It was a day that no ballplayer of either team would ever forget. Gracing the same field that future prospects of the New York Mets would is something that the players of the Sheepshead Bay Sharks and the Canarsie Chiefs would hold dear to their hearts for a lifetime when the two teams played KeySpan Park on April 17.
Backed by a spectacular performance from their ace pitcher Nestor Martinez, the Sheepshead Bay Sharks were able to chomp past the Canarsie Chiefs 10-0. The ace stole show by hurling six complete innings to earn his second victory of the season and his first shutout of the campaign.
“I’m going to pitch my hardest, doing what I do, and getting us to the playoffs,” said Martinez. “We got a good team this season, all we need is to keep our heads together and to work together.”
Other highlights of the game came when the Chiefs opened the second inning with shortstop Carolos Claudio driving a Nestor Martinez pitch to the centerfield gap for a double and in the bottom of the second inning when the Sharks busted out with their offensive prowess by sending eight men to the plate.
On the big game at KeySpan Park, Sheepshead Bay Head Coach Avi Ribenbach said: “It was exciting. We were excited, they [Canarsie] were excited and we had the parents come out to enjoy this moment.”
On pitching from the KeySpan mound, Martinez said: “It gives some of us a chance to experience what it would be like to make that step towards the Majors and we got some guys that would like to go there.”
When asked if one day, playing for the Cyclones would be a goal for him, he replied simply with: “Hopefully.”
The win was the team’s second against Canarsie last week in the Sharks “home-and-home” series sweep, which began on April 14, when Sharks catcher/pitcher Nestor Martinez had two singles that produced three runs in a 12-6 win. On the mound, Pitcher Franklin Vizcaino (1-0) tossed a terrific game by going the distance, hurling seven innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits while fanning eight.
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In other baseball play last week, three Brooklyn East “A” Division teams brought out the brooms, as the Madison Knights, Brooklyn Tech Engineers and Sheepshead Bay Sharks all recorded respective series sweeps of their divisional opponents. But it was still the Madison Knights sitting pretty in first place with an unblemished 7-0 record and holds a 2.5 game lead over their closest competitor, the Sheepshead Bay Sharks (5-3). With the midway point of the season present, only the Transit Tech Express (1-7) have been eliminated from playoff contention with seven games remaining.
Brooklyn Tech Engineers- It was a perfect 2-for-2 against Transit Tech as they swept their first series of the season. On April 14, the Engineers received a superb outing from pitcher Matthew Gibson (1-0) as he tossed a three-hitter in a 10-0 shutout of the Express. The senior hurler got his first victory of the season by striking out five. It didn’t take long for Tech to score runs as they scored eight runs in the first three frames of the contest, led by shortstop Alex Diamond, who went 2-for-4, with a double and a team-high five runs driven in.
With the next game, on April 16, the Engineers’ bats didn’t cool off as they posted up 16 more runs in a 16-6 rout of Transit Tech. Tech was led by pitcher Eric Robinson, who did most of the damage at the plate, as he went 2-for-2, with doubles, and four R.B.I. On the mound, Robinson tossed 2.1 innings and allowed only three hits while striking out three.
Midwood Hornets- Runs were hard to come by as the Hornets were swept by Madison, as they were outscored 12-1 in the two losses. In the first game, on April 14, right fielder Collin Hannay was the only Hornet able to swat a pitch past the infield in a 7-0 shutout loss. While his teammates were struggling at the plate, Hannay was buzzing by going 2-for-3 with two singles in the 5-1 defeat on April 16. Backstop Phillip Schultze drove in the lone run with a single in the second inning.
Madison Knights- The Madison Knights showed that they were the kings of Bedford Avenue as they swept the “Bedford Avenue” series against Midwood for their second series sweep of the season. On April 14, center fielder Kevin Laidlaw and shortstop Michael Triolo, each had two singles while scoring a combined three runs in a 7-0 shutout of the Hornets. On the mound, it was pitcher James Wong (2-0), who stymied the offense as he struck out eight to earn his second win of the season. Wong only pitched 4.2 innings allowing nothing but a walk. Then, two days later, Laidlaw’s hot bat produced three more singles in a 5-1 win over Midwood. On the hill, it was pitcher Jonathan Farina, who frustrated Midwood by fanning eight and allowing five hits in a little more than four innings pitched.
