RKA proves to be ‘A’-worthy

foe in big opening day win,

Tigers’ ace K’s 11 in first start

at PSAL’s highest level

 

By Jason Eisenberg

 

April 4, 2011 -- It might have been an unfamiliar opponent

and a new level of competition, but for at least one more

day, the Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy baseball team got

to enjoy the same old results.

 

In a spring sports season filled with interesting local

story lines, this one is arguably the most intriguing of them

all. After back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in the PSAL’s “B” Division -- a two-year stretch that ultimately culminated with a city championship in 2010 -- how will the newly-promoted RKA Tigers fare against “A”-level hitters and pitchers?  

 

While the final answer to this question will gradually be revealed over the next two months, the local team seems to have already picked up exactly where it left off. With a roster that returns nearly intact from last year, RKA posted an impressive 9-1 victory over Samuel Gompers in its season-opener last Wednesday afternoon at Seton Park.  

 

“We are now in what is probably one of the toughest divisions in the city and our schedule is literally a minefield over these first few weeks,” said RKA head coach John Reingold. “If we had a bad start, it could have led our guys to begin questioning themselves, so all in all, a win in the first game was big. But we cannot be satisfied, because at this level you need to keep winning as often as possible.”

 

As expected, junior ace Jason Araujo was given the ball for his second consecutive opening day start, and when he is on the mound, there is no reason why RKA should not be expecting to win as often as possible. During the first few innings, Araujo’s accuracy was a bit off, but he still managed to consistently get himself out of trouble with strikeouts.

 

In the first frame, the Tigers’ pitcher walked a pair and hit another batter, but ended the bases loaded threat with his third strikeout of the inning. Araujo walked two more in the next inning but again escaped unscathed by whiffing two batters. Despite being a little wild, when Araujo put the ball over the plate, Gompers could not hit him. This was evident during a third inning that saw the junior hurler strike out the side, which gave him an incredible eight “K’s” through the first nine outs recorded in the contest.

 

Overall, Araujo threw five scoreless innings, allowed just one hit -- a two-out single in the fourth frame -- walked five and struck out a whopping 11 batters.

 

“I feel really good. I lost a little bit of weight over the offseason, got in better physical shape and came in to this year with a positive mentality that I can do the same thing in the ‘A’ Division,” said Araujo, who has noticeably trimmed down since last year. “I know I can still do much better with my location and pitching to contact, but this game gives me and I think all of my teammates a lot of confidence.”

 

However, Araujo could not win the game alone and his teammates certainly stepped up on offense to provide plenty of run support. The Tigers scored a pair of runs in each of the first two frames and then added five more over the next four innings to put a nine-spot up on the board for the day.

 

Junior third baseman Bryan Suarez got things started early in the first, with a two-run double to the gap in right-centerfield. Before a single out had been recorded against them, the Tigers already had all the runs they would need on this day, but that did not stop the local team from piling on some more. Junior shortstop Matthew Arias hit an RBI double and then later scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore centerfielder Sage Cheren to double RKA’s lead in the second inning.

 

Arias and Cheren were still far from done, as both players knocked in a run during each of the fourth and sixth innings. In fact, the offensive highlight of the day came from Arias, who absolutely crushed an RBI triple to deep centerfield in the fourth frame.   

 

Meanwhile, just as the offense continued to put up runs, the Tigers were having nearly as much success keeping their opponents off the scoreboard. Even after Araujo reached the PSAL’s new pitch count limit and was forced to leave the game, senior Javier Rossi came on to throw two solid innings in relief. Rossi allowed just one run on three hits and struck out three batters. He did receive some help from the fielders behind him, most notably sophomore Daniel McCauley, who ironically had taken over for Rossi at second base. With one out in the sixth, McCauley dove to his right to grab a hard grounder and then threw the ball to first from his knees to rob Gompers of a base hit.

 

Considering the Tigers’ all-around impressive debut at the “A” level, it is scary to think that their manager actually expects his squad to get much better, even his ace starting pitcher.

 

“Jason struggled a little early with his control and with these new pitch count rules in play, we cannot afford to have him throwing six, seven and eight pitches per batter,” said Reingold. “The biggest question mark with our team is pitching depth, so we are going to need Jason for more than five innings when he starts against top teams. We know that when in peak form, he should be up there among the best pitchers in the whole city.”  

 

 

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

 

RKA Players of the Game:

JASON ARAUJO - The junior hurler’s numbers speak for themselves: five scoreless innings pitched, only two hits allowed and 11 strikeouts. He will need to cut down on the walks and the amount of throws per at-bat, but Araujo clearly has the tools to be one of the best pitchers in the city.  

MATTHEW ARIAS - A leadoff batter’s main goal is get on base, so with that said, the junior shortstop did everything the team needed from him and more. In fact, Arias reached base on all four of his at-bats (three hits and a walk), drove in three runs -- including an RBI triple in the fourth -- and scored three times on the day.

 

 

RKA Report Card

 

Offense: B

With the exception of a few big hits, the Tigers mostly manufactured runs through sacrifice flies, beating out infield singles and drawing walks. This is good news because RKA will not be able to smack around most pitchers at this level the way they did for the past few years in the “B” Division.

 

Defense: B+

Aside from a few of the usual opening day mistakes and one dropped fly ball in the outfield, it was a strong defensive showing by RKA. However, this good grade could have been earned singlehandedly by the highlight reel play from McCauley at second base in the sixth inning.

 

Pitching: A-

Araujo might have had a little trouble with control at times and reached the pitch count limit earlier than his coach would have liked. But, other than that, the junior ace struck out 11 batters and was nearly unhittable in his “A” league debut. In addition, Rossi threw two solid innings in relief.