Month: May 2015

A message from the Johnson family………

Coach, I wanted to thank you and the team for taking the time to shake my hand and say hello after yesterday’s  game. What a nice group of young men that demonstrated great class and maturity. Their parents, you and your coaching staff can be very proud of them as I’m sure you all are. Dieters entire family has been able share the teams story of their lucky cantaloupe all over the country and are so grateful to know he is still remembered.  Best wishes to you all, and may God Bless the Underdog!

Sincerely, Tom Johnson

It was a good run

The Huskies came up short against a very good 25-6 Gov Livingston team by a score of 12-2. 

In a season of ups and downs- the Huskies rallied at the end and played their best baseball of the season knocking off a 3 seed and 6 seed in the playoffs.  True character is shown during times of strife and Matawan baseball showed its heart in the last 3 weeks to finish strong. 

Here’s the story… Of the cantaloupe ….

Mr. Johnson was a beloved graduate, teacher and coach at Matawan HS who passed suddenly passed away a year or two after I graduated in 93. He was my teacher and freshman football coach and all the students loved him – athletes or not. Whether it was a pressure point to bring you to your knees, his arm around you giving you a pep talk, or him answering your questions or a hello/ goodbye with his famous – MUKA HAKA or YUMBOOLI – replies he was a Matawan favorite. I told the kids when asked why our field was named for him these things and told them HE ALWAYS ROOTED FOR THE UNDER DOG- and this must be where the kids got the  idea from – 

  

The ride continues….. 

Starter Nick Smith finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and Adam Elliot went 2-for-3 and knocked in a run to lead 14th-seeded Matawan to a 5-1 victory over sixth-seeded Manasquan in the Central Jersey, Group 2 quarterfinals in Manasquan.
Billy Rodriguez, Kyle Chapman and Isaiah Phillip each drove in a run for Matawan. Smith allowed one run over the first five innings, Colin Thompson pitched a scoreless sixth and Richard Joe threw a perfect seventh for Matawan. Matt Paturzo went 2-for-3 with a double for Manasquan/