Baseball: John Jay survives against rival Greeley

Nolan Rhodes drives one to the opposite field. Mitch Hammer delivers on the mound for the Wolves. Jackson Moreo is called out at the plate in John Jay victory over Horace Greeley. Jacob Storch celebrates as he scores a run for the Wolves. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN

The sun was setting, but the John Jay seniors didn’t want to leave the field.

John Jay had held on for a 7-5 victory over Horace Greeley in the first round of the Section 1 Class AA playoffs on Monday, May 19, and the seniors celebrated for the last time on their home field.

Senior Mitch Hammer pitched six solid innings and recorded his 100th career strikeout to lead John Jay to the victory, and Jack Garneau came on in relief to close it out 

“This means so much to us seniors, that was the last game we get to play here,” admitted Hammer. “We’ve been playing together since we were 5 or 6 years old. Even outside of baseball, this is our friend group; I’m playing with my best friends every day, playing for each other. Sophomore year we came up short in the finals, last year in the semifinals, so this is the last ride for us.”

John Jay was able to strike first in the second inning as Jackson Moreo had a single and Steve Carozo followed with a walk and came around to score on an error for a 1-0 lead.

It was a big four-run rally in the third inning that made the difference for John Jay. Jacob Storch led off with a walk and Nolan Rhodes followed with a single. Eliot Arbogast bunted for a single, and Moreo walked.

Carozo then delivered with two outs as he came through with a two-run single.

“We knew Ben Shulman is a great pitcher that throws hard, we’ve been practicing all week long hitting hard fastballs,” explained Carozo. “Going up there with two outs, bases loaded, I just had to do something. I saw a middle fastball and just attacked it, a great feeling.”

The Wolves were not done as Ryan Valdes followed with a double to drive in another run and give John Jay a 5-0 lead.

John Jay added on two more runs in the fourth as Storch led off and got on first with an error. He stole second and third and came in to score on an RBI double from Will Civetta. Arbogast followed with an RBI single to make it 7-0.

Those two runs would end up being the difference as Horace Greeley rallied back. The Quakers threatened in the third inning with a runner on third, but the Wolves came up with a big double play as Sam Rickel fielded a fly ball in center field and then threw to home to get the out at the plate.

Horace Greeley scored one run in the fifth and added another on a home run in the sixth to cut the lead down to 7-2 heading into the final inning where the Quakers bats came alive with four-straight hits to cut the lead down to 7-5 with nobody out.

Jack Garneau came on in relief for John Jay and he was able to end the rally with the help of another big double play as the Wolves got the job done on defense. Storch made the play at shortstop to start it off as he fired to first for one out, and first baseman Will Rickel then fired to the plate where Carozo made the tag to complete the double play.

Hammer finished with 10 strikeouts overall to earn the win on the mound, while Garneau got the save. Valdes, Rhodes and Arbogast each had a pair of hits at the plate as the Wolves got contributions up and down the lineup to pull out the victory.

“Heck of a game, felt like we were in control, but Greeley didn’t let it go and give them credit, they clawed back,” said John Jay coach Ted Lawrence. “We knew we’d see their number one and our kids prepared for him. Everybody, 1-9 in the lineup, everyone battled, putting the ball in play, having good at bats, not swinging at bad pitches, just a great effort by our guys. Our senior class was outstanding.”

With the win, John Jay moves on to the quarterfinals where the number-six seed Wolves were set to travel across the river on Wednesday to face No. 3-seed Clarkstown South.