Cardozo Tops Forest HIlls High School Baseball, 10-0

Forest Hills High School's baseball team (6-6) had lost five games in a row coming into today’s matchup with first place Cardozo High School in the Queens A East Division. The Rangers were in pre-game warmups and head coach Marty Finkelstein laid out what a team needs to do to play winning baseball.

“You gotta hit in the clutch. Gotta have good fielding and good pitching,” Finkelstein said.

Forest Hills didn’t have enough of the basics in falling to Cardozo 10-0 in a game shortened by the “10 run rule.” The game was called after 6 innings, as Cardozo demonstrated its superiority in all facets of the game.

Hero: Cardozo senior Jeinson Espinosa tossed five strong innings, striking out 9 batters for the win.  He also had 4 hits and drove in four runs.  His coach, Ron Gorecki said “It was his day to shine.”  He earned the game ball.  Espinosa drove in 2 runs in the first inning on a base hit.  He also hit a two-run triple in the top of the 4^th inning to give his team a commanding 7-0 lead.

Adrian Castano hit his second home run of the season in the top of the 2^nd inning.

Turning Point: Cardozo scored 4 runs in the top of 4^th inning to go ahead 8-0 and put the game out of reach.  Espinosa’s triple to deep left-field drove in 2 of the four runs as the Judges handed down the verdict.

The Rangers had a chance to get back in the game. Forest Hills had the bases loaded with 1 out in the 2nd inning and failed to score  Espinosa bared down and got the remaining two outs.

Bottom Line: Cardozo, (11-0) in first place in Queens A East, played a strong game. They had better pitching, hitting, and fielding. Cardozo’s hitters drove runners in when in scoring position.  Junior Diego Gonzales had two hits and drove in 3 runs in the game.

Quotable: “We’ve lost 6 in a row,” Finkelstein said. “You play the game. One team has to win, one team has to lose.”

Cardozo coach Ron Gorecki was proud of his team’s play. “This was truly a team effort,” Gorecki said. "Everyday someone steps up.”

Espinosa was given the game ball by his coach. “(It’s) something special to me,” he said.

Key Stat: Espinosa was also the hitting star for the Judges.  He had 4 hits in four at-bats, and drove in 4 runs.  With its sixth straight loss, Forest Hills is falling out of playoff contention as the regular season winds down. 

Cardozo

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1

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2

10

Forest Hills

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