John Jay Rides Rollercoaster into Section Finals

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John Jay went as low and as high as a team could get this week. But the Wolves kept even keel and are heading to the Section Finals on Saturday May 27 versus Panas.

After beating Eastchester in the first round and Pelham in the second, John Jay traveled to Harrison on Sunday May 21 for the quarterfinals. Nick Fassert on the mound again, his teammates got him the lead in the fourth. Marco Maiuolo walked, Andrew Lombardi doubled off the fence, and Nick Russo’s single drove in two. John Jay added on in the fifth - even after Jacob Storch was picked off second. Civetta had already reached on a walk, and with two outs, Brendan Willingham followed suit by drawing the third walk of the inning. That left it to Fassert, and he delivered a two run single. Up 4-0, Harrison got on the board in the sixth and in putting down another threat in the seventh, the starter’s day was exemplified. “Fassert bared down and escaped the 7th inning jam to win. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he gutted it out and worked through a slew of jams to keep Harrison to only one run,” said utility infielder George Caratzas, who does stats and social media for the team.

The victory sent the Wolves into the semifinal double elimination round, and the Wolves were definitely not cowed versus first seeded Panas on Monday. A back and forth thriller, the excitement began almost immediately.

On Sam Stafura's long drive to left, Nick Russo broke in and saw the ball sail over his head. He then gave chase and got the relay into short. Nick Fassert delivered to Will Civetta at third, and the Wolves got a little help from the runner. He appeared to go into his head first slide early, and the lost step made it an easy out call for the umpire.

From there, Mitch Hammer got a strike out and groundout to retire the side, but John Jay proceeded to give back on the base paths. After Andrew Lombardi and Jacob Storch walked, Lombardi was picked off second by Jackson DiLorenzo.

The threat ending after Mike Aiello struck out, Panas made certain they didn’t run into the same problem in the second. Mike Scozzafava trotted out a homer, and the Panthers led 1-0.

Hammer got the next two batters on strikes nonetheless, and followed up by putting out a two out rally in the third. So in the fourth, the offense responded in triplicate. Maiuolo, Scott Esposito and Lombardi all doubled in succession, and John Jay had a 2-1 lead.

Unfortunately, the Wolves added no more. Nick Russo struck out after he was unable to bunt the runners over, Storch hit back to the mound, and Mike Aiello struck out.

Even so, Hammer was all nails in the fourth. He struck out the side, and John Jay was more than ready to believe.

But his counterpart didn’t sulk. DiLorenzo put up another donut and Stafura took another big bite in the fifth. On an 0-1 count, the shortstop went deep to center and his bat flip up the first baseline signaled a 2-2 tie.

Still, Hammer stayed on his game. The sophomore got a fly out, a strike out and retired the side on Tony Humphrey’s pop up bunt to the mound.

This had DiLorenzo give way to Cameron Hawley. The Panas relief pitcher stayed on point and retired the side in order. Hammer wasn’t ready to go a way, though and another scoreless frame had to have Panas hoping he would.

The top of seventh didn’t make it any easier for the home team either. Storch led off with a single, Aiello bunted him over, and Civetta’s line up the middle set up a play at the plate. The relay came in, and Storch slid in head first just before the tag.

Up 3-2, Willingham’s bunt had him elude the tag of the first baseman, but Jay could not add an insurance run. Fassert struck out, and Maiuolo's shot into the left centerfield gap was run down by Humphrey.

The bottom of the seventh, didn’t have Hammer return, and Panas probably breathed a sigh. But Will Matthews going 1-2 on Scozzafava might have had the Panthers watching out what they wished for.

Unfortunately, the next pitch got away from the reliever, and the hit by pitch brought the winning run to the plate. Stafura strode in and a first pitch, dramatic homer to right sent the Wolves to the loser’s bracket.

Even so, Coach Lawrence told his kids they weren’t done, and with Nick Fassert taking the mound on Wednesday, he blazed through the first inning versus visiting Fox Lane

A few jams followed, though. Peter Portugues singled with one out in the second and Danny Spotansky was hit by a pitch to put runners on second and third with two outs. Scott Esposito shaken up when the ball hit him too, Fox Lane thought they had an edge. So the runners took off on the next pitch, but Esposito gunned down Portugues.

Then after John Jay left two runners on in the second, the Foxes threatened again. A one out walk to Mark Schwartz and single by Nick Dellorso put runners on the corners, and a grounder to short by Ken Rudolph looked like it would score a run. Not quite, Schwartz took out Storch on his slide, and the umpire ruled a double play on interference.

So John Jay took the cue. With the Fox Lane bench razing starter Nick Fassert after a weak first swing, the freshman put his money where their mouths were. He stroked an opposite field single and gave a look back on the way to first. “I felt it right off the bat,” he said of the redemption.

Fassert then stole second, and Esposito followed with a walk. Far from done, Nick Russo’s grounder to third drew a wide throw, and the left fielder was able to elude the tag at first.

A 1-0 lead, Nolan Rhodes stepped in with his regimen in place as a platoon player. “I just make sure I practice hitting and get as many reps as I can,” he assured.

A passed ball put runners on second and third and Rhodes stuck to the fundamentals. “I’m thinking stay inside the ball. It doesn’t need to be hit hard, get it to the outfield, and that’s what happened,” Rhodes explained.

Two came in on the single to right, and a 3-0 lead was not taken for granted by Aiello. “After Panas, nothing is ever enough,” said the senior, and a single up the middle put Rhodes in scoring position.

John Jay was not above a break either. Will Civetta hit a hard grounder to first, and the bounce beat Portuguese for a 4-0 lead.

Fassert struck out four of the next six batters, and Lawrence’s recall to Matthews did not include a heavy heart. “I put him right back out there to get Monday out of his mind,” said the coach.

Unfortunately, Matthews was greeted by a dropped foul ball at first by Marco Maiuolo. Ball four resulting, the reliever tossed the miscue aside as easily as he summed up his approach after succumbing at Panas. “Don’t hit anybody,” he deadpanned, and the cool customer retired the final six for the victory.

So two victories to go, Lawrence already has his team as winners and is just enjoying the ride. “Our kids have come on late playing with energy and enthusiasm,” he concluded. “It’s great to see.”