Published: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 7:15 PM Updated: Saturday, March 12, 2011, 9:15 PM
By
Jessica Calefati/The Star-Ledger
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Kevin Gilbert celebrates with his Hunterdon Central teammates after their 8-3 win against Randolph at the NJSIAA Group 4 baseball final in 2009.
READINGTON — A Hunterdon Central Regional High School senior was in critical condition after his car veered off the road and struck a tree while he was on his way to an early morning varsity baseball practice.
Kevin Gilbert, 18, who lives in Whitehouse Station, was traveling on County Road 523, just north of West Woodschurch Road in Readington when the single-car accident occurred about 6 a.m. today, said Sgt. Chris DeWire of the Readington Police. Gilbert was flown by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for treatment.
Hunterdon Central varsity baseball coach Mike Raymond said Gilbert suffered a brain injury in the crash and remained on life support late this evening. Police said Gilbert was wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash and the car’s passenger side hit the tree.
Raymond said Gilbert’s teammates began to worry when he did not show up for practice. On their way home, some saw Gilbert’s wrecked car and learned of his condition, according to the coach.
Gilbert is a star center fielder on Hunterdon Central’s varsity baseball team, which is poised for a run at the NJSIAA Group 4 championship, a title the team won in 2009 when Gilbert was a sophomore starter. That year, Gilbert hit a memorable grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning that gave Hunterdon Central a 6-2 victory over Buena Regional High School.
Last year, Gilbert had a .330 batting average, 10 extra-base hits, including two home runs, and 23 RBIs. Finishing last season with an 18-9 record, the Red Devils were No. 1 in The Star-Ledger’s West Jersey rankings.
Gilbert was also named an All-Skyland Conference selection by the league’s coaches last year. This year, he was poised to bat in the middle of one of the state’s most potent lineups and signed a commitment letter to play baseball for Philadelphia’s Temple University.
Dominic Gentile, 17, has been playing baseball with Gilbert on and off since sixth grade, and said he is a nearly “perfect baseball player” who has a lighthearted, playful personality and a throwing arm like a cannon.
“He could hit like you couldn’t believe,” said Gentile, a junior.
Gentile also plays for Hunterdon Central’s varsity team but said he was not at practice today because he was taking the SAT. When he completed the test, Gentile said he noticed a flurry of text messages from teammates and friends alerting him that Gilbert had been in a bad car accident.
“Just hearing him laughing made me laugh,” said Gentile, who described Gilbert as “one of the nicest kids you’ve ever met.”
Staff writer Simone Sebastian and reporter Bob Behre of Dorf Feature Service contributed to this report.
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