In Pat Torney’s first two seasons at Bayside, the Commodores earned a share of the division title with Cardozo. None since, though. Now, 18 seasons later, Bayside, thanks to their first ever season sweep of the Judges last week, is two wins away from their first outright division title.
“You set certain goals for your team at the beginning of the season,” Torney said. “We strive to be division champs, to have as good a record as we can, and go as far we could go in the playoffs. It would be a nice feather in our caps if we could [win the division].”
They topped Cardozo 8-6 on the road, and routed them 10-0 at home behind ace right-hander Anthony Velazquez’s complete-game two-hitter. The senior, who earned his fifth victory of the season, also had three hits, homered, scored once and drove in three runs. Center fielder Jorge Ynoa and catcher Manuel Guerrero drove in two runs apiece.
That result, with the dominant Velazquez on the hill, wasn’t completely unexpected. But the first victory was certainly a shot in the arm. Southpaw Eric Strauss earned the win, and then three-hit Aviation over the weekend for his sixth victory.
“With Eric, sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get,” Torney said. “For him to go into Cardozo and perform well was important for his psyche, as ours. You need two quality pitchers for the playoffs.”
At 13-1, Bayside is a game up on Cardozo with two to play after trailing them prior to theIR series. This week was a momentum swing in the standings to say the least. “Cardozo being our archrival, it was big for us to beat them,” he said. “It boosted our confidence.”
Forgive Glenn Beyer if he didn’t lose sleep over his team’s failure to clinch the Queens West-A division Monday afternoon in a 5-3 loss to William Bryant. The postseason is when the “real season,” as the John Adams (12-3) manager described it, starts. “I’ve coached 15 years and I couldn’t tell you if I’ve won one division or 10,” he said.
Although Friday’s rematch with the Owls (11-3) will decide which team earns the
regular-season crown, Beyer said he will not use ace Christian Cardenas. He will start his regulars, though. “When we go on the field, we’re going to play to win,” he said. “All I know is we’re going to be one of the 32 teams [in the playoffs].”
