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Dangerous Game: Howell Continues Tournament Mastery in Win Over Manalapan

Matt Manley|May 17, 2026|Last Updated May 17, 2026

FARMINGDALE — Call the Howell High School baseball team whatever you please; just don’t call the Rebels the best team in the Shore Conference.

They don’t want that title, at least not in March, April or May. Sleep on them, dismiss them, doubt them and they have their fuel for the next 10 weeks of baseball. Many teams would cower at the thought of facing the schedule the Rebels have faced this season, but for the Howell players, it created the perfect conditions for a team that would not be picked to win anything and was ready to compete for everything come June.

This year’s Howell team has been so good against the Shore’s best that it finds itself in the running for the Shore’s top spot about three weeks before its players care to reach the summit. Behind a one-hit gem by junior John Bertan, a big swing from sophomore catcher Jake Liotti and timely hitting by a pair of seniors, the Rebels — seeded No. 7 in the Shore Conference Tournament — took down No. 10 Manalapan, 5-1, Saturday at Howell High School to reach the quarterfinal round of the SCT.

“We say it every day: we want to be the underdogs,” Bertan said. “We don’t need to be ranked number one. We want to be sitting there, casually. When it’s time to play, we compete. That’s the biggest thing we talk about here. Whoever we play, we are playing to win.”

After making it all the way to the Monmouth County Tournament championship game and dropping a competitive, 5-2, game to Ranney, the Rebels are a dangerous mix of hungry and confident. Although their 12-10 record is not eye-catching, it is the result of playing a schedule that includes eight games against the Shore’s three non-public powerhouse programs: three games vs. Ranney, three games vs. Red Bank Catholic and two vs. Christian Brothers Academy. The Rebels won two of those games, including a 10-1 drubbing of RBC in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals, giving Howell its first trip to the MCT final since 1967, when the school was still called Southern Freehold.

“They came in this year ready to work,” first-year Howell head coach Miguel Arroyo said. “They knew nobody was picking us to do anything. We were like everybody’s food in (the Class A North division). ‘Here is Howell, let’s chow on them for some wins since we’re going to beat each other up.’ They have answered every call. We have had our ups and downs, losing in the Monmouth County Tournament final was rough, but they have really bounced back. We have played a lot of tough games and they know we’re going to be in every game and we’ll have a shot.”

Howell’s 4-6 record in the loaded Class A North division included a regular-season split with traditional rival Manalapan, with Howell crushing Manalapan, 14-4, then losing a 1-0 battle at Manalapan.

The 14 runs in the home win over the Braves reflect a common trend at Howell’s home field. Leads of any margin are flimsy at the home field of the Rebels, so one-run leads might has well be considered non-existent.

“We showed up today knowing it was going to be a hard game,” Bertan said. “They are a public school just like we are, so we know how hungry they are, we know how good they are. It was really about command for me: throwing strikes, trusting my fastball, trusting my stuff. I really trust Jake back there with his command of the plate. I shake him off sometimes, but not really. I definitely knew I had to step up today, not just for myself but for my team.”

The short dimensions on the leftfield fence and the often hitter-friendly winds have made Howell a hitters haven over the years. Bertan felt that deeply when his one-run lead Saturday disappeared with one swing of the bat in the top of the third inning. The next time Howell mounted a rally, the Rebels made sure to make it more than one run and on Bertan’s side of the game, he turned Howell’s bandbox into his own personal pitcher’s paradise.

With Howell up 1-0 in the top of the third, Bertan hung a curveball to Braves junior leftfielder P.J. Pape, who launched a home run far enough beyond the leftfield fence that Pape unleashed a well-earned bat-flip shortly after contact. The solo homer tied the game, 1-1, negating an a two-out, opposite-field RBI single by Rebels senior first baseman Matt Vetrano in the bottom of the first inning.

“I gave up the home run and I just had to shake it off,” Bertan said. “I knew I had the boys hitting for me and they would have my back. I just adjusted to everything, kept throwing strikes and shut them down.”

The next time Howell had a chance to put runs on the board, the Rebels again leaned on some senior clutch hitting, but first, its sophomore backstop gave the Rebels the lead with a much louder swing. Liotti felt he missed his pitch while striking out in the first inning but did not miss it in the third, when he crushed a two-run home run to left on a 1-1 fastball from Manalapan senior left-hander Brady Costello. A throwing error set up Liotti with a runner on base and he brought him home with the two-run shot that gave Howell a 3-1 lead and himself two home runs on the season.

“That was probably the greatest swing of my life,” Liotti said. “I feel like I have been slumping recently, so to come through in that spot means the world to me. My first at bat, he threw a two-seam fastball inside and I was late on it. I came back thinking about that, saying to myself, ‘If he throws me that pitch again, I’m going to crush it.'”

Through 22 games in his first season as Howell’s starting backstop, Liotti leads his team with a .415 batting average and is second behind senior second baseman Ryan Todisco (15 extra-base hits) with eight extra-base hits.

“I love picking up the team and I love feeding off the moment,” Liotti said. “It was so big: big for me, big for (Bertan). He deserved the support. He pitched great and I’m glad I could back him up.”

