See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
The early part of the baseball season has proven that Poly Prep has elite pitching — but not much else, as the team has struggled from the plate and in the field.
That pattern continued when Fieldston defeated the Blue Devils at Poly, 3–1 in Ivy League baseball on Friday.
Poly ace Andrew Zapata, who tossed a no-hitter in his last outing, started and had a solid outing, throwing a complete game and striking out seven. But the Blue Devils could not string together hits, and continually misplayed balls in the field, which led to the loss.
“We’re not playing a very good brand of baseball right now, and I’m surprised because I thought we would,” said Blue Devils coach Matt Roventini.
After managing just two base runners in the first five innings against Fieldston ace Max Kassan, Poly finally put together a rally in the sixth.
The Blue Devils (5-1) loaded the bases on three singles, and then with two outs in the inning junior Rob Calabrese came through with an RBI single. Christian Pelligrino followed with a fly out to centerfield on a ball he just got under. Poly was retired in order in the seventh inning to end the game.
“We’re not hitting the ball very well,” Roventini said.
They’re not fielding it very well, either. In the third inning, Fieldston (5-0) scored two runs on a double to right field from Kevin Fich. The ball was misplayed, however, resulting in the second runner scoring from first base. Then another runner scored when third baseman Pat DaMarco dropped a popup that would have ended the fifth inning.
“We played pretty well defensively for a while, and recently we’re not,” Roventini said. “We’re trying to figure out why and maybe mix some things up. Recently it’s become a concern.”
Roventini is confident that the Blue Devils can turn it around and become the dominant team it have been in the past. He just isn’t sure about when it’s going to happen.
“You have to play good baseball,” he said. “That’s how you right the ship. You can talk all day long about making plays and doing the right thing, but talk is cheap. We have to show up and play good baseball games.”
Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.