By TIM McDONOUGH

mcdonough@crescent-news.com

Jon Niese will be hard-pressed to ever forget 2008.

Niese, the former Defiance High School pitching standout and 2005 seventh-round draft pick of the New York Mets, will forever look at 2008 as the year he realized his dream. That dream, the one he thought about often as a young boy ... playing Major League Baseball.

On September 2, 2008 in Milwaukee, Niese reached that goal when he took the mound for the New York Mets for his major-league pitching debut. In a year that saw Niese go from major league spring training in St. Lucie, Florida, to Double A Binghamton, New York, to Triple A New Orleans and all the way to the bigs in New York, it was a year to remember.

"When the year began, I had all these goals in front of me and I pretty much reached them all except for the ending of the year," said Niese, a 2005 DHS graduate. "The season could have ended better for me and for the Mets, but otherwise it was a pretty special year.

"In spring training I think I opened up some eyes, so after that it was up to me to be consistent and prove that I needed to move up through the organization," continued Niese. "Out of spring training, the organization told me that if I pitched that way throughout the year, I'd have a chance to make it to New York and as the year went on, that's what happened."

Following spring training with the major league club, Niese began the year in Double A with the Binghamton Mets. In 22 appearances with Binghamton, all starts, the left-hander went 6-7 with a 3.04 ERA. In 1241/3 innings pitched, Niese struck out 112 and walked 44 batters.

It wasn't long before the lanky hurler was on the move however.

Before the summer was over, Niese got the call that he would be heading to the Triple A New Orleans Zephyrs. The former DHS standout credits hard work and being consistent for moving up the New York Mets' food-chain.

Said Niese: "I came to the ballpark every day ready to work to get better and get into my routine. Early on everything really fell into place and I have to give credit to my pitching coach Ricky Bones in Binghamton. He was amazing, whenever I had trouble he always put me on the right track."

After getting called up to New Orleans, Niese didn't disappoint, going 5-1 in seven stats for the Zephyrs. In 392/3 innings pitched in Triple A, the lefty struck out 32 and walked 14, finishing with a 3.40 ERA.

Once again, Niese gave credit to New Orleans pitching coach Rick Waits for speeding up his development.

"It was the same thing for me in New Orleans, Rick Waits really helped me stay on track," said Niese. "All along the way, the Mets have the same philosophy about pitching and all the pitching coaches I had this season did a great job of keeping me on track. Whenever something was off, they knew and they knew how to help me get back on track and to being the consistent pitcher I wanted to be."

After opening eyes in Triple A, it was a late August day when Niese got the news he'd been waiting his whole life to hear ... he'd not only be joining the New York Mets, he'd been starting for them in the heat of a pennant race in early September.

Of course, Niese was filled with emotion and nervousness when he toed the pitching rubber at Milwaukee's Miller Park on Sept. 2 against the Brewers.

"It was almost like at any time I was going to wake up and I'd be in bed because it was just a dream, that's how it felt looking back on it," said Niese about his big league debut. "Seeing all the fans, getting ready for the game, knowing my family was there ... it was a real intense moment. I'm just glad that's over and that now I can just go back to focusing on being the best pitcher I can be."

If that moment was intense, little did Niese know that just 11 days later, close to 50,000 Mets fans would be chanting his name in Shea Stadium. Taking the mound for his second big league start on Sept. 13, Niese dazzled the New York home crowd, firing eight strong innings in a 5-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Before leaving the game, the crowd chanted his name in appreciation of his efforts on the mound.

Said Niese: "That was probably the best day of my life, it was really just unbelievable. I don't know if I can really describe what it's like having 50,000 fans chant my name in New York City at Shea Stadium. I wish that everyone could understand what that moment is like just once in their life, it was just really unbelievable."

Although Niese got to realize most of his goals in 2008, one he didn't get to reach was making the postseason. New York finished one game back in the National League Wild Card, losing on the last day of the season to finish behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

"I learned a lot from each of my outings in New York," said Niese. "What I learned is that it's the same game, and yeah the pressure is there, but it's still baseball. I'm glad I had the opportunity to pitch at the end of the year, because I got a taste of pitching in pressure situations and that can only help me as my career moves forward.

"But, the end of the season was a disappointment, we all wanted to win but we can't really dwell on that now," added Niese. "A lot of the New York media and the fans want to dwell on what happened the past two years with the team falling short, but the whole team is ready to move forward and put that behind us."

All told, Niese went 1-1 in New York in three starts, finishing with a 7.07 ERA. In 14 innings pitched he struck out 11 and walked eight.

With the 2008 season behind him, Niese is looking forward to 2009 where he hopes to break spring training with the big club and help the Mets reach their goal of winning the World Series.

Concluded Niese: "The ultimate goal is to break with the team out of spring training. That means I have to go there in shape, ready to pitch and to work hard. I want to be the hardest working guy there because I really want to be in the rotation to start the year. Right now I'm taking some time off to let my body recover, but around the middle of November it's back to work to get ready for 2009."