The Rebels took advantage of the extra out that the error provided by summoning a two-out rally. Vetrano drew a two-out walk, senior leftfielder Jack Quinn singled through the left side and junior designated hitter Alex Bondarew worked the second walk of the inning to load the bases for senior shortstop Waylon Cavanagh. with a 1-2 count, Cavanagh pulled a hard ground ball through the left side and into leftfield to score both Vetrano and Quinn and stretch the Howell lead to 5-1.

“Waylon had been struggling so I felt really good for him,” Arroyo said. “I just yelled to him, ‘Man up,’ before that at-bat because he is that type of guy. He is a leader and he is going to battle. It’s a tough game sometimes and he is a tough kid so I had no doubt that he could rise to the occasion as a senior leader. Playing in A North all year, I still didn’t feel like five runs was enough, though. Especially on this field.”

While a 5-1 lead might not feel safe to anyone familiar with Howell’s field, it was in good hands Saturday with Bertan. After allowing the homer to Pape, Bertan retired the next six batters, with Quinn and Vetrano providing sparkling defensive plays on consecutive batters in the fourth inning — Quinn on a sliding catch coming in in leftfield and Vetrano on an over-the-shoulder catch well into foul territory.

Bertan walked a batter in both the fifth and sixth innings and hit Braves designated hitter Rich Cammarata leading off the top of the seventh, but the junior right-hander never allowed a second base-runner in any inning on Saturday. He also did not allow a hit after Pape’s home run — or before the home run, for that matter. The performance was Bertan’s first seven-inning complete game, in which he walked three and struck out six while firing 96 pitches.


“As soon as we put up four (in the third), I knew it was done,” Bertan said. “My fastball was good today. I had enough of a slider and curveball to mix in but I felt really comfortable with my fastball and I knew my guys were going to make the plays and they were great.”

“When he gets ahead in the count, he can throw whatever he wants and that really gives him an advantage,” Liotti said of Bertan. “He has a really good mix of pitches and he can throw them at any time.”

“We have this thing, John and I: I tell him, ‘Don’t apologize. Just show me on the field,'” Arroyo said. “He gave up the home run and it was, ‘I got you, coach.’ That’s how it is with all the guys. Mistakes happen. That’s baseball. Go out and give it a hundred percent. You don’t hear me yell too much with them because I know they are going to pick it up. There is a comfort level.”

Howell junior John Bertan throws a pitch in the Monmouth County Tournament Baseball Championship at Brookdale Community College. (Photo: Patrick Olivero) - Ranney vs. Howell

Howell junior John Bertan throws a pitch in the Monmouth County Tournament Baseball Championship at Brookdale Community College. (Photo: Patrick Olivero)

After Manalapan put a man on first in the seventh inning and pinch ran for Cammarata with Jackson Alexander, Bertan induced a pop-out to Todisco at second base for the first out. Senior second baseman Anthony Foti then scalded a line drive, but Cavanagh picked it out the air at shortstop and fired to first to double off the runner for a game-clinching double-play.

Howell will host another of its Freehold Regional High School District brethren in the quarterfinals Monday, when No. 15 seed Colts Neck will take its shot at the Rebels after upsetting No. 2 Point Pleasant Beach on the road on Saturday. The Rebels have senior ace Matt Vetrano lined up to face the Cougars and while Arroyo is eager give the ball to his senior-right-hander, he has formed a well-earned confidence in the rest of the pitching staff, led by Bertan and his 1.72 ERA in a team-high 36 2/3 innings. Along with Vetrano, Quinn, junior Andrew Morin and senior Kurtis Lovgren, Bertan is one of five Howell pitchers with at least 18 innings and an ERA of 3.70 or better.

“We have had a ton of guys pick us up on the mound,” Liotti said. “John has been great, like he showed today. I want to shout out Andrew Morin. He is one of these guys who came into the season and we didn’t think he was going to have a big role, but he gave up zero runs in seven innings vs. Middletown South and when we have needed him, he has been huge for us. It’s been like that with our whole staff and really our whole team.”

“We’re lucky to have John,” Arroyo said. “I didn’t think we had a clear number two (pitcher) going into the season, but everybody has been pitching well to this point so it feels like we have a bunch of number twos. I coached them freshman year and I feel like through this process of the last few years, I know what they can do. But I’m very proud of John and I feel like he can go out and do some special things.”

 

Box Score

Howell 5, Manalapan 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Manalapan (13-12) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1
Howell (12-10) 1 0 4 0 0 0 X 5 4 1

Pitching

Manalapan IP H R ER BB SO PC
Brady Costello (L, 3-4) 3 4  5 2 3 4 66
Peter Rispoli 3 0 0 0 1 6 45
Howell IP H R ER BB SO PC
John Bertan (W, 2-1) 7 1 1 1 3 6 96

Top Hitters

Manalapan Game Stats
P.J. Pape 1-3, HR, R, RBI
Howell Game Stats
Jake Liotti 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI
Waylon Cavanagh 1-3, 2 RBI
Matt Vetrano 1-2, BB, R, RBI
Jack Quinn 1-2, BB, R, SB

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