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High School for Construction junior softball player Jenasez Alves has something to prove.
Last year, the Red Hawks varsity and junior varsity squads were top teams in the city. The varsity team won its division and then the city title — the school’s first Division A championship — after a 3-2 win over perennial powerhouse Tottenville High School of Staten Island.
But despite the junior varsity team also winning its division, they’ve come up short in the playoffs, and were routed two years ago by Tottenville.
Jenasez Alves
Alves, who was on that team, was promoted from the junior varsity team this year and is looking for payback. She is determined to help the varsity team win back-to-back titles and hopes to repay the squad from Staten Island in the process. Likewise, other fresh faces on the Red Hawks are trying to earn their stripes to defend the team’s city title.
“I just want to see how everything plays out,” Alves said after a game against the John Bowne Wildcats on Monday, April 7, “and with this team this year, if we will be able to fill in the shoes of last year’s [team].”
With her motivation, Alves is shocking even her coach. She is currently batting .632, and Alves went 3-for-4 on Monday with two triples and three RBIs, helping the Red Hawks to a 15-0 shutout over the Wildcats (1-4 PSAL).
“Jena is a totally different ball player, she has come a long way with a lot of hard work,” head coach Marco Migliaccio said. “We lost a lot of big players, but she stepped up. This is an unexpected surprised.”
The Red Hawks (8-0 PSAL) are powered by many seniors from the championship team, including all-star Brittany Rodriguez, who has lead the A division in hits and batting average for the past two years. Rodriguez, the team’s ace, also led the league in strikeouts (162) and wins (15) in 2012.
But behind the upperclassmen are two dangerous freshmen who bypassed the junior varsity team. Freshman infielder Lizul Portugal, who is already a regular starter, is batting .704 in 27 at bats with five homers — good enough to be in the top of the A division in both catergories. Besides eyeing another title, Portugal will learn from Rodriguez and the other seniors about how to lead the team beyond this season.
“Brittany has been everything over the years,” Migliaccio said. “It helps [Portugal] a lot. Brittany really had nobody to look up to, but [Portugal] has a year to watch Brittany and look up to her.”
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