2009 Game Report
Matawan 19...Long Branch 0
The Huskies opened up their 2009 season as they erupted for nineteen runs against Long Branch. Mike Creamer and Tyler Perlowin combined to limit the Green Wave to one hit as they struck out nine of the seventeen batters they faced. Justin Henderson enjoyed a big day at the plate as he collected two hits and drove in four runs. Matt Rackett stroked a double, singled, and scored two runs. Mike Creamer also contributed two hits to add to his fine pitching performance. Patrick DePaolo, Tyler Perlowin, Joe Piscopo, Chris Veary, and Luke Adduchio singled for Matawan. The Huskies are hoping for some nice weather in upcoming weeks.
Matawan 6...Hazlet 5
The Huskies were trying to avoid breaking the Middle School record for consecutive rainouts to start the season. Their seventh attempt to play a game was successful. Matawan made the short journey to Atlantic Ave to meet the Hurricanes from Hazlet in their season opener. Matt Pidich struggled with his command as he walked 7 batters in 4 innings but left with a 2-0 lead. Shawn Johnson relieved Pidich and didn't allow a run in the 5th inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Johnson smoked a RBI double to place runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ronnie Robinson executed a perfect squeeze play which plated Dan Incle from 3rd and Johnson from 2nd. However, Johnson lost his control in the top of the 6th and the Husky bullpen issued 6 walks to let Hazlet tie the score. With the game tied at 5, Brian Liebell (1-2, R, RBI) led off the 7th with a walk. Connor Clifton, who pinch-ran for Leibell, stole second and eventually scored on a fielder's choice by Justin Harnett (1-4, 2 RBI). Dan Incle closed out the 6th and 7th innings to preserve the win.
Matawan 11...Neptune 1
The MAMS Baseball team manhandled the Scarlet Fliers from Neptune with an 11-1 victory in a 5 inning game. Mike Creamer improved to 2 wins and 0 losses as he tossed a 3-hitter with 10 strikeouts. Joe Piscopo was 2-3 at the plate with 2 runs and a RBI. Ryan Branagan and Tyler Perlowin each contributed a hit for the victory. The disciplined Huskies drew 6 bases on balls and capitalized on several Neptune miscues. The defense was stellar as the team did not commit an error the entire game.
Matawan 13...Thompson 7
Momentum changes...plays that seem to change the course of a game by motivating or inspiring a team. The Husky fans witnessed first-hand how a single defensive play can spur a team offensively. Brian Leibell and Scott Thompson had huge 2 RBI hits to put the Huskies up 4-1 entering the 5th inning. Starting pitcher Justin Harnett recorded the first two outs in the inning but appeared to be running out of gas. Mike Martocci ran into trouble in relief as Thompson rallied to tie the game in the 5th inning. Dan Incle was summoned from 3B to relieve Martocci. The first pitch he threw was lined to right center field. Matt Pidich ran to his left, tracked the ball down, spun around, and fired a one-hopper to catcher Ronnie Robinson to nail the baserunner from 2B. Ladies and gentleman - this is your Coca Cola play of the game. In the bottom half of the 5th inning, the Husky bats exploded for 9 runs to cruise to their fourth straight victory. Matt Rackett (3-3, 2R, 2RBI, SB), Dan Incle (3-4, 3R, SB, RBI), Shawn Johnson (2-3), and Robbie Marshall (1-1, R, RBI) each contributed big hits as Matawan put Thompson away. Ronnie Robinson was stellar behind the plate as he threw out three baserunners. Dan Incle earned his second win, and Matt Pidich nailed down his first save of the season.
Matawan 12...Holmdel 5
When your pitchers limit their bases on balls and your defense doesn't give the opponent extra outs - you have a good chance to win. Oh yeah...it doesn't hurt your chances for success when your offense bangs out 22 hits! The Huskies combined all three trademarks of good baseball to pounce on Holmdel 12-5 to improve to 5-0 on the season. Shawn Johnson did it all yesterday - he pitched effectively into the 5th inning and handed the ball over to Scott Thompson who shut down the Hornets for the final two innings. Johnson was 2-5 at the plate with two triples and two runs scored. More importantly, he filled in nicely at shortstop as the Huskies were without their two other shortstops due to injury and illness. The first 8 Husky batters had multiple hit games. Dan Incle (2-5, 2B, R), Mike Denino (3-5, 2RBI), Matt Pidich (3-4, 3R, 3SB, 2B), Ronnie Robinson (2-4, 2B), Brian Leibell (4-5, 2R, 2RBI), Matt Rackett (3-4, 2RBI, SAC), and Anthony Principe (3-4, RBI) led the offensive attack. Ronnie Robinson was great behind the plate once again. He threw out his 4th baserunner of the season and didn't allow a passed ball all game.
