Riverdale outlasts Fieldston in back-and-forth battle on the diamond, Falcons remain unbeaten and hand Eagles first loss of 2011 season

 

By Jason Eisenberg

 

April 18, 2011 -- Through the first two sports seasons of the 2010-11 school year, the battle for neighborhood bragging rights between the Riverdale and Fieldston boys’ varsity teams has been a mostly one-sided affair.

 

With five head-to-head meetings between the schools already in the books -- including football, soccer and basketball -- Fieldston was still undefeated and boasted four wins along with a draw in soccer. It appeared that this dominance by the Eagles was going to continue last Thursday, when Fieldston held a 3-1 lead over Riverdale after five innings, in the first of two baseball games between the rivals this season. 

 

However, the Falcons managed to reverse the trend by outscoring Fieldston 8-3 over the final two frames and went home with a rousing 9-6, come-from-behind victory to keep their undefeated record intact.

 

“We were making it easy on them for most of the day, so the difference was that we started swinging the bat and putting the ball in play. Our team again showed that we will keep fighting and are never out of a game,” said Riverdale head coach Doug McDonald. “We have great leadership, a lot of guys are in their senior campaign and I feel that this year’s team is the best chance we have at winning the Ivies and making a run in the state tournament.”

 

A large portion of the game boiled down to a pitchers’ duel between each school’s respective ace -- Riverdale junior Cole Dreyfuss and Fieldston senior Thomas McCarthy. Both hurlers put zeroes up on the scoreboard through two innings, with each allowing just a single hit along the way. Fieldston managed to strike first, though, thanks to a series of misplays by the Riverdale defense in the bottom of the third.

 

First, junior Matt Schwimmer led off the frame by reaching base after the Riverdale outfield dropped a routine fly ball. Schwimmer came around to score on a throwing error when the next batter -- junior Matthew Nunez -- bunted. Yet another error allowed Will Savage to reach base safely on an infield grounder, which set the scene for Thomas Savage to smack a two-run single to leftfield. All three of Fieldston’s runs in the frame were unearned.

 

Riverdale managed to get one right back on an RBI single by senior catcher Nat Irving, which scored Alec Silverman in the top of the fourth. The Falcons would still be trailing 3-1 after five innings, but it was in the sixth that their offense would finally come to life.

 

After conceding just three hits up to this point, McCarthy allowed three of Riverdale’s first four batters in the frame to reach base, before the starter was relieved by Will Savage. Fieldston could not work out of the jam, as Armando Perez singled to drive in one run and then Peter Janulis and Kalvin Polanco both drew walks with the bases loaded to bring two more runs across the plate. Riverdale would add three more runs -- for a total of six in the inning -- when the Fieldston defense botched two consecutive infield ground balls.

 

Down 7-3, the Eagles did not go away and immediately fought back with three runs in the bottom of the frame, on a two-run double to deep centerfield by Gordon Earle and an RBI single by Andrew Jaffoni. Just like what happened with McCarthy, Dreyfuss seemed to run out of gas in the sixth inning. This prompted Coach McDonald to bring Irving out from behind the plate and on to the mound, where the University of Viginia-bound senior recorded the final out of the inning.

 

It was in the top of the seventh, though, when Irving demonstrated the real reason why he received a Division I college scholarship, as the slugger smoked a bomb over the fence in centerfield for a solo homer. Riverdale would add another run off of Fieldston reliever Daniel Brickner to raise its lead to 9-6 heading in to the final half-inning. Fieldston had one last shot, but Irving quickly shut the door on the home team by striking out two batters in a one-two-three frame to pick up the save and seal the win for the Falcons. 

 

“This was a game that could have went in several different directions, and in the end, it did not go our way today. For five innings, we were good and followed the game plan, but then had a lapse late and everything fell apart,” said Fieldston head coach Tony Marro. “But I still love this team and am extremely happy with how they have played so far. Obviously, we have a way to go still to get to our potential, but hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.”

 

For Riverdale, Irving and Dreyfuss were the two standouts in the game, both on the mound as well as in the batter’s box.

