Grand Street Campus hurt itself more times than it could overcome last Friday.
The Wolves pitching staff was plagued by walks and beaned batsmen, and base-runner mistakes short-circuited potential big innings on offense. Twelfth-seeded Grand Street attempted to rally from two separate three-run deficits, but ultimately fell 6–5 to host and No. 5-seeded Benjamin Cardozo in the second round of the Public School Athletic League baseball playoffs on May 22.
“They weren’t a better team than us,” said junior catcher Marcus Chavez. “They just made less mistakes than us. They played their game and we didn’t play ours.”
Grand Street trailed 6–3 after five innings, but refused to go quietly. It scored a run in the six on a run-batted-in ground out by Julian Perez, and had runners on first and third with no outs down 6–4 in the top of the seventh.
Pinch runner Jon Bencosme didn’t get a good jump and was thrown out easily trying to steal second. Samuel Polonco eventually scored on a single by Ruben Vasquez, but Chris Mondesi struck out as the go ahead run to end the contest.
“There is no way my runner, a senior, a veteran, should have been thrown out by three strides,” said Grand Street coach Melvin Martinez. “It’s totally unacceptable.”
Martinez has been forced to put different kids in bigger situations this year after injuries to four key seniors. Julian Fernandez (labrum), Brandon Sinche (shoulder), Jonathan Cuas (elbow), and Roberto Valdez (knee) all missed large amounts of time. Still, the Wolves went 11–5 and finished just a game out of second place in the AAA Southeastern division as the freshmen really stepped up.
“I’m so proud of them,” Martinez said. “They did a heck of a job and I’m proud of them.”
His team fell behind Cardozo 3–0 after two innings, and 5–1 going to the bottom of the fourth thanks to three hit batters and five walks. Things could have been worse, but starting pitcher Andrew Hernandez was able to strand eight runners over the first three frames. The Wolves uses four different pitchers in the game.
“It’s just a shame that our pitchers didn’t have it today,” Martinez said.
Grand Street (12–6) finally got on the board in the third thanks to a run-batted-in single from, Andrew Navarez to make it 3–1. A two-run double from Vasquez appeared to get Grand Street back in the game at 5–3 in the fifth against Cardozo starter Michael Corona. Cardozo (15–3) added an insurance run in the fifth. Chavez went two-for-two with a walk and two runs scores for the Wolves.
The season was no doubt discouraging for Grand Street, which has reached the semifinals or better in the each of the previous five seasons. Martinez called the future bright with all the talented young players he has returning, They just need to tighten up their play.
“We have to come back stronger,” Chavez said. “We have to learn how to never give up and keep the mistakes at a minimum.”
