Baldwin stymied by East Meadow

Baldwin pounded out a combined 27 hits and scored 12 runs in the first two games of its series with East Meadow but came up empty in the win column, losing 10-7 on April 9, and 6-5 in the opener two days earlier. Then came the finale April 10, and the Bruins simply ran into the Jets’ staff ace turning in the best performance of his career.

Junior Brian Kavanagh pitched the first no-hitter of his career, leading East Meadow to a sweep in a 7-0 victory. Kavanagh, an All-County performer last season, struck out nine, walked none and allowed only one batter to reach base—whom he hit in the sixth. Kavanagh retired the final two batters on strikeouts in the dirt with his catcher throwing to first for both outs. The Jets scored all of their runs in the fourth inning, touching up Bruins’ starter Jesse Reynolds for three hits and three walks.

East Meadow spaced out its scoring in the second game of the series, getting two runs in each of the first and second innings and padding the scorebook with runs in all but the sixth. “We let up four runs in the first two innings and we were playing catch up,” coach Frank Esposito said. “And we left too many guys on base.”

Baldwin did rough up East Meadow’s pitching staff for 16 hits in the loss, but outside of the heart of the order—seniors Brian Darcy, Robert DeVito and Matt Hines—the team as a whole had trouble generating runs. “They’re our guys we’re hoping to get RBIs from,” Esposito said. “We’re getting runners in scoring position, just not across the plate.”

A roster that includes seven seniors has also worked in a half-dozen underclass players that are starting to have an impact. Junior Nikko Arellano helped stake the Jets out to a 6-1 lead in the series opener with East Meadow before the Jets stormed back with five runs in the seventh to win a game played in heavy rain and winds. Another junior, Bayyan Ngala-El has become a super utility player, seeing time around the infield at second base, shortstop and third and even pitching.

Sophomore Brandon Hoskins has carved out time in the outfield and is the Bruins first reliever out of the pen. “We have six guys that are underclassmen and young but they’re doing well for us,” Esposito said, also mentioning contributions from sophomore Jeffrey Dominguez, an outfielder and pitcher, and freshman second baseman Fred Lucas.

Baldwin begins a three-game series with Port Washington on the road Monday at 4:45 p.m. The series continues at home Tuesday and concludes with a bus trip on April 24.