Malverne gritty in tough year

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The 2019 season has not gone as expected for the Malverne baseball team, but the Mules are showing plenty of grit and pride as they enter the final six games of the spring.

The Mules (4-9 overall, 1-8 Conference B) got off to a promising start with non-conference wins over Uniondale, Roosevelt and Westbury and posted their first conference victory in a 13-3 win over Carle Place on April 16, highlighted by a 10-run fourth inning after trailing by three runs. Tim Bosques was the hitting star by going 3-for-4 with four RBIs in support of his brother Sam, who struck out five in five innings of work.

Malverne hung tough in its most recent series (at press time) against Oyster Bay by leading in all three games. The Mules had a 5-1 lead in the opening game and were ahead 2-1 after three innings of the middle game before the Baymen rallied with five runs in the fourth. The team carried a 2-0 lead into the sixth inning in the series finale on April 25, but eventually lost in extra innings when Matt Wong singled home the winning run for the Baymen in the bottom of the eighth.

Sam Bosques has won two games this season, including the Roosevelt contest on March 26 in which he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning while fanning 10. Tim Bosques was just as impressive the next day at Westbury, yielding just one hit and striking out 14 in 6 2/3 innings.

Miles Tyson picked up the Mules’ other win in the season opener and was supported by Christian Morgan, who had two hits in the game. Tyson, along with the solid play of fellow sophomores Gerardo Delligatti (first and third base) and Brian Capellan (outfield/DH) have given coach Joe Dunn optimism that next year’s team could be much improved.

“I’m happy with the play of some of the younger guys,” Dunn said. “Going forward, we are going to start giving more opportunities to the younger players because they are stepping up when needed.”

The Mules will conclude the regular season with three-game sets against East Rockaway and Wheatley. East Rockaway leads the race for the Conference B title with a 9-1 mark, one game ahead of Cold Spring Harbor. Wheatley has just two conference wins entering this week’s action.

The East Rockaway series concludes on the road Thursday with the first pitch set for 4:30 p.m. The Mules host Wheatley twice, including the season finale on May 9 at 4:30 p.m. at Herber Middle School.