Jay Webber ran out on the baseball field for Johns Hopkins in that NCAA Division Mid-Atlantic Regional game with Rutgers-Newark and ended up hitting an RBI in the ninth inning to help propel Hopkins into the next round, which they lost. It was a moment, though, one that stands out in a jock’s life that includes a high school parochial north championship game at St. Joe’s Regional, when Webber played first base.

Now Webber’s in another contest, the biggest one of his political life as he pursues the 11^th District Congressional seat occupied by retiring U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, coming off a stretch of campaigns that included the first one Webber ever ran as a candidate, back in 2003, when – as an upstart newcomer – he challenged Senator Bob Martin and lost by 1,900 votes. Webber returned four years later and ran in a tough GOP Primary against Kinnelon Councilman Larry Casha for the 26^th District Assembly seat Joe Pennacchio vacated to go up to the state senate. A relentless pressure candidate, Webber ran to Casha’s right and defeated him by five points. This year, he prevailed in one of the most-watched contests of the season to land the GOP nomination for Congress.

“I think I learned a lot in 2003 about campaign tactics more than anything,” Webber told InsiderNJ. “The real learning was after the primary: how to build on that, build bridges and work constructively with fellow Republicans to advance certain ideas. The 2007 race was a culmination of the work we did in 2003, and today, my opponent Larry Casha is one of my best political supporters. He’s been nothing but gracious.”

Mostly Morris County primaries defined him, and now Webber’s up against something that most insiders don’t associate with his career: a general election contest. Democratic rival Mikie Sherrill is well-funded, has an intriguing storyline, and wants to capitalize on the same anti-Donald Trump sentiment that appeared to help drive a frustrated Frelinghuysen into retirement.

Webber acknowledges that most of his campaigns came in primaries. As a candidate, in a sense, he’s the opposite of Linda Greenstein, who spent most of her political career in the legislature getting on war footing for general elections in the battleground 14^th District. Primaries weren’t her game, until she had to compete in the biggest one of her career in 2014.

She lost.

Of course, Webber hopes his foray into general election politics has a different ending.

He makes the case, too, that he has in fact had critical general election experience.

The work he contributed to campaigns actually goes back to 1994, when he worked for Republican Bill Martini, who defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Herb Klein for the 8^th District Congressional seat; and again for Martini, when the incumbent Republican lost his 1996 reelection to U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell.

Those were general election dogfights.

The Republican congressional candidate also points out that he went all in and very hands-on with Chris Christie when Christie challenged incumbent Democratic Governor Jon Corzine.

As for the race he’s in now, “The issues are different, the scale is different, and so is the amount of money, but at bottom it’s the same. It’s about voters who care about issues, and sharing with them your vision for a better future.”

He’s obviously identified as a pro-life conservative; one of the more conservative members of the legislature, and he acknowledges his admiration for Edmund Burke, who famously wrote, “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving, you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”

But Webber argues that ideology has not prevented him from being pragmatic in a governing body dominated by Democrats. “I’ve always said I’ll never compromise on principles, but I’m ready to compromise on policies,” Webber said. “I have spent my time in Trenton working with members of the other party, to protect our kids from sexual predators, supporting victims of domestic violence, and calling for practical answers from governors of different parties. The voters send you there to exercise your judgement, yes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be pragmatic.”

As he fights Sherill with 42 days to go until Election Day, he says the contest is about taxes.

“It’s the number one issue,” said Webber, who bucked then-Governor Christie by opposing the gas tax hike. “I want to cut them and she wants to raise them.”

Republican tax cut reforms spearheaded by President Donald J. Trump resulted in a tax cut for the average family of four in the 11^th District, he noted.

“Mikie would roll that back,” Webber said.

With embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the news, the Republican candidate said, “The accusers should have an opportunity to tell their story in a timely way designed to get all the facts out efficiently. The senate should then hear from Judge Kavanaugh and make a decision.”

To this point, a significant part of the contest has consisted of Sherrill objecting to Webber’s nay votes on equal pay legislation, which the assemblyman derided as Democratic Party political posturing. But in the larger sense, the race has become ground zero for the contrast personalities of Trump and U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who’s at the top of the Democratic ticket.

“There’s no question that Bob Menendez is a liability for Mikie Sherrill, and it’s all her fault,” said Webber. “Bob Menendez is a corrupt and unpopular senator, and it didn’t take much for Democrats in the U.S. Senate to discipline him. It wouldn’t take much for Mikie Sherrill to speak out but instead she’s using him to get to congress, but undertaking relationships with those Democratic organizations that back Menendez. She owns him.” As for Trump’s presence, “The president wants to help me bring my vision to the 11^th District. I welcome the support. A president with a controversial twitter account is a far cry from an indicted senator, whom Mikie threw her arms around in a play for the party power brokers.”

Running for congress, he said, again makes him realize the foundations of his family, of his parents, who taught him to lead an honest and productive life: his mother who died three years ago and his father who still lives in New Jersey; of the country he loves, and those who sacrifice, including those in the military or other forms of public service.

It’s another season, but essentially the same game.

“The core message is a winning message: lower taxes and growing the economy,” Webber said. “I want common sense immigration reform and secure borders. Mikie runs with people who want sanctuary cities and open borders. …Mikie wants Medicare for all and bigger government for all.”

He’s been in contests going back to high school, altered slightly, the dimensions of competition changed from ball diamond to legislative district to congressional district. He coaches his own children now. He’s the father of seven. But Webber the competitor, as always, appears unrelenting as he runs toward Nov. 6^th.