Uniondale tries to close on high note

Uniondale enters the final week of the baseball season looking to snap a six-game slide and finish on a high note.

The Knights were swept by Malverne and Sewanhaka, respectively, over the past two weeks while allowing double digits in runs in five of six games. They stand at 2-9-1 with a three-game set against first-place Hicksville on tap.

“It’s been a struggle because we had a few injuries and were shorthanded during spring break,” Uniondale coach Ciro Gentile said. “It’s a young and committed group of kids who’ve worked hard all year. It’s just a matter of getting more game experience under their belts.”

Road trips have been commonplace for the team this spring as its home field at the high school undergoes a facelift, but Athletic Director Peter Cardone did his best to ensure the Knights didn’t travel too far for every game. They played a pair of home games at Turtle Hook Middle School, sparing a couple of bus rides to Great Neck North, hosted Malverne at nearby Eisenhower Park and will host Hicksville at SUNY-Old Westbury.

“We knew in February we weren’t going to be playing at the high school,” Gentile said earlier this season. “The plan is to have a new field next year and that’ll be great. These kids would be on the field all day and all night if they could.”

Any game the Knights were scheduled to be the home team, they batted last. Their best series of the season came against Great Neck North between April 15-19 when they earned a pair of victories and battled to a darkness-shortened 2-2 six-inning tie with the Blazers.

Pitcher/outfielder Jason Pineda, one of Uniondale’s three seniors, starred in the middle game of the Great Neck North series with a three-run homer and a triple in a 13-2 win. Freshman Oscarlin Pouriet-Paulino, who has played shortstop, second base and catcher, also had a pair of hits to back the mound work of sophomore Carlos Vasquez, who struck out nine and allowed just one hit over four innings.

In the series finale, the Knights’ other two seniors, first baseman/outfielder Jaden Acosta and catcher/pitcher Jesther Lara, led the way in a 6-0 win. Acosta went 2-for-3, including a triple, and drove in a scored a run. Lara picked up the win on the mound.

Pineda is a three-year starter who makes contact at the plate and can create havoc on the bases with his speed, Lara is a starting pitcher and splits catching duties with junior Anthony Perez, who also contributes at third base and as a relief pitcher. Perez could start the opener of the Hicksville series depending on Vasquez, who recently returned from a five-game absence due to injury.

Gentile said sophomore Vaner Guerrero-Espinal, recently moved to shortstop from second base, has been coming on strong down the stretch with his experience playing in his native Dominican Republic paying off.

“I’m going to run some clinics over the summer so the kids continue playing,” Gentile said.