But when the Patriots head coach gets a pitching performance like…
By Dylan Butler
Randy James was worried about Francis Lewis’ inexperienced left side of the infield as the Patriots opened the Queens A-III slate against 10-time defending champions Cardozo last Thursday.
But when the Patriots head coach gets a pitching performance like the one Jonathan Lewis tossed in a 2-0 win, his nerves can be quelled.
How dominant was Lewis? With 16 strikeouts in the seven-inning contest, the senior hurler only allowed five outs in the field. Of those five, three were ground outs back to Lewis, one was a line drive Lewis snagged and the final out was when a Cardozo runner was nabbed in a rundown between second and third. He scattered five hits with three walks, including back-to-back passes in the top of the third.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start, at least they can chase us for a game or two,” James said. “There are a lot of things that still have to be seen but I’ll take it, especially when we get that kind of pitching.”
Another Jonathan provided some of the offensive punch as Jonathan Hecko went 2-for-3 and was instrumental in both Patriots’ runs.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Hecko singled and was moved to third. Eric Moglin walked as Lewis had runners at the corners with one out. James sent Moglin and Cardozo attempted to get Hecko leading off of third, but the ball hit him in the shoulder as he came around to score the game’s first run.
In the bottom of the sixth, Hecko moved Chang Yee Chiang to third with a single. Lewis went ahead 2-0 moments later on an infield out.
“It was good for Jonathan [Hecko] because he’s one of our big hitters and he struggled during the preseason,” James said.
And as for Lewis, who tossed a 73-pitch perfect game against Bayside last year, James couldn’t have been more pleased.
“He was never under any pressure,” he said. “Cardozo never had a runner at third with less than two out. Jonathan was always at least one hitter ahead of a dangerous situation.”
Newtown 10, Cleveland 7. Rene Valerio and Allendi Peralta each had two-run home runs and Jeffrey Taveras picked up the win for Newtown (1-1-1, 1-0 Queens A-II).
Springfield Gardens 8, Campus Magnet 5. Brandon Rush hit a three-run home run and Adrian Utter had three RBIs for the Golden Eagles (1-1).
Edison 7, Francis Lewis 3. Mark Carias fanned nine in a complete-game seven-hitter while Joel Duran went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and Angel Santiago was 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI for the Inventors.
Aviation 8, Long Island City 1. Fadul Bambino went the distance, striking out six and scattering five hits, and went 2-for-4 to lead the Flyers in their Queens A-II opener. Vincent Lindner went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Jenndy Manner was 2-for-4 for Aviation.
Queens Vocational 7, Renaissance 6. Luis Vargas delivered the big hit with a two-run double in the sixth inning and Dan Rosa allowed three earned runs and struck out 12 to lead Queens Voc (6-0, 2-0 Queens B-II).
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
