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CHAMPIONS! LAKEWOOD BLUECLAWS WIN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
By Eric San Juan
 | | The Lakewood BlueClaws pile up on the mound after winning the South Atlantic League championship on Friday. |
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LAKEWOOD - Six years ago, when the Lakewood BlueClaws arrived in Ocean County, they brought an affordable professional baseball experience to the region. The result was national attention and broken attendance records.
Now they've added a championship trophy to the team's resume.
On Friday the Lakewood BlueClaws' 5-0 victory over the Augusta Greenjackets was not just any baseball game. It was the deciding game of the South Atlantic League Championship Series.
The historic game capped off a historic year for the BlueClaws, during which they won more games than ever before in their history, boasted their third highest attendance figures, and led their league in attendance for the sixth straight year, proving the team's instantly popularity was no novelty-driven fluke.
Despite the threat of rain, several thousand were on hand for the historic game - and almost every one stayed long after the final pitch was thrown, taking part in the celebration.
The victory came on the shoulders of Matt Maloney, one of the league's best pitchers. He threw a 5-0 shutout, helping the BlueClaws coast to an easy victory.
Lakewood won five of six playoff games on their road to a championship trophy.
It was just another in a growing list of milestones for the team, which has proven to be a model example of how to run a successful minor league franchise since its debut in 2001. That year, the team led its league in attendance right out of the game, drawing well over 6,000 fans per game and adding another attraction to the Jersey Shore area.
The following year, the BlueClaws got themselves - and their fans - into the Guinness' Book of Records as part of the largest group to dance to The Village People's YMCA, some 13,000 fans in all. It was the largest crowd to see a New Jersey baseball game since 1946.
Since the team's inception, in fact, more than 2.5 million fans have passed through the gates at FirstEnergy Park. The team has been at or near the top 20 in attendance among all minor league teams nationwide - including those in major urban areas
But on Friday, it wasn't about popularity or attendance, it was about bringing home a trophy. That's just what the team did, piling on the mound afterwards in a frenzied celebration.
The Lakewood BlueClaws are a class-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team plays at FirstEnergy Park at the corner of New Hampshire and Cedar Bridge avenues in Lakewood.
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