By Dylan Butler
William Alamo knows his role as the leadoff batter for the Franklin K. Lane baseball team is to start rallies. And what better way to get his team off on the right foot than a leadoff home run.
The sophomore second baseman turned on a fastball by Jamaica pitcher Andre Cummings and blasted it in the gap in left-center field. Three batters later, Melvin Cartagena also got a piece of a Cummings fastball for an RBI-triple to left center to put the Knights ahead 2-0 en route to a 7-3 Queens Central ‘B’ win Monday.
“I just wanted to do something special,” said Alamo. “I’m a fastball hitter and he threw me a fastball.”
The early lead was perfect for senior Kelvin Espinal, who struck out nine and was one strike shy of a complete game shutout before Jamaica freshman catcher Jonathan Ganesh drove in Shanabuden Hossein with a single to right field.
Jamaica (0-2 Queens Central B) added another run on Chris Domenech’s RBI-single to center and, after Miguel Ortiz reached on an error to cut the Beaver’s deficit to 7-3, Lane coach Jim Curcio pulled Espinal for Stanley Ramos, who struck out Zaheer Fazal — the potential tying run — after Ramos walked Christian Puntarelli to load the bases.
“Espinal pitched a good game, he doesn’t overwhelm but he hangs in there,” Curcio said of Espinal, who improved to 2-0. “In the last game he weakened after the fifth inning, but today he had a solid sixth inning and he probably could have gone another two batters in the seventh inning.”
While he was pleased with the late rally, orchestrated mostly by his underclassmen, Jamaica coach George Politis was upset by his team’s poor defensive play.
“What I was really concerned with was the nine errors,” he said. “That’s my major concern right now. It’s frustrating to lose a game like this. It should have been a 2-1 game.”
Cummings was solid, striking out six in the first two innings, but Politis noticed his ace was a little off after delivering the ball. After Cummings admitted to mildly spraining his ankle playing basketball over the weekend, Politis pulled him in favor of Kevin Mongru, who struck out four in the final four innings.
After Cartagena, who emigrated from the Dominican Republic last year, added an RBI-single to center and advanced to third on a two-base error in the third inning, Lane (8-5, 3-0 Queens Central B) broke the game open with a four-run fifth inning on three hits and three Jamaica errors.
“We’ve been hitting really well lately and the defense has been great,” Cartagena said. “Everybody wants to contribute.”
Jamaica had its chances to get into the game, but four separate base-running blunders killed rallies in the first, second, fifth and sixth innings.
Francis Lewis 4, Grover Cleveland 2. Neil Bisman’s two-out single in the sixth inning tied the game for the Patriots, who scored the winning run on a Cleveland error Monday. Mario Santiago tossed a three-hitter for Lewis (8-2, 4-1 Queens East A). Cleveland drops its second straight, falling to 3-2 in Queens West A.
John Adams 9, Bayside 4. Carlos Guzman went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs while Xavier Carpio allowed four hits and struck out six to lead Adams (15-5-1, 3-0 Queens West A) Monday. Bayside is now 9-5, 3-2 in Queens East A.
Cardozo 10, Aviation 0. Danny Rosenbluth pitched a two-hitter Monday as the Judges (8-3, 3-0 Queens East A) have yet to allow a run in three league games, outscoring its opponents 49-0.
Richmond Hill 15, Long Island City 2. Jorge Rivera went 2-for-2 and belted a grand slam and drove in five runs and Jason Martinez had a home run and three RBIs for Richmond Hill (8-6, 2-3 Queens East A) while Luis Abreu struck out eight in the five-inning win.
Robert F. Kennedy 23, Arts and Business 7. Joe Floria and Craig Weissberg combined to go 7-for-8 with nine RBIs to lead RFK (1-2 Queens Central B) Monday.
Townsend Harris 18, Transit Tech 11. Joe Kresse was 3-for-6 with three RBIs while Cal Argento was 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead Townsend Harris (2-0 Queens Central B) in Monday’s slugfest.
Francis Lewis 5, John Bowne 4. Bisman’s two-run double capped a five-run first inning for Lewis, which held on to beat Bowne (3-1) Friday. Jensil Langumas came in to relieve starter Edison Alba and struck out nine in 5.2 innings of scoreless ball to lead the Wildcats.
Bayside 10, Richmond Hill 0. Anthony McCarty improved to 2-0, allowing three hits and striking out 11 while going 2-for-4 at the plate. George Espinal was also 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for the Commodores Friday.
Newtown 10, Long Island City 5. Cristian Acevedo was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored, Edwin Tolentino was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and Miguel Maria was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs to lead the Pioneers (5-6, 1-2 Queens West A).
Grand Street Campus 8, Grover Cleveland 4. Robinson Reyes had 14 strikeouts and Anthony Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs to lead Grand Street (1-1 Queens West A). Daniel Fruggiero had a pair of RBIs for the Indians, who led 4-0 before Grand Street’s seven-run fourth inning.
Cardozo 21, Van Buren 0. Mike Lenzo fanned seven in a one-hit shutout Friday. Landon Veissy went 3-for-4 with three doubles and four RBIs, Bernie Estevez went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored and Jack Medic and Mike Errigo each drove in two runs apiece to lead the Judges.
Aviation 11, Bushwick 1. Ronnie Vargas had six strikeouts and Mario Arthur scored four runs and drove in three to lead Aviation (10-5, 1-3 Queens West A).
Bryant 11, Springfield Gardens 1. Jason Banzil led the Owls (2-1 Queens North B) with a home run and three runs scored.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
