2012 Game Report
Matawan 15...Holmdel 3
The Huskies opened up their 2012 campaign with a resounding 15-3 win in Holmdel. As good as Anthony Hirujo was on the mound (3IP, 1H, 1BB, 2K, 0 ER), the Husky bats were even better. Matawan pounded out 12 hits and batted around in the 4th inning where they plated 9 runs to put the game away. Isaiah Phillip led off the 4th inning with a monsterous solo homerun over the center field fence on way to a 2-4, 2RBI afternoon. Makel Caldwell (1-4, 2RBI, R, SB), Adam Elliott (3-4, 2B, 3B, SB, 3R, 4RBI), Chris Vetter (2-4, R, SB, RBI), Vic Jamandron (1-3, 2B, 2RBI, R), Dylan Dobbin (1-3, 2B, SB, RBI), Anthony Hirujo (1-2, HBP), Colin Thompson (1-2,2R, BB, RBI), and Ryan Driscoll (1-1) all had strong offensive games. Elliot was outstanding in relief as he ate up 2 innings while striking out 3 and not allowing an earned run. The defense was extremely sound as Matawan played close to a perfect game.
Matawan 7...Hazlet 4
Colin Thompson took the hill looking to avenge a 2011 loss to Hazlet and pitched 4 innings of outstanding ball as he scattered 7 hits while striking out 6, walking 1, and allowing only 2 earned runs. The Huskies jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Makel Caldwell (1-3, 2B, R, BB) opened the game with a double and later scored on an Isaiah Phillip (3-3, 3R, RBI, SB, BB) single. Phillip later scored on a fielder's choice by Chris Vetter (1-3, SAC, R, 3RBI). Hazlet scored once in their bottom half of the inning, but Matawan scored twice again in the 3rd as Dylan Dobbin (1-4, 2 RBI) lined a two-out-two-RBI single to score Phillip and Vetter to make the score 4-1. David Sherman (2-3, R, BB) scored on the first of two doubles by Adam Elliott (2-4, 2-2B, R, RBI) to make the score 5-1 after 4. However, Thompson ran into trouble and the Huskies were forced to reach into their bullpen to call upon Anthony Hirujuo to put out the fire. When the smoke had settled, Matawan was clinging to a 5-4 lead. In the top of the 6th, Elliott doubled and Phillip singled to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no-one out. Chris Vetter laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Elliott easily from 3rd, but Isaiah Phillip made an outstanding baserunning play to score all the way from 2B on the squeeze to add some much needed insurance. Hirujo then closed out the game to earn the save to add to his win less than 24 hours ago. What a great start to the 2012 season!
Matawan 12...Colts Neck 6
The Huskies exploded for 9 runs in the 2nd inning and cruised to a 12-6 victory in their 2012 home opener at Husky Park. Chris Vetter earned the win by pitching 3 innings of no-hit ball, while striking out 3. David Sherman pitched 4 innings and allowed only 3 earned runs to pick up his first MAMS save. Although Adam Elliott (2-2, R, 2RBI, SB) was the only Husky with multiple hits, Matawan received timely extra-base hits by Ryan Driscoll (1-3, 3B, RBI, R, BB), Anthony Hirujo (1-2, 2B, 2R, 2RBI), and Vic Jamandron (1-1, 2B, 3RBI, 2R). Matt Carmichael laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Makel Caldwell with the 12 run. Jake Burlew played a solid game at 1st base and threw out a runner at home on a nifty cutoff throw from Antonio Martinez in right field. Eric Johnson plated two runs for Matawan which improved to 3 and 0 on the season.
Matawan 8...Thorne 3
Anthony Hirujo and Colin Thompson combined to limit Thorne to 3 runs as the Huskies exploded for 7 runs in their final 2 at bats to stun Thorne and their vociferous fans 8-3. This game was tight through 6 innings as Matawan was only able to muster one run as Colin Thompson (1-3, R) lead off the 3rd with a single, advanced to 2nd on Makel Caldwell's (1-2, SAC, BB, R, SB) sacrifice, and scored on Adam Elliott's (3-4, 2B, RBI, SB, R) team-leading 4th double of the season. Thorne responded with 2 runs in the bottom of their half of an inning to take, what seemed like, a compfortable lead. The Huskies went down quietly until the 6th inning when they finally broke through for 3 runs on clutch RBI hits by Vic Jamandron (2-3, 2B, 3B, RBI, BB, 2R), Anthony Hirujo (1-4, RBI), and David Sherman (1-3, 2B, RBI). With Colin Thompson cruising through a 1-2-3 sixth inning, Matawan loaded the bases for Dylan Dobbin (2-4, 2SB, HR, 4RBI, R) who unloaded a bomb which landed just outside the reach of Thorne's center fielder. When the ball had finally been returned to the infield, Dobbin had raced around the diamond to record MAMS's first grand slam in at least 15 years. Thompson pitched a perfect 7th inning to set down Thorne and propel the Huskies to a 4 and 0 record.
