Tracy's Blasts Lift Madison Baseball To Crushing Win

BERKELEY HEIGHTS–The goal of the Madison High School baseball team in 2010 is to win a championship.

The Dodgers will have four chances. Division, county and state titles will be settled over the next six weeks.

But the way Madison has been hitting the ball lately, they may only have to wait seven more days to raise a trophy.

Tom Tracy hit a pair of home runs and collected eight RBIs as Madison pounded 18 hits to overwhelm New Providence, 24-11, in the opening round of the Highlander Tournament Saturday afternoon at Governor Livingston High School.

Madison will return to Governor Livingston next Saturday at 2 p.m. to play the host team for the tournament title. The Highlanders crushed Chatham, 12-0, in the other first-round game.

"We're taking this very seriously," said Madison coach Mickey Ennis. "This is a priority for us. We need to learn how to win a championship. It's exciting just be in a championship game situation next week."

Ennis feared a letdown after the Dodgers' heartbreaking 5-4 walk-off loss at Pequannock Friday afternoon.

But while Madison's game wasn't perfect–Madison pitchers allowed 10 earned runs on 14 hits, and baserunning errors cost the Dodgers two runs in the early innings–the offense certainly did not let down.

"I've said all along that we can swing the bat," Ennis said. "If we can get the pitching and defense to go with it, we'll be OK."

Though they led the entire way, Madison's lead was just two until the top of the sixth. But a three-run rally, including a home run by Jamie Hunter, put the Dodgers in firm control.

The next inning, the Dodgers exploded for 14 more.

It was a stunning display of firepower for Madison, which had scored 22 runs combined in its first four games, and totaled just two extra-base hits in its first three.

The Dodgers batted around twice in the seventh Saturday, sending 18 batters to the plate.

The first eight batters reached base and scored; 15 of the first 16 batters reached before New Providence pitcher Mike Kennedy stopped the bleeding with a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

Six players collected eight hits in the inning, with Tracy and Connor Allen grabbing two each.

"We started off slow this season," Tracy said. "It's almost like our eyes weren't used to seeing the ball, and now we're getting kind of locked in. Facing [all-state pitcher Jordan] Tabakman on Friday probably helped, too."

Tracy, a junior first baseman, hit an RBI single to extend Madison's lead to 13-5, then blasted a towering grand slam off an inside fastball over the left field fence to make it 24-5 later in the inning.

It was Tracy's fourth run, fourth hit, third extra-base hit and second home run of the game. His first–a two-run shot in the second inning–also flew over the high wall over the short porch in left.

The grand slam was a wild end to an exceptional offensive day for the Dodgers, who scored four in the first and two in the second and appeared primed to run away with the game.

All four first-inning tallies were unearned for New Providence starter Jimmy Madden, thanks to three crucial errors. A bobble on a Connor Allen ground ball allowed Jake Meister to score the first run. The next batter, Jamie Hunter, hit a groundball to second base, but the flip to short for a potential double-play was errant, scoring Tracy.

A single by red-hot centerfielder Dilan Kluge (7-for-13 so far this season) and an RBI groundout by Mike Haughey made it 4-0.

A two-run double by New Providence catcher Steve Zimmerman cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom half of the inning, but Tracy's first home run made it 6-2.

The cushion would prove to be enough for Meister, Madison's starting pitcher, who picked up his first win of the season.

Meister allowed six runs, five earned, over five innings, but was terribly unlucky with a number of wind-assisted pop-ups that found open space and turned into run-producing hits.

"He came back on four days' rest and threw about as well as I could expect," Ennis said. "We didn't move the outfield in as much as we could have to help him out, but it was a good start for him."

One of those unfortunate plays, a bloop double to right field by Joe Meyers, cut Madison's lead to 7-5 with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Meister rebounded by striking out three of the final five batters he faced, using an excellent breaking ball to freeze the New Providence hitters for called third strikes.

