Mike Hanrahan is entering his third season as Bishop Ford baseball coach and he’s not the only three-year member of the varsity team. There’s power-hitting first baseman Esteban Gomez, ace Stephen Bove and outfielder Anderson Mateo.
“It’s nice to have that opportunity to have guys who know the system for three years,” Hanrahan said. “It definitely helps tremendously.”
That’s a big reason Hanrahan is optimistic this season. The Falcons have improved in each of his first two seasons and there’s a belief in Park Slope that this could be the year Ford can challenge for a division title.
“I think we have a great team,” Bove said. “Most of the starting lineup last year were juniors. We lost three big seniors, but our juniors are now seniors and I think we’re going to cause some trouble in the league.”
Chief among those who have graduated is Kasceim Graham, who was 3-6 with a 2.25 earned run average and 68 strikeouts in 56 innings last year. He is now at the University of Albany. Also gone is Lou Mastrandrea, who was 5-3 with a 1.80 ERA and led the Falcons with a .365 batting average as a starting shortstop, and starting outfielder Jeremy Silva.
With Graham gone, Bove, who was 5-2 with a 1.64 ERA in 47 innings last year, has taken over as the No. 1 pitcher on a talented staff.
“He’s definitely being the leader of the team right now,” Gomez said of Bove. “He’s definitely throwing a lot of strikes, he’s added a couple of pitches to his rotation.”
Bove, who throws a two-seam fastball, a cutter, a curveball and even threw a few knuckleballs in a 2-0 preseason win against St. Joseph by the Sea Sunday, said he has mentally prepared himself for becoming the ace.
“With [Graham], you knew the guy before you was giving it his all and that you had a good chance to win with him there,” Bove said. “Now I’m the guy they look at to come out and give my team a good chance to win.”
Bove’s key to success is throwing first-pitch strikes.
“The first pitch is the biggest pitch we’ve been working on,” he said. “All through the winter we’ve been working on that first-pitch strike, trying to get ahead of batters. Once that comes, you work with all the fun stuff after that.”
A pair of talented sophomores – Helbert Estevez and Nelson Lopez – and Erasmus transfer Miguel Ariza have pitched well in the preseason and even catcher Matt Molbury, a two-year starter, can step on the hill in a pinch.
“Our defense and pitching has been great,” Hanrahan said. “Hitting isn’t there yet, but it will come around. We’ve got some big bats in the lineup. I expect those guys to hit.”
Leading the way at the plate is Gomez, one of the top power hitters in the CHSAA. He’s already signed with San Jacinto College, a national powerhouse junior college in Texas. And shortstop Jonathan Pinero has been solid defensively.
“The chemistry of the team is coming together again, but we just have to put the ball into play more,” Gomez said. “We can’t be striking out a lot. I feel like the pitching and defense is there, it’s great. Every year we’ve improved a lot. I think this is the year.”