Millville’s Droz Proves a Worthy No. 1 Candidate
Millville recent graduate Sergio Droz ended his high school baseball career in a fitting place – Citizens Bank Park. Droz was a member of the Tri-Cape team that advanced to the championship of the 38th annual Carpenter Cup tournament before falling to Inter-Ac/Independents, 3-2 in one of the more exciting title games in tournament history. The Tri-Cape consisted of teams from the Tri-County Conference and Cape Atlantic League (where Droz competed).
Despite the loss, Droz played well in the Carpenter Cup, a 16-team All-Star tournament consisting of teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and sponsored by the Phillies.
The semifinals and finals of the tourney are played at Citizens Bank Park and Droz led off Tri-Cape’s 5-2 semifinal win over Delaware County in spectacular fashion. He pitched three hitless and scoreless innings to start the game. Carpenter Cup rules allow pitchers to throw a maximum of three innings per game.
In the game he pitched, Droz reveled in the atmosphere.
“When on the mound I did take a few seconds to soak everything in,” he said.
During the four Carpenter Cup games, he pitched in two of them and had a 1.80 ERA in five innings of work.
Of course, Droz has enjoyed just as much success during his career as an infielder.
In the Carpenter Cup final, he went 1-for-2 with a double while playing third base. He has also played a lot of shortstop in his career.
Droz loved his experience playing in the Phillies stadium.
“It’s awesome, big leaguers do it every day and it feels cool to just get up there and do what they do,” he said.
Droz was part of what has become a prized tradition of Millville – being awarded the No. 1 jersey formerly worn by Mike Trout. For the last few years, a senior on the Millville team is awarded the No. 1 jersey. This year Trout presented Droz with the jersey.
“That meant a lot,” Droz said. “I got to meet Mike Trout and everything and that was cool, it was an awesome experience.”
While Millville had a 9-16 season, Droz enjoyed a big year, earning his second straight Carpenter Cup berth.
He batted .375 and led Millville in both stolen bases (8) and runs scored (18), according to NJ.com stats.
As a pitcher he had a 2.06 ERA, with 44 strikeouts and 15 walks in 37 1/3 innings.
Now Droz is looking forward to the next level. He will continue his education and baseball career at Division I University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Droz said he was recruited as a two-way player.
“I love the coaches, I love the school, I love the field there,” he said about UMBC. “It just felt like the perfect fit for me.”
This past year UMBC went 27-25 and lost to top seeded Bryant, 15-10 in the American East championship. (UMBC would have had to win twice to be the champion).
Droz, who had a reputation of coming up big in the biggest events (i.e. the Carpenter Cup) will now gear up the rest of the summer to prepare for the next level at a highly competitive college program.
Photo: Millville's Sergio Droz at the Carpenter Cup / Marc Narducci
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Author: Marc Narducci
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