Locals on the Diamond Look to be Successful Again

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 great game,” Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis said.

Rosenbaum said one big reason for the win was his rapport with senior catcher Chad Stroud, who he has 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 who 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.”

Greeley

Horace Greeley last year enjoyed a successful season with a 15-5-1 mark, including an appearance in the Section 1 Class AA tournament.

What will help this season is having two-time all-section junior catcher Andres Larramendi, who already has the college scouts in awe, on the squad. Last year he hit  for a .379 average, drove in 25 homers, belted six home runs and scored 22 runs.

"He's one of the more dynamic players in the section," Greeley coach Anthony Marino said. "He hits for power, he hits for average. He brings intensity and leadership to our team. Catcher is a tough position, so you have to be tough to play that position and he is. He does a good job with the pitchers. He's the man at our school as far as baseball goes."

Larramendi was named catcher to the Hudson Valley Empire States squad last year but turned it down because he had made a prior comittment to his summer team.

"Many kids would have left their whole team to get that exposure but he had already made a comitment elsewhere and wasn't going to let them down," Marino said. "If he isn't the best catcher around overall, I don't know who is. He is a special talent."

Another top returnee for Greeley is senior Steven Haynes, who pitches and when he isn't on the mound, can play mulitple positions in both the infield and the outfield.

"Steve can hit for power," Marino said. "He's only one of two kids I have ever seen hit a ball out of Harrison's field. They have a legitimate field. He will be counted on to pitch this year, he didn't last year because we had a lot of seniors. We really only return three innings pitched for this season. There wasn't a good split between juniors and seniors playing, we had a senior laden team last year."

Greeley's third top returnee is senior Michael Guillaro, who is the defensive leader of the team.

"He is very into the game, he is very intense," Marino said. "He also brings fire to the team. He has a quiet way about him but at the same time, on the field, he's all business. He's one of the  hardest, if not the hardest working kid I have ever had. If you turn your back, you don't have to worry about him because he will be doing the right thing."

Larramendi, Haynes and Guillaro are the Quakers three co-captains for this year. Another key player for Greeley will be senior left-handed pitcher Jake Hamerschlag.

"He's another one of those kids who didn't get a lot of time last year just because we had so many returning," Marino said. "He is the only kid who threw an inning other than the seniors last year. He will have a more consistent role this year."

The Quakers started the season with a split against Rye, losing 9-4 at Rye on April 6 before returning the favor with a 8-4 win at home against the Garnets on April 8.