Manorville's Meenan, 11: Perfect game, 18 K's out of 18

Manorville sixth-grader Liam Meenan and his family will be on the field as guests of the Mets before tonight's game at Citi Field. The team might want to consider keeping the 11-year-old on call in case Jonathon Niese gets into trouble.

Meenan, who pitches for the Astros in the Eastport-South Manor Little League, threw a perfect game Wednesday - striking out all 18 batters. Meenan also struck out the final nine batters he retired Friday, making it 27 straight set down via strikeout.

Making the feat even more impressive, Meenan had been out of school for the previous four weeks with bronchitis.

"It felt amazing," said Meenan, who stands 4-9 and has a fastball in the range of 65 to 70 mph. "I wasn't jumping up and down, but that's only because I wasn't feeling well."

The righthander, who's been playing Little League baseball since he was 5, struck out 13 batters swinging and five looking. The second batter of the fifth inning worked a 3-and-1 count, but Meenan struck him out swinging.

"To be at the field that evening was an experience," said Liam's father, Mike Meenan. "By the sixth inning, everyone was riveted. He struck out the final three guys swinging."

Liam didn't even realize he was flirting with perfection until his dad let him know in the bottom of the fifth.

"I was sitting on the bench and my dad came over and said, 'Hey, Liam you're throwing a perfect game and you're striking everyone out,' " he said. "I was like, 'Nice!' "

Unfortunately, Meenan said his success hasn't increased his popularity with the ladies: "The girls are like, 'What is a perfect game?' '' he said.

Dallas Braden threw the 19th perfect game in modern major-league history Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Little League perfectos, while uncommon, are not quite as rare.

Jon Zaturn, who has been the director of baseball for Suffolk County PAL since 1989 and has worked with the organization since 1981, said he's coached six perfect games with all strikeouts and witnessed at least 10. Recent Long Island high school graduates and current Division I pitchers Marcus Stroman (Duke) and Rob Parker (Binghamton) did it on the youth level in the early 2000s.

But as Zaturn said: "Without a doubt, it's an accomplishment. This is a memory the kid will have forever."

Meenan, who throws a two-seam fastball, a four-seam fastball and a changeup, plans to make many more memories. He counts his favorite pitchers as Ubaldo Jimenez, who threw the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history earlier this year. He said he hopes to be as good as Jimenez and pitch for the Mets someday.

His father took him to the North Street Field in Manorville last night to throw, just in case. "I'm gonna warm him up for tomorrow night," Mike Meenan said. "Maybe the Mets can use him."