John Jay Falls to Pearl River Small Ball

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After falling behind 3-0 in the second inning, John Jay fought back to tie in the bottom of the fifth. So Jacob Storch confidently came to the mound in the sixth and pitched great, according to Coach Ted Lawrence. Not one ball left the infield but proximity remarkably fell short.

Four bunts, one walk and four ground balls amounted to seven runs and left the coach bewildered. “I’ve coached for 35 years. I’ve never seen anything like it. Every little ground ball they put in play - including the bunts - just found a place. We couldn’t make a play,” he lamented, and John Jay exited the first round with a 10-3 loss.

The game started oddly too. Storch gave up a single and a walk but only faced the minimum. Storch picked off TJ Gerondel following his infield hit, and Connor Buckley’s pinch runner (Brendan Ryan) was cut down stealing by Luca Maiuolo.

The bottom of the first was much more traditional. A one out walk to Jackson Moreo aside, Buckley got two strikeouts and a ground out to third.

Onto the second, Storch answered right back. He worked around a two out infield hit with a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to Luke Fisch at short.

Unfortunately, Buckley did him one better. He struck out the side in the second, and the changeover brought on some very unwelcome foreshadowing.

In stepped Shane Wooster, and his bloop single set up the inciting incident for Chris Oliva. The ninth place batter dropped a sacrifice bunt, and Storch calmly fielded to make the play at first. Only thing, he dropped the ball, and his overthrow at first put runners on second and third.

Drew Wooster followed with a two run double, he moved over on Gerondel sacrifice bunt, and the Pirates took a 3-0 lead on Luis Gomez’s fly to right.

Nonetheless, the pitcher didn’t miss a beat. Three balls went up, and when the Pearl River outfield pulled them all down, Storch got back on track. The senior answered with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to Amogha Bhat at third.

Time getting short, the Wolves were on familiar turf. “All year,” said Storch, “we’ve been able to come back and never give up.”

Moreo taking the cue, he bounced a double down the third baseline, and with one out, Ben Kalish got his team on the board with a single to left. Not done, Fisch singled Kalish to third with two outs, and Maiuolo singled to close the gap to one.

The pep really back in Storch’s step, he wasn’t giving anything back. Bhat made two plays at third, and Aidan Chernick swallowed up a fly out.

Four innings complete, John Jay gave Pearl River a taste of their own medicine. Chernick got hit by a pitch with one out, and Moreo’s grounder to first moved the right fielder to second. Storch followed with a single up the middle, and Wolves were howling the tie game.

Not for long, a ground ball to third began the undoing. Bhat threw high, and Buckley was safe. Luis Gomez went down on strikes, but not before Ryan stole two bases. Then the bunt-a-thon began.

Jack Wooster’s bunt got past Storch, Pearl River took the lead and Danny Fitzgerald was next. His bunt sailed over Storch’s head and landed in front of Nate Summer. Another run in, Brendan Buckley and Shane Wooster nubbed a pair of tricky slow rollers that eluded Fisch and Bhat.

6-3 now, Pearl River squared up again. On the third base side, Storch fielded but pulled Eli Tubbs off the bag. The bases loaded, Drew Wooster walked and the lead was four.

An out would finally come on Gerondel bunt up the first baseline but two runs still scored anyway. One more high hoping ground ball to Bhat was good for a hit and the score struck ten.

The small ball onslaught was not unexpected, though. “We knew coming in they were going to do that,” revealed Lawrence. “We practiced all day yesterday - suicide, safety, first and second, second and third. But you can’t control where it’s being bunted.”

Aside from a couple of runners in the bottom of the sixth, the boys had to face the unfairness of it all. “They learned that anything is possible,” said Lawrence.

Still, the coach was pleased with the way his team fought back. “I loved it. That was us all year. The will to win,” he still expressed pride and was forced to say goodbye to the season.

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