Tennant's Arm, Bat Helps Raritan Clinch A Central Championship

Photo above: Raritan star of the game, junior Jake Tennant

MATAWAN – Jake Tennant went the distance in Raritan’s 14-3 five-inning win over Matawan and the Rockets clinched their second-straight outright Class A Central title Tuesday in Matawan.

Tennant went five innings giving up three runs (two earned) and six hits without issuing a walk while striking out five on 62 pitches.

The junior right-hander also had a bases clearing triple and a RBI sacrifice fly that came within inches of leaving the park for a grand slam. He finished 1-for-2 with four RBI, triple, and a run scored at the plate.

It was a nice bounce-back win for the Rockets playing their first game since a tough 2-1 extra-innings loss to St. Rose in Saturday’s Shore Conference Tournament semifinals.

“It’s always tough coming off a loss like that - a heartbreaker,” said Tennant. “We almost had that one but we just came in here today knowing that if we played our game and did everything right we’d come out on top. The division title is awesome. Two in a row, Raritan hasn’t done that in a while.

“Absolutely,” Tennant said when asked if it helped getting up for today’s game after the loss to St. Rose knowing they were playing for the division title. “Knowing what we’ve been doing all year and what was on the line today and with the guys I have behind me just makes it so much easier when I’m out there.”

Head coach Jeff Struble was impressed by how his team put the St. Rose loss behind them and captured the division title.

“We’ve been a little up-and-down this year.” Struble said. “We had a short week where we lost two in a row in the division and people started counting us out a little bit. We sat down and talked and communicated with each other and we started out finding what our purpose is and all our goals that we talked about earlier in the year. These guys came together and we needed that for the run we made in MCT. We had a great run and the way we lost was tough, but these guys understood and came together again and we got a big one today to win it (division) outright.”

The Huskies (8-7, 6-6) took a quick 2-0 first-inning lead after a Jay Kalieta single and Richie Olsen's double put runners on second and third with Kalieta then scoring on a wild pitch. Olsen moved to third on the play before crossing the plate on a 6-4 fielder’s choice grounder for a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the second Raritan took advantage of Olsen’s wildness to score seven runs (five earned) as the junior left-hander walked three and hit three in the inning and was hurt by a two-out error that kept the inning alive.

Junior Shawn O’hea, sophomore Dan Fiore and senior Zack Johnston all had RBI singles and Dan Vanmeerbeke was credited with an RBI after getting beaned with the base loaded. A run scored on a base loaded double play and two unearned runs scored on an error from shortstop Chris Gendi in the sloppy seven-run inning.

Junior righty James Nichols entered the game in relief of Olsen in the top of the third and he didn’t fare much better. After getting O’hea on a deep fly ball to centerfield he walked the bases loaded for Tennent, who greeted Nichols with a three-run triple into the left-centerfield gap.

“I just saw a pitch that was up-and-in,” said Tennant of his triple. “I love it there and I put it that way and good things happen.”

Stuble has been impressed with Tennent’s at bats as of late and feels his slugger is on the right track at the plate at just the right time.

“He’s starting to come around, he started the season a little slow,” said Struble. “He’s spent a lot of hours in the cage trying to get back on track. With all that work and extra effort he’s really starting to come around at a good time for us right now. We still got guys in the lineup that trying to find it and if they start hitting too we’re going to be a tough team to beat when it comes together.”

Matawan sophomore centerfielder Jay Kalieta led off the bottom of the third with single and stole second moving to third when the throw sailed into center and came home on Gendi’s RBI single into left field with no outs to make it 10-3.

Tennant settled down striking out Olsen for the first out and the Rockets turned a pretty 5-3-4 double play to get out of the inning without any further damage.

Raritan pushed the lead to 13-3 scoring another three runs in the top of the fourth. With one out Nichols sandwiched a hit batsman with walks to load the bases before walking junior Tyler Bruno for a run and bringing up Tennant with the bases still loaded.

Tennant then sent a Nichols offering to deep right field with senior Chris Rodriguez making the catch with his back against the right-field wall for an RBI sacrifice fly that looked like it was leaving the park for a grand slam off the bat.

“Almost, almost,” Tennant said of his sac fly. “You know, I didn’t even think it was that close at first. I thought the kid had a beat on it for a second but then it kept going.”

A wild pitch brought in the third run of the inning before another walk and a 6-4 grounder ended the inning.

The Rockets tacked on another run when Johnston drilled a triple into the right-field corner leading off the fifth and pinch runner Ryan Warren scored on an error to make it 14-3.

Tennant gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth then set the side down in order including making a dramatic catch of a liner back to the mound to end the game and hand the division title to the Rockets.

Fiore had a hit, two walks, HBP, three runs, RBI and three stolen base while O’Hea had a hit, walk, an RBI and two runs. Kasmer scored three runs and walked twice and Bruno scored two runs, walked twice and had an RBI.

Ratitan (14-4, 10-2) – ranked ninth in the Shore Conference – has won nine of its last 10 games with their only loss coming against St. Rose on Saturday. They appear to playing some of their best baseball of the year at just the right time with the Shore Conference Tournament and state playoffs just around the corner.

“We’re just going to compete and take it one game at a time,” said Struble. “If we play good baseball I know we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Struble also likes the fact that the Rockets have three quality arms (Tennant, Johnston and Vanmeerbeke) that they can throw at you on any given day – a luxury most teams don’t possess.

“We have three guys that have won a lot of games the past two years for us,” said Struble. “It kind of extends the week a little bit when we have three guys that you know when they’re going out there you’re going to get max effort from them. They’re going to be pit bulls on the mound and they’re going to try to go after teams. Guys feel great when they’re on the mound and they really give us a great shot to win.”

When asked if he thought the team was close to putting it all together Struble said. “A little bit, yea. I don’t want to tell these guys that, but I feel like we’re playing good baseball now. I still want them to keep that humble approach, take one game at a time and show up and be ready to play. We can't assume anything and they’re doing a great job doing that.”

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