John Jay Isn’t Small in 9-2 Victory Over Harrison

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On Wednesday April 30, John Jay traveled to Harrison, fell behind 2-0, and as the team was constituted, they were pretty far from putting up a few blasts to pull even. “We don’t have a ton of guys who can hit home runs,” said Nolan Rhodes. So these Wolves make do.

“Our coaches have been telling us, we’ve got to put the ball in play,” said the shortstop, and that’s exactly what John Jay did. They were able to tie the game and continue the minutia on the way to a 9-2 victory.

Unsurprisingly, John Jay began the day by sticking to the program. A walk by Jacob Storch and a one-hopper to third by Rhodes put the first two runners on. But the Wolves were undone by a pair of infield flies and a strikeout.

No problem, Storch responded by giving Harrison the minimum. A fly ball, a grounder to second and a strikeout kept the scoreboard unblemished.

The same for the top of the second, the status quo didn’t hold up in the bottom. A single and a stolen base put a runner in scoring position, but Storch was also an out away when he got Aldo Buonocore on strikes. Not good enough, David Rosmarin doubled home run number one, and a single by Evan Wilkins made it 2-0.

Storch did get Dante Lanza to fly to left, but the deficit left the starter to begin picking up the pieces. He worked his second walk and reached second when a high bouncer by Rhodes put two runners on.

Storch then stole third and Will Civetta continued to play ball. His grounder to first wasn’t handled, and the lead was cut in half. Elliot Arbogast stayed contained next and didn’t mind making it hurt. The right fielder was hit by a pitch, and the bases were loaded.

Still only one out, Will Rickel did his part with a grounder to short but the force was had at home. Undeterred, Matt Denker stayed on point. He hit a hot shot to third that got away and tied the game.

On came Storch, he did get into trouble when the first two runners reached on singles. However, he had some acrobatic help from Ryan Valdes, and Michael Olsey was the victim. His grounder to Civetta drew a high throw, and Valdes made a leaping grab to force Buonocore.

One out and with runners on first and third, Harrison bailed out the Wolves on the base paths. Alexander Schwartz got caught in a rundown at third on the steal of second, and Storch followed with a strikeout.

Still pumped, Storch did damage with the bat. With Valdes and Sam Rickel in scoring position on a walk and single to left respectively, the leadoff batter kept his approach on the beeline. “I was looking for a straight fastball,” he said, and a line single up the middle brought in two.

4-2, Nolan and Civetta followed with singles to right, and with the bases loaded, Arbogast stayed home. He dropped a beautiful bunt up the first base line and drove in run number five with the hit.

Not done, Will Rickel added on by keeping the train going in the same direction. He lifted a fly ball to right, and Jay had a 6-2 lead on the sacrifice fly.

Now with the lead, Storch really settled in. A grounder to third, a pop to first and a strikeout swinging moved the game to fifth.

No runs this time for Jay, Storch answered by getting the first two batters, but a double and walk briefly got the better of the pitcher. So Lawrence sent out a quick verbal directive. “We’ll just say a couple of words and let him cool down,” said the manager. “He knows how to do it.”

The subsequent strikeout proved the point and Lawrence was the first to greet. He threw his arms around Storch’s shoulder as if to say, “you had it all the way,” and the smiles went in both directions.

Storch followed with a one, two, three sixth, and three more insurance runs set the table for Mitch Hammer to close his teammate’s gem. “He threw strikes and allowed his defense to make the plays for him,” concluded Rhodes.