By Sean Reilly
When Matthew Raguette pitches for the Halfmoon Mariners 12U, he works well with catcher Madden Hurteau.
Hurteau, in turn, knows when Raguette is locked in with his best stuff.
And on Sunday afternoon at Diamond Nation, Hurteau could sense it from the moment Raguette began throwing in the bullpen prior to the championship of the 12U Monster Mash, Powered By Victus.
“I knew from the start,” Hurteau said. “He had a very good warmup, and I could just tell. It’s fun catching him.”
He was exactly right, as Raguette threw a four-inning perfect game as Halfmoon, from Saratoga County, N.Y., defeated the Hamilton A’s, 11-0, for the championship.
Raguette struck out six of the 12 batters he faced in his 48 pitch (32 for strikes) effort.
He also went 2-for-2 with three RBI, including a two-run double to highlight a five-run bottom of the first inning.
Halfmoon ended the tournament 3-1 after opening with an 8-0 loss to Fielder’s Choice Baseball from Virginia on Saturday morning.
The bounce back effort included a 9-8 semifinal triumph over the Bridgewater Panthers on Sunday morning, in which Halfmoon rallied with four runs in the bottom of the sixth. The first six Halfmoon batters reached (five on singles) capped by an RBI single from Reilly Boudette for the win with nobody out.
Raguette also closed out that game to earn the win, and had two hits and two RBI at the plate.
For the tournament, he was 7-for-9, with six runs and eight RBI. He hit two doubles, a triple and a home run, which was his first.
It was no wonder, then, that his teammates were serenading him with “MVP” chants before his coaches could officially announce him as the winner of the corresponding Victus bat awarded to the tournament Most Valuable Player after the final.
The capper to it all was the perfect game, in which no ball was hit beyond the infield in his final game of the 2025 season.
“I was so close to a perfect game last season, but I finally got it here, so it’s really nice,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling. The key to my pitching was my mechanics. All my pitches were on point today. I could tell 100 percent from the first inning. Me and Madden are locked in together. No crowd, no batter, no ump. Just us. There was nothing more that I could have asked for.”
Raguette retired the leadoff batter in the first on a moderately hit liner to Boudette at third on the first pitch.
A called strike three on a 1-2 offering to the next batter and first-pitch pop up to shortstop Jameson Brewer followed.
Matthew Raguette of the Halfmoon Mariners was named 12U Monster Mash Most Valuable Player.
The Mainers continued the offensive momentum from the semifinal into the bottom of the inning, as the first four batters reached, extending the streak to 10 straight overall.
Finn Guild led off with a single to center, Carter Mehan was hit by a pitch and Hurteau was also hit by a pitch to load the bases for Raguette.
A wild pitch scored Guild, before Raguette sent a two-run double to left for a quick 3-0 lead. The other runs scored on Logan Culnan’s groundout to third base and RBI single to left field from Roman Burkowski.
The Mariners also scored three runs in both the second and third innings to set up the mercy rule finish.
In the second inning, Brewer came to bat with runners on second and third with two out. He hit an RBI single to center, with the trailing runner scoring on an error that sent Brewer to third. Culnan then hit an RBI single to shortstop for an 8-0 lead.
The Halfmoon third inning began with singles from Caleb Mocorro and Hunter McKenna. Guild was safe on a fielder’s choice which forced out McKenna at second. The next batter struck out before Hurteau, Raguette and Brewer followed with RBI singles.
In addition to Raguette, Brewer also finished the game with two hits.
All in all, it was a fantastic way to head into the off-season.
“We had a little trouble getting started in the first game,” Raguette said. “But after that, it was just amazing.”