Matawan 13...Bayshore 2
Wednesday was a beautiful day for golf. The humidity was down and there was a nice breeze blowing off the Atlantic Ocean. Our game vs. Bayshore was played adjacent to Beacon Hill Golf Club. As the sound of golf clubs swinging and balls driven filled the background, the Huskies decided to "tee off" on Bayshore's pitching. Matt Pidich (3-3, 2R, 2SB, HR, RBI) led off the 3rd inning with his 3rd career homer at Bayshore's field, and Shawn Johnson (2-4, 2R, HR, 3RBI) followed suit with his first career MAMS homerun as the Husky batters drove ball after ball into the outfield fairway. Mike Denino continued his hot hitting as he stroked two base hits and collected three RBI's. Justin Harnett (2-3, 2R, 2RBI, BB) and Dan Incle (1-2, 2SB, RBI, BB, HBP) led a balanced attack from top to bottom as the Huskies improved to 6-0 on the season. Matt Pidich dominated Bayshore's batters as he struck out 9 and allowed only 3 hits to earn his first win of the season. Ronnie Robinson gunned down another 2 baserunners to increase his season total to 6 while calling a great game behind the plate.
Matawan 8...Neptune 2
The Huskies concluded their three game road trip with an 8-2 victory over a pesky Neptune squad. Dan Incle gutted out 6 strong innings for a Husky pitching staff that has played 6 games in 6 days. Mike Ziegler made his MAMS pitching debut as he pitched a scoreless 7th inning. Incle (1-4, 3B, R, RBI) walked 4, allowed 4 hits, struck out 6, and gave up 2 earned runs to improve to 3-0 on the season. Matawan opened up the scoring with multiple runs in the first inning for the 3rd consecutive game and added runs in every inning except the 6th. Justin Harnett led the attack by going 2-4 with a double, two runs, and an RBI. Matt Pidich (1-4, 3B, 2R, SB, RBI), Ronnie Robinson (1-2, BB, HBP), and Mike Creamer (1-3, R, BB) contributed hits for the 7-0 Huskies. Ronnie Robinson threw out his 7th baserunner of the season as the Huskies played a solid defensive game.
Matawan 10...Bayshore 2
Back to business. After a week layoff, the Huskies again made the journey to Atlantic Avenue to meet Bayshore on a day where the sun was finally shining. As they have done all season, the Huskies blew the game open with another big inning that featured RBI doubles by Matt Pidich (1-3, 2B, 2R, SB, BB, RBI) and Anthony Principe (1-3, 2B, R, BB, 2RBI) and a squeeze play by Mike Creamer (2-2, 2B, R, SB, SAC, BB, 2RBI). George Zirkel (2-4, 2R, 2RBI) was on the receiving end of a nifty 4-4-3 double play executed by Justin Harnett (1-3, 2B, SB, BB, RBI). The Huskies have combined great pitching and outstanding defense to limit their opponents to an average of 3 runs/game. Shawn Johnson improved to 2-0 on the season as he allowed 1 earned run and 2 hits while striking out 4. Mike Martocci (O ER, 2K) came out of the bullpen to pitch flawless 4th and 5th innings. Matt Pidich toyed with Bayshore's batters as he struck out 5 of the 6 he faced.
Matawan 6...Thompson 3 (8 innings)
Nueve de Mayo has returned. Matt Pidich pitched and hit the Huskies to their ninth straight victory as they beat Thompson 6-3 in 8 innings in a game that has already been billed as an "Instant Classic". Matawan jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a RBI single by Mike Creamer (2-3, BB, R, RBI) in the 2nd inning and later added 2 more runs in the 5th on a RBI triple by Matt Pidich (2-5, 2B, 3B, 4RBI) to score Dan Incle (1-4, 2B, 2R, 2SB, HBP). Pidich was pushed home to make the lead 3-0 on Ronnie Robinson's (2-4, SAC, RBI) second squeeze of the season. However, after giving up his first hit of the game in the 6th inning and striking out 11 batters, the Husky bullpen could not preserve the victory for Pidich. Thompson rallied for 2 runs in the 6th and 1 more in the 7th to send the game into extra frames. With the bases loaded, 2 outs, and a 3-2 count with the runners in motion, Nueve de Mayo unloaded a bases-clearing double to score Mike Denino (3-3, BB, R), Mike Creamer, and Dan Incle to take a 6-3 lead. Scott Thompson, who had put out a Thompson fire in the 6th, earned the win with 1.33 innings of solid relief. Brian Leibell (1-3, BB) made a web gem over-the-shoulder catch in foul ground to get the second out in the eventual win.
