Telecommunications’ Chris Martinez swings the bat. (Damion Reid)
Jason Galeano muttered to himself as he jogged down the first-base line. The Telecommunications catcher was just given a free pass, loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, and wasn’t particularly happy about it.
“I [wanted] this game to come down to me,” he said of Wednesday afternoon’s yearly showdown with rival James Madison.
It didn’t. Coincidence or not, the Yellow Jackets fell short, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Knights at Ben Vitale Field in Dyker Heights.
After Galeano walked, Madison reliever Matt Ecock fanned cleanup hitter Stan Simmons on three pitches, forcing extra innings. He also caught second baseman Jeremy Jaume looking with Pena on third and one out earlier in the frame. The Knights pushed two runs across in the eighth, the first run scoring on freshman shortstop Joe Pena’s second error of the day and the second on a wild pitch. Of Madison’s four runs, only one was earned.
“It was our game,” Galeano said. “We could’ve come through, we didn’t do nothing. We should’ve had a chance to win this game.”
Freshman right-hander Chris Lee tossed five solid innings, limiting Madison (10-0 Brooklyn A East) to two runs on three hits. Relying on a late-breaking curveball he kept away from the Knights, he also struck out seven. Telecom (8-2 Brooklyn A West) had plenty of opportunities against Madison ace Eddie Lenahan.
They loaded the bases with one out in the first, but failed to push any runs across. Lenahan struck out left fielder Dan Perri and getting designated hitter Chris Martinez on a well struck line drive to right.
Telecom scratched out single runs in the fourth and sixth, both scored by Simmons, the lone senior in the starting lineup. Pena walked to lead off the seventh and was at third when Ecock caught Jaume looking at a devastating 3-2 curve. Simmons, who had tripled earlier, fell behind and never recovered. The first pitch was a belt-high fastball he took, followed by a pair of breaking balls in the dirt he waved at.
“I should’ve swung at the [fastball],” he said.
It was Madison’s fourth straight victory over Telecom in league play, a stretch that followed four consecutive Yellow Jackets victories. The last two years, both of them one-run losses, have been particularly frustrating.
“We’re right there,” Telecom coach Ed D’Alessio said. “We beat them four years in a row. Now we can’t get a win.”
D’Alessio was pleased with his young team’s play, particularly the work of Lee on the mound. Pena committed two errors, but, the coach said, is a 14-year-old uncerclassman who has excelled defensively.
“Kids are young, they made a few mistakes,” he said. “We made errors, you can’t make errors. They played a really good game.”
Galeano, the heavy-hitting catcher, couldn’t find a positive afterward. He’s now lost three times to Madison. This, he said, was supposed to be the year Telecom’s fortunes changed. The Yellow Jackets were 90 feet from accomplishing that feat. Galeano never got an opportunity to make it happen.
“That’s the only game I wanted,” he said.