Baldwin looks to promising future

A home run, triple and single off the bat of senior Fred Lucas wasn’t enough for Baldwin to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of Herricks in the conclusion of a Nassau Conference AA-II baseball series on May 4.

The Highlanders scored four runs in the top of the first inning, including two on a single by Brian Wu, and never looked back on the way to a 9-3 road victory. Eric Del Valle was the winning pitcher and also had three hits and three runs scored as the Bruins (4-12 overall) were handed a seventh consecutive loss.

“We’ve got a young team and a bright future,” Baldwin coach Frank Esposito said. “We had to deal with adversity before the season even began with two of our three starting pitchers unable to throw. We lost our third starter also, so our whole rotation is new.”

Sophomore John Strategakos, whose older brother Stephen underwent Tommy John Surgery and couldn’t pitch all season along with junior Tommy Airey (rotator cuff surgery), was the victim of some tough luck in the first inning May 4. Del Valle hit a bad-hop RBI single to give Herricks a 1-0 lead, and Andrew Imperatore’s bloop single drove in the fourth run. 

Baldwin answered in its first turn at bat and cut the margin in half with a pair of runs. Junior Chris Morro got the rally started with an opposite-field single to right and came around to score on Lucas’ triple into the gap in right-center. Stephen Strategakos, who has been used as a DH, brought in Lucas with a groundout to shortstop.

John Strategakos pitched a perfect second frame, getting a pair of groundouts and a flyout, however Herricks got the offense going again in the third and upped its lead to 6-2. Del Valle led off with a triple and scored on a Justin Vargas single. Vargas touched home plate after Will Arena’s single.

The only run the Bruins managed over the last six innings was a Lucas homer. Two days earlier, in a wild 16-13 road loss to the Highlanders, the All-County third baseman went 3-for-4 and knocked in four runs. “Losing Freddie is going to hurt,” Esposito said. “He’s a four-year varsity starter and a great leader. Teammates listen to him when he talks.”

Hard-working senior first baseman Alan Drew will be another key loss to graduation, Esposito noted. The coach expects Nick Diaz, a sophomore, to be in the mix to take over for Lucas at third base or possibly vie with Morro for the shortstop role.

An injury to starting pitcher David Algoza brought Esposito to add junior John Davison and sophomore Mike Ahearn into the rotation. Freshman outfielder Anderson Moreno worked a little in relief and also hit in the leadoff spot. Sophomore Reed Hoskins continues to make progress in his second year as the starting catcher, while junior Jake Myles gets the job done in center.

The Bruins conclude the season with a three-game set against Plainview this week.