PSAL------
Private----
Misc-------
Kennedy tunes up for baseball playoffs by pummeling RKA, loss leaves Tigers one win short of postseason spot
By Jason Eisenberg
May 24, 2011 -- Three weeks ago, the Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy baseball team was in the process of losing its fifth straight game, floundering with a 2-7 overall record and any dreams of a playoff berth were clearly on life support. However, as it turned out, RKA was not dead yet.
The Tigers would win four straight -- and five out of six -- to take control of their own playoff destiny heading in to last Sunday’s regular season finale against local rival John F. Kennedy. A victory would give RKA the necessary .500 record and third place finish in the Bronx “A” West Division that automatically books a spot in the city tournament, while on the other hand, a loss would put them back on the bubble.
Surely, the defending “B” city champions would have signed up for this scenario when they appeared to be drowning back in early May, which made it even that much more shocking just how lackluster the Tigers played in an 18-6 loss to JFK that put their postseason fate back in the hands of the PSAL seeding committee.
“There is really not much you can say about what happened out there today, it was all just kind of a blur,” said RKA head coach John Reingold. “Baseball is funny like that, we have maybe our best win of the season yesterday against a top team like South Bronx to give ourselves this chance and then completely fall apart one day later. You never want to leave it up to somebody else to make the decision and unfortunately that is exactly what we did.”
Kennedy had already long ago secured its playoff spot, but the Knights were still in contention for the division title before back-to-back losses last week to front-running Lehman ended those hopes. This slump briefly carried over to Sunday’s contest, as RKA took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the opening frame on a two-run triple by sophomore Sage Cheren and an errant throw by JFK during a double-play attempt that allowed Jason Araujo and Bryan Suarez to score.
From then on, though, to say the rest of the game was dominated by the Knights would be an understatement. Kennedy scored at least three runs in four of the next six innings, initially taking advantage of numerous RKA defensive errors and then later crushing the ball to all areas of the field with impressive power. When the dust had finally settled, JFK had put up a season-high 18 runs on the scoreboard.
Some of the highlights from this offensive explosion include a three-run triple by Erich Gonzalez in the second inning; back-to-back RBI singles from Williams Martinez and Pedro Taveras, as well as a two-run single by Darinel Feliz, in the third; and three doubles in the seventh -- by Gonzalez, Taveras and Phillie Guzman -- that brought home a combined five runs.
Meanwhile, once JFK relief pitcher Devin Sullivan came to the mound in the second inning, the sophomore hurler almost completely shut down the RKA offense. In fact, over the final five frames of the game, the Tigers were held to just two hits and one run, which was scored on an RBI single by Allen Torres. Outside of two-hits days from Torres, Cheren and Matthew Arias, every single other player on the Tigers’ roster finished with a zero in the hit column. The absence of everyday starters Javier Rossi, Matthew Capobianco and especially clean-up hitter Nathan Heller -- all away on the school’s senior trip -- clearly hurt RKA in every aspect of the game.
“Our offense was horrible and the bats pretty much went dead after the first inning. Then, we had more defensive lapses than I could count, so that eventually took its toll also,” said Coach Reingold. “But give Kennedy credit, they pitched well and simply pounded the ball on us in those late innings. It is not the way we wanted to finish up, but if this is in fact the end, you still can take a positive from our improved play over a majority of the second half of the season.”
This devastating loss would actually sting even more the very next day, as the PSAL released its list of playoff teams on Monday evening and RKA was not among the group. Finishing with a 7-9 record and claiming third place in one of the city’s toughest divisions is nothing to be ashamed of. If nothing else, the Tigers certainly proved that they belong at the “A” level with statement wins over South Bronx and Walton, as well as tight one-run losses to powers like Lehman and Kennedy. Yet, it was clear from the seeding decisions that the PSAL put more of an emphasis on having a .500 record than it did on strength of schedule or where a team finished in the division standings.
As for JFK, the Knights received the 13th-seed in the city tournament and will enter postseason play on a high note. If they swing the bats the way they did against RKA, there is no reason why Kennedy should not be confident in its ability to compete with just about any opponent out there and possibly pull off a few upsets along the way.
“You have to consider the factors that we play in a good division and that the Bronx in general is the best baseball borough in the city, so we are facing top competition every day, all season long,” said JFK head coach Alex Torres. “I am not worried about our offense, every guy on this team can hit the ball, but if we tighten up a little bit more defensively and get good pitching, there is no game that I go into thinking that we cannot win.”
Three Stars of the Game
#1 (tie) - Erich Gonzalez and Pedro Taveras, Kennedy - The Knights top two offensive players on this day had almost identical numbers on the stat-sheet. They evenly combined for six hits and eight RBIs in the game, with Gonzalez scoring two runs and hitting three doubles, while Taveras had three runs scored and a pair of doubles.
#2 - Devin Sullivan, Kennedy - Best pitching performance of the season for the sophomore reliever. Entered the game in the bottom of the second with his team already trailing 5-3 and allowed just a single run the rest of the way over six innings to earn the victory. As if that was not enough, Sullivan also went 2-for-4 at the plate, with an RBI and one run scored.
#3 - Sage Cheren, RKA - One of very few members of the Tigers that actually came to play on this day. The sophomore had two hits and drove in two runs on a first inning triple -- RKA’s only extra-base hit in the game. He also had the team’s lone steal and caught every ball that came his way in centerfield.
RKA Report Card
Offense: C
Sage Cheren, Matthew Arias and Allen Torres each had a pair of hits in the game, yet the rest of the team combined for a grand total of zero. While RKA did score six runs, four of them came in the first inning before the offense disappeared. Missing three everyday starters certainly did not help the cause, but none of the players inserted in the lineup stepped up in their absence.
Defense: D+
Coach Reingold specifically asked for this grade after watching his team’s defensive performance, so he got what he wanted ... and quite frankly what the team deserved. Eight of Kennedy’s runs were unearned as a direct result of four errors by RKA in the field. This total does not even include the several infield singles that were misplayed or multiple hits to the inexperienced corner outfielders that probably could have been caught.
Pitching: C-
The performance by RKA starter Allen Torres was not nearly as bad as his stat line would seem to indicate. Most of the damage against the sophomore pitcher during the early innings was a direct result of the fielding follies that took place behind him. Torres understandably grew frustrated by the lack of defensive support and JFK really started to flex its offensive muscles later in the game once the score was already out of hand.
JFK Report Card
Offense: A-
The numbers speak for themselves: 18 runs and 17 hits. Without question, JFK benefitted from numerous mistakes by RKA in the field throughout the game, but when you put up stats like that, the offense is certainly doing something right. Six different players had multiple hits and three of them had three-hit days, which just goes to show how deadly the Knights can be at the plate when all of their players are swinging the bat well.
Defense: B+
Another solid, if not spectacular day from a team that continues to cut down on its defensive lapses. In fact, the only glaring mistake in this game came on a throwing error in the first inning. While this did lead to two runs for RKA, the incident did not prove to be too costly, at least on this day. The Knights are not a flashy fielding team, but it will be key for them to make the safe plays and avoid errors in the playoffs.
Pitching: B
This game was a tale of two different pitchers. Starter Williams Martinez struggled mightily and lasted just one inning on the mound before being pulled by Coach Torres. However, what could have turned in to a devastating day for the Kennedy bullpen was fortunately saved by a superb long relief outing by Devin Sullivan. The sophomore hurler threw six innings and allowed just three hits and a single run to pick up the victory.
