler Stefanisko. “I felt like I got better as the game went on,” said Wheeler, who only threw 87 pitches on the day. “This was a great bounce-back win for us.” After James Schiavone scored on a two-out wild pitch in the fifth, Travis Petrone and Will Arns delivered RBI singles in the sixth before Hamerschlag capped the scoring with a solo home run over the right-center field fence off reliever A.J. Cimino in the top of the seventh. “A lot of teams are still figuring things out,” said Drulis, whose team’s only other hits off Wheeler were singles from Connor Dunn and Mike Cummings. “We still have work to do.” As long as the Irish figure it out before their head coach gets a month older, they will be happy, much like the Tigers were yesterday. Princeton (1-1)           105      012    1    —    10  11  2 Notre Dame (2-1)       000      100    0    —      1    3  2 3B: Hamerschlag (P), Stefanisko (ND); HR: Hamerschlag (P); RBIs: Hamerschlag 4, Petrone, Arns, Schiavone, Fiorentino (P), Bonko (ND). WP — Wheeler (1-0); LP — Duffy (0-1). HIGHTSTOWN 4, STEINERT 3 HIGHTSTOWN — After the Spartans rallied to tie the game, 3-3, in the fourth inning, the Rams came up with a run in the bottom of the sixth to get their second victory. Michael Guarino knocked in three for Hightstown, and Dylan Stables, who scored two runs, pushed across the other to make a winning pitcher of Andrew Emslie, who held Steinert without a hit or a run over the final three innings. Steinert (0-1)              000      300    0    —    3  3  3 Hightstown (2-0)         030      001    x    —    4  2  3 2B: Benitez (H); RBIs: Condurso, Maher (S), Guarino 3, Stables (H). WP — Emslie (1-0); LP — Zimmerman (0-1). LAWRENCE 4, PDS 2 LAWRENCE TWP. — The Cardinals picked up their first win of 2025 by holding off the Panthers on Lawrence’s turf field. Deacon Moore tossed a complete-game, four-hitter with five strikeouts to get the win. A.J. Doran homered for Princeton Day School. ...read more read less