‘Hammer time’ is officially back in season for John Jay baseball

Clockwise from top left, Mitch Hammer throws a complete game for John Jay in 4-1 win over Somers. Will Rickel delivered a big hit for John Jay. Eliot Arbogast slides in safe at second with a stolen base. Mitch Hammer celebrates after the final pitch in win over Somers. Jim Mac Lean Photos

By JIM MACLEAN

It was a celebration more than a year in the making.

John Jay pitcher Mitch Hammer delivered a strike for the final out on the final pitch to wrap up a complete game 4-1 win over Somers, and he let out a yell to start the celebration with his teammates.

The Wolves knew what it meant to their ace lefty, and what it means to their team overall: the Hammer is back. After helping the Wolves advance to the Section 1 finals as a sophomore, Hammer missed all of last season after having surgery, and he has been working his way back into form. The win over Somers at home on April 21, was his first victory on the mound since he hurled a gem as a sophomore to lift the Wolves into the championship game. The arm felt fine after going the distance for the complete game win, allowing just three hits.

“I could have thrown another 100 pitches, I wasn’t getting tired at all, I feel great,” Hammer said after the victory. “We’re confident, the bats are hot and the energy in the dugout today against a league rival was amazing and I fed off of that. We’re rolling.”

It was the fifth win in six games for the Wolves as John jay improved to 5-5 overall after starting the season 0-3. The win over Somers was a league victory, and John Jay coach Ted Lawrence hopes the Wolves are getting hot at the right time heading into the heart of the league schedule before the playoffs. Having Hammer healthy and heating up is also a good sign for the team heading down the stretch.

“It’s exactly like his sophomore year, he got better with each outing and we’re seeing that now,” Lawrence said of Hammer. “We’re playing well, especially after that slow start, so we’re pretty excited. The bats are hot. We’re getting contributions 1-9 and that’s big. We’re not relying on 1-4, they’re hitting, but so is 5-9 and that’s good to see. Early on we weren’t hitting. Now, we seem to have all found it together.”

In the win over Somers, Will Rickel came through with a double to drive in one run for the Wolves. Steve Carozo had a sacrifice fly for another run, and Eliot Arbogast came through with a clutch two-out single to drive in a run.

That was plenty of run support for Hammer as he got stronger as the game went on and kept the Tuskers off the base paths.

The win over Somers was a bounce back game for the Wolves after having their winning streak halted in a 10-1 loss on the road at Suffern on April 19. It was also a big league victory as the Wolves improved to 3-0 in the hunt for another league title.

“We’ve got a busy week, two more league games and then Jay Fest,” added Lawrence. “We have to take care of business one game at a time.”

John Jay was scheduled to be right back at it against Somers on the road Wednesday. The Wolves then have another big league match up on the road Friday, April 25, at Mahopac, before returning home Saturday to host Horace Greeley for Jay Fest. The Wolves then host Mahopac on Tuesday, April 29, and travel to Harrison the next day to finish off a busy stretch in the season with six games in nine days.