 

“I know how good Cole is and he was not at his best today, but the important thing is he battled the whole way, got through that inning where the defense kicked the ball around and still got the team a win,” said Coach McDonald. “As for Nat, the kid is just a beast, what more can you say. He comes up big no matter what we ask him to do, whether it is behind the plate as a catcher, on the mound as a pitcher or at the plate as a batter. He is the kind of guy that the whole team rallies around.”

 

Riverdale extended its streak the very next day with an impressive 7-1 victory over Dalton. The win raised the Falcons’ record to 6-0 overall on the season and 4-0 within the Ivy League, which currently puts them in a first place tie with Poly Prep. Speaking of Poly, it was Fieldston that finally ended the Brooklyn powerhouse’s 56-game winning streak against league opponents last season. Unfortunately, they could not duplicate that feat in their first meeting of 2011, as the Eagles followed up the loss to Riverdale by falling 8-1 to Poly one day later. This second consecutive defeat dropped the previously-unbeaten Fieldston squad to a mark of 3-2, both overall and in the Ivy League.

 

“Between Poly, Riverdale and us, then throw in a tough Collegiate team as well as an improved Horace Mann, and this Ivy League is like the Big East in college basketball. Any one of these teams can beat up on just about everybody else, and when we play each other, there can be a different outcome each time,” said Coach Marro. “I still have complete confidence in this great group of kids and I believe that we should be even better than last year. If I said no, what kind of coach would I be, and any coach who tells you differently is not doing his job.”

 

 

Three Stars of the Game

#1 - Nat Irving, Riverdale - Just as his coach alluded to, there really is nothing that this kid cannot do on the diamond. The senior smashed a solo home run in the seventh inning for one of his two hits on the day, had a pair of RBIs and picked up the save by retiring four straight batters for the final outs of the game.  

#2 - Cole Dreyfuss, Riverdale - A solid showing by the junior starting pitcher through five innings, but he hit a bit of a wall in the sixth. Did just enough on the mound to pick up the win, while also singling twice and driving in a pair of runs at the plate.

#3 - Thomas McCarthy, Fieldston - The senior starting pitcher did his job and gave Fieldston a chance to win the game. McCarthy held a powerful Riverdale offense to only a single run through five innings, but just like his Riverdale counterpart, he eventually ran in to some trouble in the sixth. He left the game down by just one, but the Fieldston bullpen was unable to prevent further damage.

Fieldston Report Card

Offense: C+

While Fieldston did manage to put six runs and 10 hits on the board, almost all of this production was confined to two innings. The Eagles went scoreless with just three hits in the other five frames and half of the runs they did score on the day were a direct result of errors by the Riverdale defense. In addition, the top five batters in the Fieldston order went a combined 5-for-20 at the plate.

Defense: B-

For the first five frames of the game, the Fieldston defense looked pretty solid. However, the Eagles’ fielders were not sharp during Riverdale’s offensive surge in the late innings. In fact, four of the visitors’ hits over the final two innings did not leave the infield, but Fieldston could not make the plays necessary to record crucial outs.

Pitching: B

In fairness, this should be divided in to two separate, very different grades. Starting pitcher Thomas McCarthy was a bright spot in the loss for Fieldston, while pitching superbly for five innings, before ultimately running out of steam in the sixth. The same could not be said for the Eagles bullpen, which had a disastrous showing over the final 1.2 innings. 

Riverdale Report Card

Offense: B-

The Riverdale offense was dormant for the first five innings of this contest and was all too often not even making contact with the ball. However, once the Falcons started to put the ball in play, good things began to happen. With just about everybody in the lineup contributing, Riverdale exploded for eight runs over the final two frames to pick up the come-from-behind victory.

Defense: C

Prior to the comeback during the late innings, it was Riverdale’s defensive lapses that nearly cost them the game on this day. The Falcons made three errors in the third inning alone and these mistakes directly led to three runs for Fieldston. The Riverdale fielders would settle down from then on, but it created a deficit that lasted for most of the contest.

Pitching: B+

Despite not having his best stuff and being let down by the fielders behind him on a few occasions, Dreyfuss was still solid and did what was necessary to get the win. The real difference between the teams in this game was the bullpen. Fieldston’s relievers allowed five runs, while Riverdale closer Nat Irving was flawless in recording the final four outs to get a save.