By Anthony Bosco
The 2000 baseball season has not been a banner one for Holy Cross High School coach Kurt Schaffner. Despite competing in what he has called one of the weakest divisions in recent memory and opening their league slate with a win over St. Edmund Prep, Schaffner's Knights have stumbled out of the blocks to a 1-4 start.
His team's two most recent outings spell out clearly what ails the Bayside resident. His team was embarrassed by St. Francis Prep last week, 14-5, despite having numerous opportunities to take the game over, and fell to Christ the King Monday, 7-3, in an error-plagued affair that could have easily swung in Cross' favor.
“We out hit them, but we also out-errored them,” Schaffner said.
Playing without two starters, which forced to coach to move players out of position, the Knights committed seven errors to Christ the King's six. Cross's starting pitcher, Michael Morris, went the distance allowing just two earned runs and a handful of hits, but his team did not produce at the plate or in the field.
The start of the game set the tone, as Christ the King's Raphael Castillo led off the first with a dribbler back to mound that Morris was unable to make a play on as he slipped on the slick turf near the mound. Castillo then stole second and went to third on wild throw, only to come home when a throw from the outfield to third missed the mark.
Christ the King added two more runs in the third and four more in the fourth to go up 7-0 before Cross finally got on the board in the fourth. The Knights added two more runs in the fifth.
Robert Torres got the win for Christ the King, pitching five innings and allowing one earned run with seven strikeouts.
And even though his team got the win, Christ the King coach Nick Melito conceded that the game was less then spectacular.
“It was just a bad game,” he said. “We really didn't hit. It was basically walks and errors.”
Melito added that the poor play that has been rampant throughout the league could easily be blamed on the bad weather that has caused numerous games to be postponed and restricted practice.
“It's hard to get any consistency because of all the rain outs and you can't get any practice time because of the weather,” Melito said. “Once the weather gets better you'll see better baseball by all the teams. Nobody has a dome. It's hard to get the consistency when you're not playing every day.”
Things will get a little easier for Schaffner's club this week, as the team faces St. Edmund Prep again and non-league games against Bayside, Flushing and Townsend Harris. Schaffner said he is hoping his team can use a week of mostly non-league games to prepare for the remainder of league season.
“Since it's very competitive, we can spin it around and win four I think,” he said. “I don't think it's over till the last game of the season for everybody.
“There's not a team we played that we can't beat,” the coach added. “There is no team that cant beat any other team. I think the division is weaker than it has been in years. Unfortunately we've been on the losing end of all of them so far.”
Holy Cross is 1-4 in the Catholic High School Athletic Association Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan, while Christ the King improves to 3-1. The Royals are slated to face Molloy Thursday and St. Francis Prep Friday.
Monday's other scheduled match-up of Queens teams, Molloy against McClancy, was postponed due to poor field conditions.
Xaverian 8, Christ the King 4. The Royals suffered their first loss Thursday when Clippers pitcher Keith Frerichs struck out 10 and Danny Martinez blasted a three-run homer to lead the defending CHSAA champs to the win.
St. Francis Prep 14, Holy Cross 5. Brian Morgan fanned 10 for the Terriers, while Sylvester Gutierrez had five RBIs and a three-run homer and Nicky Theoharis added three hits and four RBIs to propel Prep to a blowout win over cross-town rivals Holy Cross on Thursday.
Archbishop Molloy 9, St. Edmund Prep 4. The Stanners got their first CHSAA win of the season over league newcomer St. Edmund Prep on Thursday. Rick Mundy was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and John Maser was 3-for-4 for Molloy.
McClancy 8, Holy Cross 0. The Crusaders blanked the Knights last Wednesday behind a three-hitter from ace Marty Noer, who struck out eight through six. Kenny Hoch provided all the offense McClancy would need, belting a three-run dinger.
St. Francis Prep 7, St. Edmund Prep 3. The Terriers topped St. Edmund Wednesday behind three hits from Brendan Pettei and two hits apiece from Steve Conley and Thomas Greene. Chris Catalano gave up five hits and two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, but struck out six to pick up the win.
St. John's Prep 2, Bishop Loughlin 1. Nick Siuda went the distance for the Red Storm, striking out eight in the team's league opener last Wednesday. Greg Jones singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth and Steve Parzych added a double.
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
