By Dylan Butler
While his teammates are in Bridgewater, N.J., hoping to turn the program's first Big East regular season title in 13 years into their first Big East tournament championship since 1997, Tosoni is back home in Whitby, Ontairo, just happy that he has walked unassisted for three consecutive days.The Red Storm have dedicated their season – which saw the club set a program record for regular season wins – to Tosoni, who suffers from a disease known as ulcerative colitis, which is similar to Crohn's disease and causes inflammation and ulcers in the large intestine.They bring his No. 38 jersey into the dugout every game and wear blue “Got Guts” rubber bracelets with him in mind. The the coaching staff has awarded the hardest working player each week with a black shirt that has MT 38 on the sleeve.All these things have kept Tosoni close while the sophomore pitcher has gone through a personal hell back home.”It's a way to keep him in our spirits,” said first baseman Chris Joachim. “Last year he was as sick as anyone I've ever seen, but he still tried to go out there every day and do the things that we did.”Added catcher Joe Burke: “I think about him every day…He's here mentally with us.”Tosoni has been away from St. John's since October, when his body stopped responding to medication and he flew back home to get treatment. Not long after that, he was hospitalized.He spent two months in the hospital, became extremely anemic, his weight dropped dramatically from 195 pounds to just 125 pounds and he had to have his large intestine and rectum removed.”I just started eating a lot, but I can't hold anything in,” said Tosoni, who spent the better part of the last month and a half in bed. “I haven't been able to digest any nutrients. I couldn't eat for long periods. I was too sick.”He was first diagnosed with the disease when he was 17, but was given medication that controlled the painful and embarrassing affliction that caused severe bleeding in his rectum. But when his body stopped responding to the medicine in the fall, Tosoni decided to go home to get treatment.Doctors are unsure how Tosoni got the disease, but he thinks it has something to do with the stress he puts himself through. Unable to open up and share his feelings, Tosoni would keep things inside and it ended up affecting him physically.”I'm learning to talk about things more now,” Tosoni said.His most recent surgery attached his small intestine to an opening in his abdomen. In four to six weeks, Tosoni will undergo his third – and he hopes – final surgery, which would allow him to have regular bowel movements.Tosoni was going to be a major contributor to the St. John's pitching staff and probably would have been one of the three Big East starters. While the rest of the St. John's starters throw hard, Tosoni was the change of pace guy, the junk ball pitcher. He had a 3-1 record with a 1.90 earned run average in six conference appearances a year ago.”It's been tough on the guys, but it would have been tougher if they saw him because he was a shell of himself,” St. John's coach Ed Blankmeyer said. “They knew he was having problems, but they didn't get that shock effect…but they've drawn strength from Matt.”Situated on the north shore of Lake Ontario, about 45 minutes east of Toronto, Whitby is a city of just over 110,000. The children there play hockey and lacrosse, but Tosoni, the oldest son of Paul and Mary Tosoni, played baseball.He played baseball for Team Ontario in the summer and he represented Canada in the World Youth Championships in Quebec in 2002. Tosoni beat powerhouse Cuba in the competition and his coach Greg Hamilton, who struck up a friendship with Blankmeyer when he was coaching at Princeton and Blankmeyer was at Seton Hall, gave his recommendation.Tosoni had never been to New York and his only frame of reference for the borough he planned to call home for the next four years was through television shows “Seinfeld,” and “King of Queens.”But it didn't take Tosoni long to adjust.Brendan Monaghan, who is Tosoni's best friend on the team, remembers the first time he met the big lefty from the north.”He was in my dorm room and I remember I walked in and he was sitting (there), on my computer, playing around on it,” he said. “I walked in and I was like, 'who is this kid, what is he doing?' We joked about that last year and our friendship grew from there.”Not long thereafter, Tosoni was given the nickname “Matty Moo Cow” by teammate and roommate Jim Wladyka. Apparently, a cousin of Wladyka had the nickname and Wladyka wanted someone on the team to call “Matty Moo Cow.” Tosoni was that guy.”I was getting moo calls everywhere I walked,” Tosoni said.Now Tosoni gets phone calls instead of moo calls. And e-mails and instant messages and cards from his teammates. They have helped him get through the most difficult time of his life. And he is determined to return to them, to return to Queens and return to the pitcher's mound next year.”Next year I don't want to go in and be a charity (case),” Tosoni said. “I want to go right back in and get a starting job. I want to earn a starting job, it's my main focus.”Reach Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