Matawan 13...Hazlet 3
325 feet...that's how far Matt Pidich's second HR of the season traveled. The Huskies actually trailed this game 3-2 entering the 3rd inning, but the bats came alive in the top of the 3rd and Matawan scored multiple runs in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. Pidich's BOMB, a 2 run jack, gave the Huskies a 10-3 lead and enabled them to cruise to their 10th straight victory. Justin Harnett (2-4, R, RBI), Dan Incle (2-3, 2B, 2SB, 2R, SAC, RBI), Shawn Johnson (1-1, 3BB, 3R), Matt Pidich (2-3, R, BB, SB, 2B, HR, 4RBI), Ronnie Robinson (1-2, BB, SAC, RBI), Brian Leibell (2-3, RBI, R), and Scott Thompson (2-2, 2R, 2BB) led a balanced attack to allow the Huskies to score double digit runs for the 7th time this season. Shawn Johnson improved to 3-0 on the season as he scattered 6 hits over 5 innings while walking 2 and striking out 3. Mike Ziegler struck out the side in the 6th to seal the victory. Robbie Marshall doubled home 2 runs and Patrick DePaulo doubled and scored a run in a great team effort. Special thanks to Coach Derechailo for taking the time to measure the distance from home plate to the top of the green shed where Pidich's BOMB landed!
Matawan 14...Ocean 1
The Huskies traveled to perennial baseball powerhouse Ocean Township Wednesday and promptly handed them their second loss of the season. Brian Leibell, in his first MAMS career start, allowed 2 hits, struck out 3, and didn't allow an earned run. Matawan again relied on a balanced offensive attack that saw them bang out 14 hits. If there's another player on the planet hotter than Matt Pidich - I'd like to see him. Pidich (3-5, 2R, 2HR, SB, 5RBI) hit his 3rd and 4th HR's of the season to account for the Huskies first 3 runs. His teammates then joined in the parade with Justin Harnett (2-4, 2R, SAC, BB, RBI), Dan Incle (2-3, 3R, 3B, BB, 2RBI), Shawn Johnson (2-5, 2R, SB, 3B, RBI), Brian Leibell (1-3), Matt Rackett (1-2), and Mike Denino (2-2, 2R, SB) helping produce Matawan's second highest offensive output for the season. With the game well in hand, Matt Rackett and Mike Martocci sealed the win with great pitching out of the bullpen. The Huskies recorded their 11th win this season and 17th in a row dating back to the 2008 season.
Matawan 7...Holmdel 0
The Huskies have received some great pitching this season. With our schedule requiring us to play everyday, you knew the pitching depth was going to be the key to our success. On Wednesday in Ocean, Brian Leibell pitched 5 shutout innings in his season debut. Yesterday, Justin Harnett gave this Husky team the shot in the arm it needed for the home stretch. Juddy, as he's known to his teammates, tossed the Huskies' first complete-game-shutout of the season as allowed a mere 3 hits while striking out 4. As if that wasn't enough, Harnett went 3-4 at the plate with 2 runs, a SB, and 3 RBI's. With hurricane-like winds blowing in, the Huskies somehow were able to drive the ball for timely extra-base hits. Dan Incle (2-4, 2B, R, RBI), Matt Pidich (2-4, 2-2B, 2RBI), and Mike Denino (1-3) each battled Mother Nature with long hits to inspire the Huskies to their 12th straight win of the season. Brian Leibell was 2-3 on the day and Scott Thompson scored 3 runs and stole a base. Dan Incle and Mike Martocci each made some nifty plays in the field.
Matawan 11...Thorne 4
Revenge is sweet. Matawan's championship team from 2008 was swept by Thorne. The 2009 team was committed to not letting that happen again. Thorne's bats exploded in the first inning as they scored two runs on four hits. The Huskies had an explosion of their own in their half of the first inning as they plated 4 runs and never trailed again. Matt Pidich (2R, BB, SB, RBI) scored Justin Harnett (3-4, 3R, SB) on a ground out and Mike Denino (2-3, R, 2RBI) delivered a clutch, one-out, 2RBI single to score Shawn Johnson and Connor Clifton. Shawn Johnson (3-3, 3-2B, 2R, HBP) hit 3 balls as hard as you possibly could and legged out a double each time up. Robbie Marshall collected an RBI single in the 5th inning and Matawan scored 3 times in the 6th to blow the game open. Matt Pidich earned his second win of the season as he allowed 5 hits and struck out 6 batters. Matt Rackett and Dan Incle provided 0 ER out of the pullpen as the Huskies won their 13th game in a row. Ronnie Robinson (2-3, BB) ended the game as he picked off a foolish Thorne baserunner at 1B.
