Higgins 3-Hitter Leads Madison Over Newark Tech in State Baseball Playoff

The baseball team's plan this season was straightforward: Win a lot of games in the regular season, and get rewarded with a favorable first-round match-up in the state sectional playoffs.
 
The Dodgers executed the plan to perfection, winning 17 games, earning the No. 4 seed, and making short work of visiting Newark Tech, 13-1, in the first round of the NJSIAA North 2 Group 2 playoffs Monday in Madison.

Madison hosts fifth-seed Rutherford, which shut out No. 12 Bernards on the road, 5-0, in a second-round game on Friday.
 
The Dodgers got off to a hot start, rattling off eight runs on four hits in the bottom of the first inning against No. 13 Newark Tech, on the way to the first state tournament win for Madison baseball in years.

“There hasn’t been a state championship game won for Madison baseball in a long, long time,” Madison head coach Mickey Ennis said after the win. “We played and won a lot of baseball games and were rewarded by playing one of the weaker teams in the bracket.

“We don’t take wins lightly and we certainly don’t take the first win in state competition lightly, either. That being said, we know we have a lot of work to do and the competition from this point forward gets a lot better.”
 
Behind a complete-game effort from pitcher Connor Higgins, who allowed just three hits while striking out 10, Madison was never in trouble.

Higgins had just one tight spot, in the top of the second and leading 8-0, as he loaded the bases by walking the first three Tech batters. But a quick visit to the mound from senior shortstop Jake Meister put an end to that, as Higgins retired the next two batters—including a double play—to get out of the jam.

“I just told him not to get aggravated,” Meister explained. “He’s the type of pitcher that gets on himself, rather than getting on anyone else. So I told him if you throw a couple of balls, you can’t try and throw even harder. Just take a little off [your pitches], find the zone, and then you can build up from there.”

Madison padded its lead to 11-0 in the bottom of the second, courtesy of a three-run homer from Meister, who finished the day 2-for-2 with four RBIs.

With his lead growing every inning, Higgins settled down nicely as he allowed just two hits over the last five innings.

“It feels pretty good to come in here and just throw strikes,” Higgins said. “A few times I was a little shaky, but I just tried to get the ball over the plate and it worked well. I was throwing mainly my fastball, but if I fell behind and didn’t feel comfortable with the fastball, I’d just try to throw over a slider for a strike and it worked a little bit.”

Second baseman Alex Brownlee also helped the Dodgers cause, going 3-for-3 with one RBI and two runs scored, while Cameron Dias and Mike Wulff each went 2-for-4 with one RBI.

“No matter who the opponent, it’s very exciting to get a state win,” senior leftfielder Mike Haughey said. “Connor did a great job on the mound today and we had a lot of people at a lot of positions who really came through for us. We didn’t get the best [weather], but everyone was very excited to go.”

Madison not only advanced in the state tournament, but also reached the 18-win mark for the 2011 season.

“Having 18 wins is real nice, and I think that this team has a legitimate shot at winning 20 baseball games this season,” Ennis said. “But you can’t get 20 until you get number 19. We’re just playing pretty good baseball right now and we’re a pretty good baseball team.”