Matawan 5...Bayshore 4
As is often the case when you're the "hunted", Matawan saw yet another ace on the mound vs. Bayshore Tuesday. Although it took 5 innings to break through, the Huskies once again showed their heart, grit, and desire in securing their 5th victory in a row. Colin Thompson labored through 4 innings as he scattered 5 hits, walked 2, and struck out 4 while limiting Bayshore to a single run. Anthony Hirujo (W, 3IP, 5H, 2BB, 4K, 3ER) was summoned in the 5th inning and was the recipient of a bothched defensive play that led to 3 more Bayshore runs to propel them to a 4 zip lead. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th, Matawan's bats finally came alive as Colin Thompson (0-3, R) went to first on a dropped ball by the right fielder. Makel Caldwell (2-4, R) followed with and infield hit. Adam Elliott (2-4, 2B, 2R, RBI, SB) then smoked a double down the left field line to score Thompson and Isaiah Phillip (3-4, R, 3 RBI, SB) followed with a single up the middle to plate two and trim the lead to 4-3. Chris Vetter (0-2,BB) walked and immediately threw himself into a run down between 1st and 2nd allowing Phillip to score the tying run. With the game getting a bit chippy in the 6th and 7th innings, the Huskies silenced Bayshore by holding them scoreless. The stage was set for a walk off victory. Colin Thompson led off the bottom of the 7th and reached 2nd base on an error and overthrow. Eric Johnson pinch ran for Thompson but was soon erased as Bayshore turned a nifty 5-3-5 double play to delete Matawan's baserunners and near extra innings while recording the 2nd out. However, the Huskies were not done and would not go down quietly. Elliott singled and quickly stole second. With the Bayshore outfielders playing Phillip at the warning track, he blooped a single between the shortstop and left fielder to score Elliott with the game's winning run. Great job Huskies!
Matawan 5...Ocean 3
The 5 and 0 Huskies handed the ball to Adam Elliott for his first career MAMS start on the mound and he proceeded to scatter 5 hits mixed in with 5 walks and 2 K's over 5 innings. He craftfully worked himself out trouble and left with the score tied at 2. As we have seen this Matawan team do time and time again, the Huskies rallied late to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th and Chris Vetter held off a bases loaded rally as Matawan improved to 6 and 0 on the season. With the game tied at 2, Vic Jamandron (0-2, BB, R) led off with a walk. Isaiah Phillip (3-3, 2-2B, 3B, R, RBI, CS), who had a monster game, tattooed his second double of the game to put the go-ahead-run on 3rd with no one out. Vetter was walked intentionally to load the bases and Dylan Dobbin (0-3, RBI, R) put the ball in place to score Jamandron on a groundout. David Sherman (0-2, HBP) followed with a fly ball that was mishandled by Ocean to score the Eric Johnson with the 4th run and Makel Caldwell (1-1, RBI, CS) followed with a single to score Dobbin to provide some insurance. Vetter entered the top of the 7th with a 5-2 lead, but the pesky Spartans of Ocean scored a run and loaded the bases with 2 outs before Adam Elliott forced out Ocean at 2B to secure the victory.
Matawan 20...Neptune 0
The Huskies opened the month of May much like they opened the month of April - with a resounding offensive performance. Matawan batted around 3 times in consecutive innings as this game was never in question from the 2nd inning on. Not to be lost in the offensive assault was the stellar performance of Victor Jamandron on the mound. He toyed with a 5 inning no-hitter until Neptune finally broke through in the hit column with a harmless single in the 5th. He finished with a one-hitter with one walk and 6 strikeouts. The hit parade contained Adam Elliott (2-2, SB, 2B, BB, R, 2RBI), Alex Cosentino (1-2, R), Jamandron (2-4, 3B, 3R, BB, 2RBI), Isaiah Phillip (2-3, R, SB, 2RBI), Eric Johnson (R, BB), Chris Vetter (1-4, 2B, 2R, RBI, BB), Dylan Dobbin (BB, HBP, R, SB, RBI), Matt Carmichael (1-1, R, BB, RBI), David Sherman (2R, 2SB), Jake Burlew (2-3, R, 3RBI), Colin Thompson (1-3, R, SB), Makel Caldwell (BB, R), Ryan Driscoll (BB, R), and Griffin Leibell (3-4, 3R, SB, 2RBI).
