Fox Lane bats heat up on road trip to sunny Florida

Left to right, P.J. Stonsby delivers to the plate for Fox Lane. Catcher Logan Mammola blocks a throw at home against Horace Greeley. Danny Spolansky connects for the Foxes. Jim MacLean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN

Sometimes all it takes is a little change of scenery.

It certainly helped the Fox Lane varsity baseball team as the Foxes traveled to Florida for spring break to take on rival Yorktown.

Fox Lane had hit a little slump; a couple of games where the bats just couldn’t seem to find that big hit when the Foxes needed it. The result was a pair of losses with just one run scored, but it was a different story in Florida. The Foxes got hot at the right time, coming through with the big hits and scoring nine runs for a 9-5 win over the Huskers to improve to 4-2 overall on the season.

“A good and much needed change of scenery,” admitted Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis. “The bats came alive. Frank Salvatorelli gave us what we needed as the starting pitcher and got the win, and Brady Hopkins came in and got the save. A good sign, the bigger hits definitely came through against Yorktown. Hopefully, a sign of good things to come and we can keep it going.”

Against Yorktown, Fox Lane rallied to pull out the victory over the Huskers as the lineup came alive. Yorktown had come into the game with a 4-0 record, but the Foxes were ready to bounce back and show what the team can do at the plate with a veteran lineup that includes eight seniors already committed to play in college next year.

Sean Singleton had a big game coming through with two hits and driving in two runs. “He’s a gamer,” Hillis said of Singleton, and his fast start at the plate for the Foxes.

He wasn’t the only one as Jackson Carroll came through with two hits and two RBI, and senior All-Section slugger Will Rudolph did his usual damage at the plate with two hits and two RBI as well.

It was just what the Foxes needed after a pair of losses where they couldn’t push the runs across the plate, suffering a 2-1 loss at Mahopac and then being shut out at home in a 3-0 loss to rival Horace Greeley.

At home on April 9, hosting the Quakers, it was a pitchers’ duel as the two teams battled in a 0-0 tie through five innings.

Fox Lane had its opportunities, but the Foxes ran up against two star pitchers on the mound for Greeley with University of Virginia commit Ben Schulman starting it off and University of Delaware commit Zach Bond finishing off the shutout in relief.

“You’re not going to have a lot of chances against Schulman and Bond, and when we had our chances they rose to the occasion,” Hillis said of the Greeley pitchers. “They both pitched well. Two quality arms and you have to cash in on them when you get the chance.”

Fox Lane had runners in scoring position the last three innings but could not push a run across the plate. In the bottom of the fifth, Carroll led off with a single and Danny Spolansky followed with a perfect bunt for an infield single. Andrew Diaz then did the job with a sacrifice bunt, putting runners on second and third with one out. Baseball is a game of inches and sometimes you get unlucky, as Logan Mammola then ripped a bullet down the third base line that was caught for a double play.

Hopkins was up to the challenge on the mound for the Foxes shutting down the Quakers, but Greeley broke through for a run in the top of the sixth with a double and a sacrifice fly. The Quakers pushed two more runs across in the top of the seventh for a 3-0 lead.

The Foxes tried to answer in the seventh as John Czernyk led off with a walk and Carroll lined another single to make it first and second with nobody out, but Bond shut the door and closed it out for the Quakers.

Fox Lane returns from Florida with a busy week ahead with four games in six days. The Foxes start the week hosting Harrison on Monday, April 21, and then traveling to Harrison on Wednesday before returning home to host Tappan Zee on Friday and Mamaroneck on Saturday, April 26.