Francis Lewis senior Jeremy Rodrirguez, a 6-foot-3 righty, has attracted interest from pro scouts. (Damion Reid)
Francis Lewis right-handers Rodriguez (l.) and Jonathan Bobea form an elite 1-2 pitch for the Patriots. (Damion Reid)
Jeremy Rodriguez and Jonathan Bobea couldn’t be more different. Rodriguez is quiet and nondescript, Bobea gregarious, foolhardy and aloof. On the mound, Rodriguez has the look of a Secret Service agent – serious all the time. Bobea, coach Ian Millman joked, “looks like he may have left the toaster on.”
Together, however, they may be the best 1-2 punch in the city, a pair of fireballing right-handers with high-80s fastballs they locate to either side of the plate.
“I’d like to think our No. 1 and No. 2 guys can compete with anybody else’s guys that are out there,” Lewis coach Ian Millman, an established summer-league coach and former minor-league pitcher. “On any given day, we’re gonna have the ability to compete with anybody.”
The two nearly pitched Francis Lewis to the PSAL Class A quarterfinals last year, Bobea dominating Bronx power Clinton in the opening round and Rodriguez nearly doing the same against Telecommunications.
That the two are best friends only helps matters, pushing, competing and motivating one another daily. Their friendship is competitive – on the baseball diamond, in one another’s home playing video games, or even running wind sprints and lifting weights in the offseason.
“I want to match him,” said the 6-foot-3 Rodriguez, who hit 89 mph in a recent scrimmage. “I never want to let him show me up.”
“I like the fact they push each other to get better,” Millman said. “I like the fact they work hard, I like the fact they talk the game, and I like the fact they live the game.”
Under Millman, Bobea has been as much a reason for Lewis’ emergence as anyone. Last year, he posted absurdly miniscule numbers — 6-1 with a 0.33 ERA, 108 strikeouts, 16 hits, 11 walks and three earned runs in 49 1/3 innings pitched – in leading the Patriots to their second straight Queens A West crown. Against Clinton, he was somehow even better, whiffing 13 in a complete-game, two-hitter. Rodriguez nearly pitched Lewis past Telecomm, holding a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the seventh when he wore down.
“When these guys are pitching, we know we’re gonna get quality strikes and we’re gonna get everything they got,” senior second baseman Cesar Murillas said.
Lewis, Millman said, won’t be able to join the city’s elite unless Rodriguez and Bobea get some help. The third-year coach has experience to lean on in catcher Kennedy Tavarez, shortstop David Torres, Murillas at second and centerfielder Crisandry Javier. Murillas and No. 3 starter Chris Conroy are already committed to play baseball at NYU-Poly Technical Institute.
It’s been a slow start to the season for the Patriots. They’ve won just once in five scrimmages and were on the short end of a lopsided score against James Monroe, last year’s runner-up.
“We’re creating opportunities for other teams,” Millman said. “Good teams find ways to overcome a mistake, not compound their errors.”
Lewis, of course, is doing this against elite competition. The Patriots have faced Monroe twice, in addition to George Washington and will meet Norman Thomas and many other juggernauts. Millman compiled the schedule to test his team and prepare them for the rigors of the regular season and possibly the playoffs. His players don’t mind.
“When it comes to the season, it’s going to be easier,” Rodriguez said. “You don’t see teams like Monroe, GW.”
Particularly when Rodriguez and Bobea are on the mound. The two have talked about their future – pro scouts have already seen them this spring and figure to frequent the Fresh Meadows school this season – but their senior year is the immediate focus. So are their daily head-to-head battles. After one finishes off a gem, it only pushes the other.
“The rivalry is always there,” Rodriguez said. “But it’s out of love.”