Becton’s baseball team has been on a roll lately to the tune of five straight victories.
The Wildcats have not only improved their record to 11-2, but also have put the ideas of not only winning the BCSL National division title in the minds of the Becton fans, but also of qualifying for the Bergen County Tournament. The county tournament is considered one of most prestigious in the state.
"We want to play as many meaningful games as we can," said Becton head coach Damon Affinito in his first year as the East Rutherford high school head coach.
With 11 victories so far this season, the Wildcats are just one game behind the 2007 win total of a dozen for the entire season.
The Wildcats ended last week combining offense and pitching en route to a 12-3 victory at North Arlington in a BCSL National game. The win also placed them in a tie with Lyndhurst for the National lead. Behind those two teams are St. Mary’s and Hasbrouck Heights, two games behind them for the lead.
The game also gave the Wildcats a five-game losing streak with the last loss coming at the hands of Lyndhurst on April 17 at Yogi Berra Stadium.
Becton will get another shot at Lyndhurst at home this time on May 8. The game is a day before the state tournament cutoff.
Against North Arlington the Wildcats combined the pitching of K.J Ross with the hitting of several Becton batters as they compiled 14 hitters against the Vikings. Three different Wildcats hitters had multiple RBI in the National contest in Matt Germann with four, O.J. Younes with three and Jeremy Liebeck with two.
If Affinito had picked one aspect of the game that has led Becton to this great start it would have to be pitching. "If I picked one thing it would have to be the great pitching this year. It has been across the board in terms of pitching."
Liebeck got the start in the team’s biggest game last week and the senior got the victory on the mound as Becton defeated St. Mary’s, 6-3. Liebeck raised his record to 4-1 while the Wildcats offense took off to a 5-0 lead before the Gaels came back at home. "He’s (Liebeck) probably smarter than he has been last years," said Affinito. "This is by virtue of having another year of varsity baseball under his belt."
Ryan Stuiso had a pair of RBI for Becton while Anthony Hediger, Germann and DeRosa had an RBI each.
While Liebeck is considered to be the top pitcher, Germann was 4-0 as of last week after the Wildcats nipped Wood-Ridge, 5-4 on Thursday. "Matt has really done a good job and making good pitches," said Affinito.
While Liebecka and Germann have been considered one-two in the staff, Matt Fleck has been the workhorse of the staff. Fleck pitched in three games in the past two weeks. "Usually in high school you pitch one game a week," said Affinito about Fleck who has been instrumental in the recent streak.