Thompson 10...Matawan 7
The baseball team was blindsided by a perfect storm of poor defense, suspect pitching, and lack of a timely hit as they fell 10-7 to Thompson. The top two teams in the Shore Conference of Middle Schools went toe-to-toe for the first three innings as both teams scored 3 runs in the 1st, and Matawan plated two to Thompson's one in both the 2nd and 3rd innings. The Huskies held a two run lead entering the 5th inning but gave away one of those runs on two defensive miscues. In the 6th inning the Huskies were doomed by 4 Thompson runs as they took a 10-7 lead entering the 7th. The tying run was on 1B, but the Huskies could not get that big hit to knot the game. Adam Elliott (2-4, R, HBP), Isaiah Phillip (1-4, 2B, RBI, HBP), Chris Vetter (2-4) and Anthony Hirujo (2-4, 2-2B) enjoyed solid offensive games.
Matawan 6...Hazlet 2
The Huskies strengthened their hold on 1st place with perhaps their best effort of the season. Colin Thompson scattered 5 hits over 4 and 2/3 innings while walking 3 and striking out 3 and Anthony Hirujo put out a fire in the 5th inning and shut down a potent Hazlet offense to secure Matawan's 9th victory of the season. Adam Elliott and Makel Caldwell each made dazzling defensive plays that left the Husky fans with their jaws dropped into the cedar mulch of Husky Park. Both players made offensive contributions in the 4th inning when Matawan broke through for 4 runs. Anthony Hirujo (1-3, R, RBI) drove home Isaiah Phillip (1-3, 2R, BB) and Dylan Dobbin (1-2, R, SAC) and Victor Jamandron later follwed with a 2 RBI single to score Hirujo and Eric Johnson, who ran for David Sherman (0-1, SAC, RBI, BB). Matawan added much needed insurance on a Sherman sacrifice fly and Elliott (1-4, 2B, RBI) scored another on his team leading 9th double of the season. Chris Vetter collected a hit and was once again stellar behind the plate.
Matawan 10...Thorne 2
Things got off to a rocky start at Husky Park as Thorne scored 2 early runs in the 1st inning. It took exactly one half of an inning for Matawan to regain the lead and completely control this game. Colin Thompson and Anthony Hirujo combined to shut down Thorne with only 2 runs, both unearned, as the Huskies cruised to their 10th victory of the season. Matawan scored all the runs they would need in the first 3 innings of the game. They erupted for 4 runs in the 1st after an RBI fielder's choice by Isaiah Phillip, a 2 RBI double by Chris Vetter, and an RBI single by David Sherman. Adam Elliott calmly placed a curveball over the shortstop's head for 2 RBI's in the 2nd inning. Ryan Driscoll led the scoring charge in the 3rd with and RBI single and Elliott put the game out of reach with a bases clearing double to make the score 10-2. The Huskies proceeded to play error free defense on way to another victory.
Matawan 12...Ocean 7
Talk about setting the tone - the engine of the bus was still warm as the Huskies exploded for 5 runs in the 1st inning on their way to their 11th victory and their 6th overall Shore Conference of Middle Schools Championship. Matawan bats erupted for 3 more runs in the 2nd, and were able to withstand two Ocean rallies as they closed out the game with runs in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings on way to a 12-7 victory. Makel Caldwell (1-3, SAC, SB, R), Vic Jamandron (3-4, 2B, 3R, BB, RBI), Adam Elliott (2-4, 2R, BB, 2RBI, 2SB), Isaiah Phillip (4-5, 3B, 2R, 2 SB, 3 RBI), Dylan Dobbin (2-4, BB, 2R, SB, RBI), Chris Vetter (1-5, RBI), David Sherman (2-4, 2B, 2RBI), Anthony Hirujo (1-1, SAC, RBI), Brandon Rivera (1-2, RBI), and Ryan Driscoll (1-3, R, RBI) enjoyed solid offensive games.