Matawan 7...Neptune 1
You can't stop this Matawan team - you can only hope to contain them. Neptune did a good job of containing the Huskies for 5 of the 6 innings. Fortunately for the Huskies, their ability to produce a big inning was the difference in this game as Matawan scored 6 runs in the 3rd on route to a 7-1 victory. Justin Harnett (1-2, R, SB, BB, RBI), Dan Incle (1-2, R, RBI, 2SB, HBP), Shawn Johnson (1-3, R), and Matt Pidich (1-3, R, 2B, RBI) had consecutive hits in the 3rd and Brian Leibell (2-3, R, 2B, SB, 2RBI) broke the game open as Matawan cruised to its 14th straight victory. Shawn Johnson threw 5 innings of superb, efficient baseball as he scattered 6 hits and struck out 4. More importantly, he did not walk a batter and allowed his defense to keep his pitch count down. Mike Ziegler pitched the 6th and 7th innings allowing only 1 hit while striking out two Scarlet Fliers. Justin Henderson returned from a long layoff to smash a base hit in the sixth inning. Matawan has won 20 games in a row dating back to last season!!!
Matawan 16...Long Branch 0
On a day where it appeared that Matawan was "going through the motions", the Husky bats finally exploded as they have all season. Matawan scored 12 times in the 5th inning to break open a 4-0 game and give Matawan an opportunity to complete its first undefeated season in school history. Shawn Johnson drilled an outside fastball over the fence to put Matawan up 4-0 in the 2nd. This was Shawn's second HR of the season. The Huskies would send up 16 batters in the 5th inning to put the game out of reach. Mike Creamer (2-2, 2-2B, R, SB), George Zirkell (2-3, 2R, BB), Brian Leibell (1-3, 2RBI, BB), Mike Denino (1-1, 3BB, 2R, 2RBI), Ronnie Robinson (1-3, 2B, R, BB), Mike Martocci (1-2, R, RBI), Matt Pidich (1-2, 2B, RBI), Dan Incle (1-3, BB, R, RBI), and Matt Rackett (1-3, R, RBI, 2B) all made offensive contributions in the victory. Brian Leibell pitched 5 innings of 1 hit ball to extend his scoreless run streak to 10 innings. Tyler Perlowin scored 2 runs for Leibell and Ronnie Robinson threw out his 9th baserunner of the season.
Matawan 5...Thorne 3
Matawan had a score to settle and it waited 385 days to get its sweet revenge. For the first time in MAMS history, the baseball team went undefeated and put the cherry on top of an incredible season with a 5-3 victory over Thorne for its 16th win of the year. It certainly was no easy task, but your beloved Huskies were up for the challange. Matawan jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st inning as Dan Incle (4-4, R, 2RBI) scored on an RBI single by Matt Pidich (3-3, 2SB, RBI, R) who later scored on an RBI single by Ronnie Robinson (1-3, RBI). In the bottom half of the 1st, Thorne answered with a run of its own but Scott Thompson ended the rally with a nice 1-6-3 double play. The Huskies struck again in the 2nd as Dan Incle drove home Mike Creamer (1-3, 2R) with the third run. Starting pitcher Matt Pidich found his grove and pitched a scoreless 2nd and 3rd innings while striking out the side in the 3rd. Matawan was held scoreless in the 3rd and 4th, but Thorne capitalized on several Husky miscues to tie the game at 3 in the bottom of the 4th inning. Justin Harnett was summoned from the bullpen and gave this Matawan team a shot in the arm as he pitched a scoreless 5th and 6th innings. As both teams entered the 7th inning, the table was set for a great ending. Mike Creamer lined a clutch, one-out single to give Matawan some life. Matt Rackett (1-2, SAC) promptly bunted Creamer to second base. Justin Harnett (1-3, R, SAC) dribbled a ball down the left side of the infield and beat out the throw to first base. Creamer attempted to advance to third base on the throw...Thorne fired the ball across the diamond to third base. As the cloud of dust cleared, Creamer was safe and the ball was rolling towards left field. Creamer jumped to his feet and raced home safely with the eventual winning run. Dan Incle gave the Huskies some much needed insurance as he lined his 4th hit of the day to score Harnett with the team's 5th run. All this Matawan team needed was 3 outs to secure their championship. Matt Rackett recorded the first out with a nice running catch on a foul ball. Scott Thompson calmly fielded and threw out the Thorne baserunner for the second out. Justin Harnett, with ice pumping through his veins, induced a ground ball to Matt Rackett, who slid to his right, backhanded the ball, and threw to first baseman Brian Leibell (1-3) to kick off a celebration for the ages! Congratulations Huskies on an incredible season!!!