Fox Lane falls to Greeley in season opener

Jackson Carroll delivers to the plate for Fox Lane. Andrew Brauning lines a base hit up the middle. Shortstop Spencer Grayson fires to first for the out. JIM MAC LEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

It would have been great to start off the new season as defending champions by defeating your big rival at home before heading off to Florida.

That was the plan for the Fox Lane varsity baseball team, but things don’t always go as planned. Instead, it was an example of what lies ahead for the Foxes. It comes with the territory as the defending champions, everyone is out to beat you and you are going to get their best shot, especially from a rival like Horace Greeley, and the Foxes were left watching the Quakers storm out on to the turf to celebrate after pulling out a 4-3 victory on March 25, at Fox Lane.

“No, it was definitely not the start we were hoping for,” admitted Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis. “I loved the way we competed and our bats were fantastic for about four innings, but we seemed to abandon our approach. That will come up and bite you and it certainly did.”

Fox Lane won the Section 1 championship last spring and advanced to the state finals, but most of that team graduated. A new group of Foxes are anxious for their turn to carry on the Fox Lane tradition and they took to the field hoping for a big start against Greeley. The Foxes had their ace Jackson Carroll back on the mound after leading the Foxes to the title last year, but the Quakers were able to jump out to a 3-1 lead in the third inning before Carroll got out of the inning leaving the bases loaded.

The Foxes answered right back in the bottom of the third as Spencer Grayson led it off with a single. Sean Singleton reached on a walk to make it first and second with nobody out.

Andrew Brauning then lined an RBI single up the middle to score Grayson and cut the Greeley lead down to 3-2. Carroll followed with a fielders’ choice to score Brauning and tie it up at 3-3.

The Foxes had several opportunities with runners on base in the innings that followed, but they were unable to push across another run. In the bottom of the fourth, Joe Rodriguez led off with a single and the Foxes advanced the runner to third before ending the inning. In the fifth, Brauning singled again and stole second, but that was as far as he was able to advance. Janak Bain led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and Rodriguez reached on a walk, but the Foxes had two runners caught stealing to end the threat.

Then in the top of the seventh, Greeley was able to get a base hit and a stolen base to put a runner on second to chase Carroll from the mound. Three-straight walks then brought home the go-ahead run for a 4-3 lead.

Fox Lane had one last chance as Max Polinsky led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, but the Quakers were able to turn a double play to end the game and hand the Foxes a bitter 4-3 setback.

Despite the loss, Hillis knows it is early and he saw promising signs on the field. He is excited about heading off to Florida to get the team ready for the rest of the season ahead.

“The pitchers need more reps on the mound, other than Jackson, we have to have other guys find command of the strike zone,” said Hillis. “We don’t expect to be super-sharp game one. They work hard and they’ll be ready to work hard in Florida. We leave Friday, we scrimmage every day, and we’ll get some things fixed up. We’ll get there.”

After the trip to Florida, Fox Lane will return to action with three-straight games in three days. The Foxes will travel across the river to face Clarkstown North on Wednesday, April 8. Fox Lane then returns home to host Mahopac on Thursday in a rematch of last year’s Section 1 Class AA championship game. The Foxes then finish the week with a game at home against Clarkstown North on Friday, April 10.