Baseball: Fox Lane seniors start playoffs with a shutout

Danny Spolansky fields a throw at second for the Foxes. Jim MacLean photos

Gio DiLeo delivers for Fox Lane against R.C. Ketcham.

Fox Lane shortstop John Czernyk fires to first.

By JIM MACLEAN

It would appear that the Fox Lane baseball team was limping into the playoffs having lost four of its last five games in the regular season, but the Foxes are right where they want to be heading into the postseason.

The Foxes ended the regular season at home Sunday, May 18, hosting R.C. Ketcham. It was a game that didn’t have any impact on the postseason standings for either team, but both teams wanted to get the game in. Ketcham is the top-seed in Class AAA, while Fox Lane is the No. 2-seed in Class AA for the Section 1 tournament, so the two teams can’t meet again. It was just two of the best teams in Section 1 anxious to play baseball against a quality opponent.

The result was a 3-1 victory for Ketcham, another tough loss for Fox Lane as the Foxes went 1-4 down the stretch with three of those losses coming against top Class AAA schools. 

“Battle tested my man, we’re battle tested, we like to back-load our schedule if we can, what’s the sense of going into sectionals not seeing this caliber of baseball,” Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis said after the Ketcham game. “It’s important, Ketcham is like us, they just want to play against good teams, so why not get this game in when we can. It’s all about playing ball.”

It was a pitchers’ duel as Gio DiLeo took the mound for Fox Lane against a tough Ketcham lineup and pitched four scoreless innings. The two teams were locked in a scoreless tie heading into the fifth inning.

Fox Lane threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Logan Mammola and Sean Singleton delivered a pair of singles, but the Foxes were unable to score.

Ketcham loaded the bases in the top of the fifth and took a 1-0, but Singleton came on in relief with nobody out and got the Foxes out of the inning.

Fox Lane was able to answer in the bottom of the fifth as John Czernyk reached on an error and Danny Spolansky followed with a hit. Mammola then got his second hit of the game to tie it up at 1-1.

Everybody got into the game for both teams as it was clear the purpose of the game was to get ready for the playoffs, and Ketcham was able to push across a pair of runs in the sixth and close out the 3-1 victory.

Fox Lane finished the regular season with a 14-5 record, but the Foxes have 10 seniors on the roster and they have said all year long it is all about the postseason. According to Hillis, leading the way have been Mammola and Spolansky at the plate as they are both batting above .400 and earned All-Section honors, while Jackson Carroll is 4-0 on the mound and earned All-Section honors as well.

Despite the loss to Ketcham, Hillis feels his senior class is ready for a big finish, with several starters who have been on the roster for three years.

“The energy wasn’t really there today, but the seniors are ready for this,” added Hillis. “One game at a time, no looking ahead.”

Fox Lane earned the No. 2-seed in the tournament and the Foxes took care of business in the first round on May 19. The Foxes hosted No. 15-seed Lincoln and cruised to a 21-0 victory in five innings. Brady Hopkins, Frank Salvatorelli, Michael Salvatorelli and J.J. Lombardo combined on the mound to pitch a perfect game. At the plate, Mammola, Will Rudolph, Cooper Furst and Spencer Grayson each drove in a pair of runs.

Fox Lane was set to host No. 10-seed Brewster in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The winner advances to the best two-out-of-three semifinals that get under way Saturday, May 24.