Baldwin rallied for playoff spot

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Teams that begin the season with a long losing streak rarely rebound to make the playoffs. But the Baldwin baseball club persevered and rallied to qualify for the postseason despite its long odds.
After starting the season 0-8-1, Baldwin rallied to sweep a pair of three-game road series against Plainview and Long Beach that helped launch it into the Nassau Class AA quarterfinals. The Bruins lost both postseason games to No. 1 Port Washington and five straight to the Vikings overall to close the season, but Baldwin coach Frank Esposito was still cautiously satisfied with the 2019 campaign.
“We were happy making the playoffs, but we wanted more,” Esposito said. “It’s a tough conference. Just to make the playoffs is great, but you always want to do a little more in them.”
Port Washington, which eliminated the Bruins in last year’s playoffs, scored runs in just three of the 14 innings during the series, but Viking pitching proved to be too much for Baldwin as it tossed a pair of three-hit shutouts while striking out 20 batters.
In the first game on May 17, the Vikings scored twice in the third inning and put the game away with two more in the sixth. Baldwin threatened several times by putting runners on second and third base in the fourth inning and second in the sixth and seventh frames, but couldn’t get the big hit.

The next day, Port Washington took advantage of two hit batters in the second inning and scored twice on a sacrifice fly and RBI single for the only scores of the ballgame. Nemesis Alex Chang, who eliminated Baldwin last year in the playoffs after allowing just two hits while fanning nine in 6 1/3 innings while driving in two runs himself, went the distance and struck out 14 Bruins.
“He’s got good control, he’s got a great fastball and his curveball drops very well,” Esposito said. “He has command of his changeup too.”
Baldwin leadoff hitter Anderson Moreno was one of the few bright spots offensively in those two games, collecting three of the team’s six hits.
Even though he took the loss in the last game, senior John Strategakos was one of Baldwin’s more effective starters pitchers down the stretch. After starting the season with three losses, he picked up both of his wins over the season’s last month by besting Plainview on April 25 and Long Beach on May 2.
“He was good,” Esposito said of his performance in the second game. “Take away those two hit batters, and that’s only because we were pitching them inside, [and he was very effective]. We were striking them out.”
Strategakos and Game 1 starter Michael Ahearne (two wins) will both be graduating next month, but Pat Hickey, another two-game winner, is expected to return. Relievers Moreno, Tristan Seijo and Jimmy Manzella are all rotation candidates next spring.
Moreno earned All-League honors, cleanup hitter Michael Paray was an All-Conference selection and Reed Hoskins ended his high school career with All-County recognition.