Tom Lehman felt his pitchers were prepared to take on John Adams in a season-opening home-and-home series. As long as Long Island City could keep speedy leadoff Shawn Jimenez off the base-paths and work ahead of Jeffrey Valera, the Bulldogs would be fine.
Only at every important juncture of the series, it seemed this 5-foot-6 second baseman named Jorge Barahona that Lehman never heard of previously came through.
“The kid was just ripping the ball,” Lehman recalled, referring to a pair of losses to Adams.
He hasn’t stopped since. With a PSAL-leading 18 RBIs for the 6-0 Spartans – more than elite prospects such as Nelson Rodriguez of George Washington or Williams Jerez of Grand Street Campus – Barahona is one of the bigger early-season surprises despite his lithe frame.
The George Westinghouse transfer has helped transform an offense previously dependent on Valera into a lethal group. In fact, the smallish right-handed hitter is the reason Valera has driven in only 13 runs despite a .478 batting average. The other day, the standout shortstop joked with Barahona to take a walk once in a while so he could pad his stats.
“You have to hit them where they ain’t and he’s hit them where they haven’t been,” Adams coach Glenn Beyer said. “He’s seized his opportunity.”
Barahona tells a different story. He needed Adams, though he landed with Beyer by chance. His family moved from the Bushwick section of Brooklyn to Ozone Park. At the city’s placement office, his first two choices were Lane and Richmond Hill, but he was placed at Adams.
He’s learned to keep his emotions in check playing alongside experienced winners like Valera and Jimenez, that a bad at-bat shouldn’t impact his defense and a strikeout should have no bearing on him rooting on his teammates. In previous seasons, Barahona would get down on himself, but that hasn’t been the case this spring.
“I learned to put team first,” said Barahona, who is hitting .619 with six doubles and a home run. “Whatever mistake you make, focus on the next play.”
When Barahona came out for tryouts in the fall, Beyer could tell he inherited a talented ballplayer with an intense work ethic, but didn’t forecast this kind of start. James Lamanna was in the mix at second base, along with Carlos Salazar and a JV call-up that didn’t work out. Barahona won the job in the preseason and clearly doesn’t have to worry about job security.
“Pleasant surprise,” Beyer said. “He developed.”
As for his runners-in-scoring-position magic, Barahona doesn’t have a secret. Beyer thinks his new infielder has been fortunate, finding holes and gaps. He doesn’t focus more with men aboard.
“I just put the ball in play,” Barahona said. “Coach preaches that.”
Barahona sees his size as an advantage. Opposing pitchers, he says, often feed him a steady diet of fastballs, thinking he won’t be able to do too much with the pitch. Clearly, he isn’t intimidating at the plate.
“I prove them otherwise,” he said.
After his first few hits against Long Island City, Lehman had his pitchers feed him off-speed stuff, but the results remained.
Barahona logged on to the PSAL website recently and was shocked to see his name atop the league leaders in RBIs. He was focused on contributing to a winning team, something he didn’t have much experience with at Westinghouse, than personal accolades.
“Wow,” was the first thought to pop into his head. But he hasn’t gone back to the page since.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, but the team’s goal is to win the city championship,” he said, “and we still haven’t reached that yet.”