South Amboy, NJ – The Jersey Barons (0-1) met up with the Kingsbridge Angels (1-0) on a surprisingly pleasant afternoon at Raritan Bay today. The Angels and Barons last saw each other in the Spring 2006 Roy Campanella AAA League, with the Angels defeating the Barons in three games in the semi-final round of the playoffs that summer. The Angels won Game 3 of the series in dramatic fashion with a walk-off home run, a game that will go down as an all-time classic despite the outcome for the Barons. Now both in the Mel Ott League, the two teams will renew their friendly rivalry within the same division.

Aaron Kalb took the ball for his first start of 2008. Kalb was set to go the first 5 innings, with fellow starters Craig Tscherednikov and Matt Woehnker to throw the final 4 innings. At least that was the game plan. Kalb had taken the Fall 2007 season off to rest his arm after pitching for two independent league teams in the Spring and Summer months. Back in Baron blue for ’08, as well as stepping up his role with the team as Pitching Coach, AK47 was already poised for another Cy Young season with the Barons. That was before his gem today.

The Angel leadoff hitter tried to bunt his way on in the top of the 1st, but Kalb fielded his position well, going to his right for the ball and firing to first for the out. Kalb then struck out the next two hitters to retire the side. AK47 struck out the side in the 2nd, for 5 straight punch outs.

In the 3rd, Kalb got a little help from his friends, with two outstanding plays by the Baron outfield. The first out was recorded by SS Dave Micallef on a routine play to short. The next out was hit well to straight-away right field, with RF Mario Spallarossa going back perfectly on the ball and catching it Carlos-Beltran-non-chalant-style. Then a low liner to center was caught by CF Tom Greene on an outstanding, full-out, ESPN web-gem-quality, diving catch. Greene came up covered in grass stains and smiling, and unbeknownst to him and the rest of the team, with the no-hitter-saving catch of the game.

AK47 struck out the side again in the 4th, with a little help from C Pat Santorsola, who threw out the first hitter on a 2-3 putout. Kalb recorded all the outs again in the 5th, inducing two slow rollers back to the mound and striking out the middle hitter of the inning for yet another 1-2-3 inning. Kalb was now perfect threw 5, and Barons assistant manager Micallef, running the team for the day with skipper Phil Barone away at a family affair, had a decision to make. It was a no-brainer though, and with the input of pitchers Tschrednikov and Woehnker, as well as catcher Santorsola, Kalb was left in the game.

The team started to ignore Kalb on the bench other than common bench-side banter, with everyone seeing the chance for perfection with the way their starter was dominating. Kalb then went out and struck out the side for the third time in the 6th, getting the last two looking. Kalb now had 12 strikeouts through 6 innings.

Going out “for one more inning”, Kalb started to rely on his defense in the 7th. 3B Matt Nice fielded his only chance of the day on a grounder to his left. SS Micallef then recorded the next out of the inning on another ground ball to short. Kalb then retired the side himself with his fourth come-backer. Again with Kalb going one more in the 8th, SS Micallef recorded all three outs, on two ground balls and then a pop-up to retire the side.

Now there was no question AK47 was going out to throw the 9th. 24 Angels had stepped to the plate, 24 Angels had been retired. The Angels would have the meat of their order to start the 9th inning, with their power-hitting 3-hitter Julio E. Micheli up first. Perhaps getting squeezed on a few close pitches, perhaps gripping the ball a little too tight, Kalb walked Micheli on four pitches, breaking the perfect game and giving the Angels their first base runner on the day. The no-hitter was still intact, however, and Kalb was intent on not losing it. 2B Chris Fucci had been reinserted on defense after getting a 4-inning spell by David Caruso, with the move proving fruitful on the next play. Kalb induced the Angel cleanup batter to hit a hard groundball to Fooch, who made a great play on the ball, and gunned it over to Micallef at second. Micallef took the throw and threw to first in one motion, pumping his fist as the Barons perfectly executed the 4-6-3 twin killing.

Pumped up by the defense behind him, Aaron got an extra boost of adrenaline and fired three fastballs past the 27th Angel he would face, striking out his 13th batter on the day and providing a fitting end to his near-perfect day. AK47 faced the minimum 27 batters in a 9-inning game, and was one walk shy of a perfect game. The no-hitter is the first in Baron team history, and the game is another classic for Barons Sports Net TV.

Game Notes:

• The Baron offense got off and running in the bottom of the first, scoring 3 runs on one hit and two Angel errors. The Barons scored another run in the 2nd, again aided by an Angel error as well as smart base-running by P Aaron Kalb. With Kalb on first and DH Phil Mazzetta on third, Kalb got picked off, but lasted long enough in the rundown to allow Mazzetta to score.

• 2B Chris Fucci hit his first home run of the season in the 5th inning, a no-doubt bomb to right-center field. The Barons scored another run after RF Mario Spallarossa was hit in the helmet and 3B Matt Nice drilled a long, opposite-field double over the right fielder.

• Spallarossa scored the 7th run of the game in the 7th inning. Super Mario reached base on a walk, moved to second after Nice reached on an error, and then scored standing on a line-drive double to left-center by C Pat Santorsola.

• 1B Eric Fiedler hit a long double off the left-center field fence in the 3rd, a few inches and a gust of wind away from a home run.

• CF Tom Greene stepped in the leadoff role and reached base 3 times on two singles and an error.

• The Barons were short-handed this game, but the team stepped up and everyone performed well. Pitchers Giancarlo Cifelli and David Caruso both played the field, with GC playing the entire game in LF and Caruso spelling Fucci at 2B. Pitchers Matt Woehnker and Craig Tschrednikov both threw a few times on the side to get their work in for the week. Woehnker hit in the bottom of the 8th, hitting a sharp grounder to third. Craig T. kept an outstanding book and held comedic court all game to keep the team in good spirits. Highlight of T’s routine was the outcry after a foul ball hit one of the light poles behind the Baron bench and came “crashing down upon” the team.