Indians and Foxes Look to Repeat Success On The Diamond

Fox Lane

Last year Fox Lane enjoyed another successful season, as it finished 16-8 and made it to the Section 1 Class AA semifinals, after upsetting Ketcham in the quarterfinals.

The Foxes then started off this season successfully with a 6-2 triumph against visiting Briarcliff on April 4. Leading the way on the mound was winning pitcher Andrew Rosenbaum, who struck out seven and walked none in 6.2 innings pitched to earn his first varsity victory.

“He’s given us every indication [that he’s Fox Lane’s top pitcher], he pitched a great game,” Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis said.

Rosenbaum said one big reason for the win was his rapport with senior catcher Chad Stroud, with whom he's been good friends with since his freshman year.

“He knows when to come out to the mound when I get frustrated,” Rosenbaum said. “He knows when to calm me down. He’s someone I trust.”

The Fox Lane senior hurler also has an offense he can trust. Leading the way are the Foxes two best hitters from a year ago in senior co-captains, second baseman Jake McGrath, who had two hits against the Bears, and center fielder Donny Castaldo.

“I feel really good that those two guys are back with us,” Hillis said. “You are also talking about the fact that they are our only two returning starters. Aside from them, we have a whole brand new team out there that has to get used to starting at the varsity level.”

Other key hitters for the Foxes are sophomore first baseman Matt Onnifrey, who homered against Briarcliff, sophomore shortstop Richard Slenker, who had two hits, junior left fielder Spencer Chernus, junior right fielder T.J. Hallock, and junior third baseman Chris Tomassi.  

“Right now we are just seeing what we have and the talent that is here is very good,” Rosenbaum said. “We would like to of course get to the finals but we are not thinking about that right now. We are just taking it game by game.”

There is also plenty of talent in the coaching staff, led by Hillis, who is assisted by Diz Di Fiore and Stan Latimer.

“Coach Hillis is the best coach I have ever had,” Rosenbaum said. “He knows the game so well. He knows every aspect of it. Coach Diz is exactly the same, he knows everything also, and he’s a good guy to have around. And coach Stan, without him, our team would be completely different. He knows how to run a pitching staff.”

This week the team plays at Ossining on Monday at 4:30 p.m; goes against Portchester Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. at Portchester, and back home on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Friday the Foxes host Yorktown at 4:30 p.m.

John Jay

John Jay also enjoyed a successful season in 2010 as it finished 16-5, including a loss to Carmel in the opening round of the Class AA sectionals.

The Indians will be heavily relying on senior catcher Mark Swertfager, a Empire State Games participant, who will be playing baseball at Marist next year.

“He’s been in the heart of our lineup for the last two years already,” John Jay coach Geoff Curtis said. “The catcher is the quarterback on the field so his leadership is important.”

Another key player for John Jay this fall is senior third baseman Danny Wertz, who is also the Indians’ No. 1 pitcher. He pitched six innings of two-run ball in the Indians' 3-2 opening day loss on April 4 at Arlington, who won the game on a walk-off double.

“It wasn’t a disappointing loss by any means,” Curtis said. “It was a great game, well contested.”

Wertz, who along with Swertfager are the Indians only two returning starters, will be playing in college at Sacred Heart next year.

“The experience of both Wertz and Swertfager are important because we have so many inexperienced varsity players,” Curtis said. “They have both logged a lot of innings on the varsity for us.”

Junior Jimmy O’Reilly will play an important role on the team as an infielder with senior second baseman Craig Weinhaus, who has made an early impact according to Curtis.

“He’s been impressive to watch, he has done a nice job,” Curtis said.

Curtis said because his squad has to replace seven of its nine starters, the  expectations are tempered.

“But those players that have waited their turn, they are excited about the opportunity but it’s an unknown, so I don’t know what to expect,” Curtis said. “So our expectation is to come out hard, swing the bats, throw strikes and see what happens.”

“When we get back to sectional play, our goal is to get back there and goes as far as we can,” Curtis continued. “Up until then, we are going to be a project in development. We’ll try to push the envelope and disrupt some of the expectations that people are going to have.”

John Jay dropped to 0-2 when it suffered a hard-fought 5-4 setback at defending Class A champion and state semifinalist Lakeland under the lights on April 8.

This week the team travels to Yorktown on Tuesday for a 4:30 p.m. matchup, and hosts Carmel Thursday at 4:30 p.m.