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2025 SSI Baseball Player of the Year: Matt Ferrara, Toms River East

Matt Manley|June 30, 2025|Last Updated June 29, 2025

When a baseball game is hanging in the balance and a championship is on the line, you never know who will play the role of hero for the winning team.

Then again, sometimes you know exactly who it will be.

Toms River East senior Matt Ferrara was not only his team’s shortstop, top power hitter and headline player as a University of Pittsburgh commit; he was also the Raiders’ most clutch performer during their best two-year run in nearly two decades.

“When the crowd is here and the lights come on, he shows up,” Toms River East coach Keith Smicklo said of Ferrara.

With a robust stat-line, a diverse set of tools and a flair for the dramatic, Ferrara closes out his decorated three-year varsity career at Toms River East as the 2025 Shore Sports Insider Player of the Year.

Toms River East senior Matt Ferrara celebrates his first-inning home run. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com) - TRE Matt Ferrara

Toms River East senior Matt Ferrara celebrates his first-inning home run against Toms River South in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III final. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)

After a Second-Team All-Shore season as a junior in 2024, Ferrara kicked down the door as a First-Team shortstop and upper-echelon player in the Shore Conference, as well as around the state. After hitting .392 a season ago, Ferrara cracked the .400 mark with a .405 batting average while scalding 16 extra-base hits – tied for second in the Shore Conference. That collection of extra-base knocks included 13 doubles, which was also good for second in the Shore Conference.

The numbers themselves put Ferrara in the conversation for Player of the Year, but context is important to his Player of the Year case. Of his three home runs in 2025, Ferrara cracked two of them in championship games – one in the Ocean County Tournament final vs. Brick Memorial and the other vs. Toms River South in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III championship game – both Toms River East wins.

Ferrara’s performance in the two championship games continued a trend from his junior year, when he hit a tie-breaking RBI double in the sixth inning of Toms River East’s win over Jackson Memorial in the 2024 Ocean County Tournament final. The Raiders’ win in that game secured their first OCT title since 2007.

This year, Toms River East was looking to win back-to-back championships in the OCT and Ferrara helped them finish the job while turning the championship game vs. Brick Memorial at Al Leiter Ballpark into his own personal showcase. Ferrara went 3-for-4 with a game-tying solo home run in the third inning and a tie-breaking RBI single in the top of the sixth as Toms River East beat the Mustangs, 3-1, for their second straight OCT title. For the second straight year, Ferrara delivered the go-ahead hit in the sixth inning and he added a long-ball while putting on a dazzling defensive display at shortstop for good measure.

The next championship opportunity for Toms River East came a month later and nearly all of Toms River was in attendance to watch Ferrara’s next big swing. Facing Toms River South for the first time in an NJSIAA sectional final, Ferrara set the tone early with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning as the Raiders went on to beat the Indians, 6-1, to capture their first sectional championship since 2006. Ferrara went 1-for-3 in the game and one of his two outs that he made was a fly-out to the fence in left, just feet shy of his second homer of the game.

Ferrara’s lone regular-season home run was also of import. Facing defending Central Group IV champion Jackson Memorial on the road, Ferrara launched a two-run bomb in the top of the seventh inning that proved the difference in a 4-2 Raiders win over the Jaguars on April 14.

“Whenever there is a big moment, Matty comes through,” Smicklo said. “It seems like when the lights come on, Matty plays. That’s kind of been his M.O.”

In addition to his ability to rise to the occasion, the element that separated Ferrara from a close, crowded field of Player-of-the-Year candidates (see below) was his athleticism. The University of Pittsburgh commit endure a spell of errors early in the season, but was also prone to the spectacular defensive play at shortstop – many of which he unleashed during Toms River East’s OCT run. He was equally impressive on the base paths, where he stole 26 bases – good for third in the Shore Conference.

During his four-year varsity career, Ferrara not only established himself as an All-Shore player; he helped propel Toms River East back to the top of the Shore Conference. Ferrara heads to Pitt a two-time Ocean County Tournament champion, a sectional champion and the shortstop on the No. 4 team in the final Shore Sports Insider rankings.

With teammates Joey DiMeo, Lucas Melton and Carson Frazier due back as the potential core of the 2026 team and more talent in the pipeline, more hardware could be in Toms River East’s future. Whatever happens in the coming years, the resurgence of Toms River East will be traced back to the Ferrara-led teams of 2024 and 2025.

SeasonPAABHBBHBP2B3BHRRRBIAVGOBPSLUGSB
20226758117110058.190.284.2072
202387732995810248.397.494.53411
202410074292415313017.392.540.58118
2025102843410513033422.405.485.66726
Total356289103501227449355.356.465.51957

Matt Manley’s Player of the Year Ballot

1. Matt Ferrara, Sr., Shortstop, Toms River East

2. Danny Lubach, Jr., Catcher, Point Pleasant Beach

3. Danny Tsimbinos, Sr., Catcher, Christian Brothers Academy

4. Ricky Lopez, So., Shortstop, Ranney

5. Dan Golembiewski, Jr., First Base, Brick Memorial

6. Dylan Passo, Sr., First Base, Red Bank Catholic

7. Collin Denton, Sr., Pitcher/First Base, Monmouth

8. Dan Nafziger, Sr., Pitcher/Second Base, Toms River East

9. Ben Robinson, Sr., Shortstop/Pitcher, Ocean

10. Joey DiMeo, So., Third Base, Toms River East

 

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