Follow me @liamlaguerre
Benjamin Cardozo senior Jun Young “David” Lim was humble going into his final high school home baseball game Monday against the Aviation Flyers.
All season long, the Judges were cruising undefeated at the top of the PSAL Queens A East conference, while other schools chased them. But in their most recent game, the John Bowne Wildcats finally caught up and gave Cardozo a 7-6 defeat. Smelling blood, Aviation — the conference’s second place team by a half-game — was looking to upset Cardozo and take the top spot.
“That loss against John Bowne really [motivated] us to do better,” Lim said. “If we didn’t lose, we would have been too cocky. We always come on the field like we’re the best — while that’s a good thing — I think sometimes we have too much confidence and that could damage the team.”
His modesty helped him recognize Aviation as a significant threat, and Lim hurled a complete game shutout, 2-0, with 11 strikeouts and only three hits. With the win, Cardozo (14-1 PSAL) secured at least a tie with Aviation (12-2 PSAL) for the regular season conference title, and denied the Flyers a chance to win the division solo.
The offense was slow for both sides throughout the game. But Cardozo got the advantage after a two-run homer in the top of the third by center fielder Chris Campbell. Campbell, a senior, said he was ecstatic to cap his final high school home game with a homer and the win, and is looking forward to the playoffs.
“You don’t want to look back and say, ‘I could have done this, I could have done that,’” he said. “I have faith in this team, honestly. This year we are more of a family, so I feel we will go much further than in previous years.”
RECOMMENDED STORIES
