Colin Perna rocked an RBI double to drive in PPH Mafia Blue’s first run of the game.
By Rich Bevensee
Matt Levitt, a right-handed pitcher with PPH Mafia Blue 17U, tossed a no-hitter three weeks ago. That’s a career achievement which is a tough act to follow for any pitcher, but that wasn’t the bar Levitt was setting for himself.
He’s focused on beating the next batter.
That approach suited Levitt very well on Tuesday evening at Diamond Nation in Flemington, when he didn’t have his best stuff and saw multiple baserunners surrounding him in every inning.
“Personally I don’t like to pay attention to it because it takes my mind off what I have to do,” Levitt said. “Throwing the ball over the plate is definitely more important, so I don’t pay attention to them, especially when they’re on second base.”
Mafia coach Dan Intili trusted his ace to work through four innings of baserunning traffic. That trust paid off when Levitt, despite surrendering two hits, five walks and a hit batsman, allowed just one run and led PPH to a 4-1 pool play victory in five innings over Triple Crown in the 17/18U Wood Bat division of the Super World Series at ‘The Nation.’
“Matt’s a warrior,” Intili said. “On the mound, there’s nobody else I’d rather run out there, because he’s going to give you everything he’s got and die on his shield.”
The Mafia improved to 2-1 this week and was to finish up pool play against Complete Performance Baseball Academy on Wednesday.
Triple Crown dropped to 1-2 and will close out pool play Wednesday against Morris County Cubs 2026 Navy.
Fastball velocity was certainly not the problem for Levitt (5-7, 155), a rising senior at Old Bridge High. He began by ticking off 81 mph on the radar gun and one of his final pitches hit 79.
The problem Levitt faced was what he felt was one the tightest strike zones he’s seen this summer. His five walks were a season high.
“It was tough because when I was missing, I was missing very close,” Levitt said. “To me everything looked like a strike. But they kept rolling it up the middle and our shortstop (Julian Satterthwaite) made some good plays.”
Triple Crown loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the first and came away with a single run, an RBI single by Marcos Rosado.
Marcos Rosado, who drove in Triple Crown’s only run, dives back to first on a pickoff attempt.
Levitt stranded a runner on second in the second inning. In the third, Satterthwaite made a nice play up the middle and PPH stranded a runner at first. And in the fourth, Levitt hit a batter and walked another, but also struck out the side.
“Every now and then he will walk guys – he has those outings,” Intili said. “But he’s competitive. He keeps his composure, and allowing runners on base doesn’t phase him. He handles his emotions very well. His body language is very good. It was a tighter strike zone than he’s used to. He made some competitive pitches and he battled. It could have very easily gotten away from him.”
Levitt’s previous outing was a seven-inning no-hitter against Wow Factor East Coast National in Week 2 of the Super 17 Invitational on June 26 at ‘The Nation.’ In fact, Levitt’s 5-0 victory against Wow Factor came on The Nation’s Field 4, the same field on which he beat Triple Crown.
Intili pointed out that even in Levitt’s no-hitter, Levitt didn’t quite have his best stuff, allowing five walks, but he also struck out seven.
“And at no point was Wow Factor in the game,” Intili said.
Against Triple Crown, Levitt used a four-seam fastball, sinker, curveball and slider to strike out four and strand four runners in scoring position.
“I felt very good tonight, just didn’t get some strike calls,” Levitt said. “I’m still working on a changeup. I need that fifth pitch in my rotation. I need it against lefties.”
He said he wasn’t thinking at all about his no-hitter when he took the mound against Triple Crown.
“I can’t try to repeat it,” Levitt said. “I just try and do what I do.”
PPH, which stands for Power Pitching and Hitting, got Levitt some offense right away with two runs in the first inning. Colin Perna launched a long RBI double into the right center gap to score Joey Spinello who doubled two batters earlier. Perna later stole third and immediately scored on the resulting throwing error.
The Mafia got an important insurance run in the fourth when Harrison Eng singled to left to drive in Tyler Zeichner and make the score 3-1.
PPH added another run in the fourth when Satterthwaite singled through the middle to drive in Mike Chiarella.
Triple Crown, based in Sussex County, N.J., suffered a tough personnel loss in the fifth when Chiarella’s bat hit the catcher’s mitt of Nick Zuzzio, who displayed a terrific throwing arm to that point. Zuzzio, a rising senior at Morris Hills, was forced to leave the game in obvious pain and seek medical attention.
PPH’s Nick Natale, who by Intili’s estimation had not pitched in a year and a half, relieved Levitt for the fifth inning and saw Triple Crown bring the tying run to the plate after he allowed a single and a walk with one out. But Natale rallied to get a groundout and strikeout to end the game.
Kyle Morsell, a recent graduate of High Point in Wantage, N.J., pitched well in the loss for Triple Crown. He struck out 10 while allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits, one walk and one hit batter.