"We've had a couple of windy days and the ball is finding a dead area," Ennis said. "In a way, that's a good thing. We've been a little unlucky, and that can't happen all year long."

Connor Higgins came on to relieve Meister, and pitched a scoreless sixth inning prior to the Dodgers' 14-run seventh.

New Providence touched up Mike Wulff for six runs on four hits in the seventh, but it was not nearly enough.

"We let them back in, we didn't quite put them away until the end," Ennis said. "We had opportunities to put them away early today, and that's just something we're going to have to learn to do better."

Pioneer centerfielder Joe Meyers picked up for hits on the day, coming up a home run short of a cycle.

Ennis was referring to, among other plays, a bizarre baserunning sequence in which Kluge was caught in a rundown between third base and home on back-to-back pitches; he was tagged out on the second one.

NEXT UP
The Dodgers return to NJAC-Independence play Monday at 4 p.m. when they play Morris Catholic at Madison High School.

The Crusaders (4-1, 2-0) have won three straight, including their last two on walk-off hits. An excellent-hitting ballclub, Morris Catholic bludgeoned Hanover Park, 10-6 on April 5. After a 13-12 win over Butler, the Crusaders kept their perfect Independence Division record intact when Andrew Wood's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh beat Parsippany, 5-4, on Friday.

Madison will be searching for its first division win behind pitcher Haughey, who will make his first start of the season.

A four-game week will require the Dodgers to use a fourth starter; Madison coach Mickey Ennis said Connor Higgins would likely start Wednesday's game against Hanover Park, Connor Allen would take the hill against Millburn Thursday, and Jake Meister would start the Highlander Tournament final next Saturday afternoon.

BOX SCORE
Madison                    4  2  0  1  0  3  14  -  24 / 18 / 2
New Providence    2  1  0  2  0  0    4  -  10 / 14 / 7
W: Jake Meister (1-1)
L: Jimmy Madden (0-2)

MADISON (3-2)
-Brownlee, 3B          3-4, 4 R, RBI, 2 BB, SB
-Meister, SS              1-4, 4 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
-Tracy, 1B                 4-5, 4 R, 8 RBI, 2 HR (2), BB
-Allen, DH                 3-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B
-Hunter, LF              2-4, R, RBI, HR (1)
---Higgins, LF          1-2, R, RBI
-Kluge, CF                 1-3, RBI, BB, SB
---Phillips, 1B          0-2
-Haughey, RF          1-4, R, RBI
---Kennedy, C          1-1, R, RBI
-Wulff, 2B                 1-3, R, 2B, 2 SB
---Garcia, RF           0-0, R, BB
-Ruiz, C                      1-3, 2 R, RBI, SB
---Finelli, CF            0-0, R, RBI, BB

-Meister, SP            5 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 10 H, 6 K, 1 BB, 89 pitches (57 strikes)
---Higgins, RP        1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 K, 1 BB, 13 pitches (6 strikes)
---Wulff, RP            1 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 H, 1 K, 2 BB, 30 pitches (17 strikes)

NEW PROVIDENCE (1-3)
-Meyers, CF             4-4, R, 3 RBI, 3B, 2B, CS
-Morgan, RF            3-4, 2 R, RBI
-Quinn, LF                 1-3, 2 R, BB
-Pastore, 1B             2-3, R, RBI, SB
-Zimmerman, C      1-2, 2 RBI, 2B
----Angeleri, C        0-1, R, BB
-Randazzo, 3B        1-4, R
-Kennedy, 2B         2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB
-Fay, SS                     0-3, BB
-Ecker, DH               0-4

-Madden, SP           6 IP, 12 R, 7 ER, 10 H, 2 K, 4 BB, 114 pitches (63 strikes)
--Morgan, RP         1/3 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 H, 1 K, 3 BB, 35 pitches (14 strikes)
----Kennedy, RP   2/3 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 1 BB, 20 pitches (13 strikes)