Howell Named Week 5 Joe Leone’s Baseball Team of the Week | Shore Sports Insider
Week 5 Joe Leone’s Team of the Week:
Howell Baseball
Shore Sports Insider is proud to partner with Joe Leone’s this spring to present our weekly Joe Leone’s Baseball Team of the Week Award, recognizing standout Shore Conference programs for their accomplishments on the field.
We are also thrilled to welcome Joe Leone’s Italian Specialties as our title sponsor, providing a generous $250 gift card each week to celebrate the winning team.
The Week 5 recipient of the 2026 Joe Leone’s Baseball Team of the Week is Howell after the Rebels avenged two regular-season losses to Red Bank Catholic by pummeling the Caseys, 10-1, in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals on Saturday at Count Basie Park. With the victory, Howell earned a spot in the Monmouth County Tournament championship for the first time in program history.
The Rebels opened the week with a pair of 2-1 wins over Middletown South, relying on timely hitting and strong pitching in both victories.
In the first meeting, senior Jack Quinn drove in a run with a single in the second inning and Jake Liotti added an RBI in the third to support junior right-hander Andrew Morin, who tossed a three-hitter to earn his first win of the season.
Howell completed the sweep with another 2-1 victory, using a decisive fourth-inning rally to take control. Senior Matt Vetrano sparked the inning with a one-out double and scored on an RBI triple by senior Ryan Todisco on the next pitch. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, sophomore Jake Liotti came through again with a go-ahead single to left field.
Howell sophomore Jake Liotti. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Middletown South had taken a 1-0 lead earlier in the inning on a two-out RBI single by Matt Korth, but Howell responded immediately. Quinn settled in following the fourth, allowing just one hit over his final two innings, and junior John Bertan shut the door by striking out the side in order.
The Rebels tuned up for their Saturday showdown with RBC with a competitive game at Rumson-Fair Haven — also an MCT semifinalist. Senior Alex Bondarew came through with a clutch, two-out, two-run double to tie the game, 3-3, in the top of the sixth inning, but the host Bulldogs responded with five in the bottom of the sixth to take the game, 8-3.
Although Howell dropped the game at Rumson, it got them ready to play RBC Saturday in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals. After regular-season losses to RBC of 12-5 and 10-4, Howell turned in a dominant 10-1 win over the Caseys to reach the championship game for the first time ever.
Senior right-hander Jackson Vetrano was outstanding on the mound, striking out 11 over 5 2/3 innings in his first start of the season vs. RBC. Vetrano is now 5-1 on the season with 2.90 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 29 innings, including wins over Ranney and Wall. Vetrano has pitched in all three of Howell’s MCT games, going 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 13 2/3 following his best start of the three on Saturday.
Howell senior Jackson Vetrano. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Quinn played a key role in three of Howell’s four scoring rallies. The senior jump-started the offense with a leadoff triple in the second inning and later scored on a triple by senior Waylon Cavanagh. Howell broke the game open in the third with three straight RBI hits — an RBI double by Bondarew, followed by a run-scoring hit from Quinn and an RBI single by Derek Liotti to make it 4-0.
The Rebels continued to add on late, loading the bases in the sixth inning and capitalizing with Bondarew getting hit by a pitch to force in a run and Quinn delivering a two-run single. Liotti later added another RBI single in the seventh to cap the scoring.
During the fourth-game week, Quinn went 5-for-13 with a triple and four RBI, which matched Bondarew for the team RBI lead for the week. Bondarew, meanwhile, hit two doubles, making him the only Rebel with multiple extra-base hits during the week. Jake and Derek Liotti were Howell’s top hitters by average last week, with Jake going 7-for-12 (.583) with a double and Derek going 4-for-9.
Howell senior Waylon Cavanagh. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspsportsimages.com)
Howell will face Ranney in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game at Brookdale Community College after the two teams split their Class A North regular-season series, which was the first divisional series of the year for both teams. With Vetrano ineligible to pitch following his 104 pitches on Saturday, Howell will turn to its committee of arms as the Rebels look to bring home the first baseball MCT title in school history.
John Bertan is second on the team in innings pitched (22 2/3), but seven of his nine appearances on the season are in relief — including his last four appearances. In those four relief outings, Bertan has allowed two earned runs and recorded saves in last week’s win over Middletown South as well as the MCT quarterfinal win over Wall.
Left-hander Kurtis Lovgren is third on the team with 13 1/3 innings made his first start of the season Thursday at Rumson, with each of his first seven outings coming as a reliever. Cavanagh has made three starts this season and Morin is coming off the three-hit complete game in last Monday’s win over Middletown South, which was his third start of the season.
On Tuesday, Shore Sports Insider visited practice to present Howell Head Coach Miguel Arroyo and the team with a $250 Joe Leone’s Italian Specialties Gift Card, courtesy of our partners at Joe Leone’s, for a well-earned team meal.
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