Go-to Rams a hit in GHVBL summer league with Big 4 and the newbies closing on a roll
July 14, 2023 at 5:07 p.m.
The graduated go-to players are gone, the projected go-to players are here, and the question for the Port Chester Rams 18U summer baseball team is whether their current designated go-to players will be up to holding down the pivotal go-to role in crunch time.
The answer so far has been a resounding yes, according to Rams head coach Sean Burke.
"We knew coming into our play in the summer league that we were missing our two best graduated players in co-captains Nic Lovallo and Michael DeCrescenzo, our two most dependable go-to hitters," Burke said. "And we knew we had a few potential go-to players coming back."
He mentioned his new projected go-to candidates as sophomore pitcher-shortstop Bryan Sachs, junior pitcher/outfielder Jordany German, and pitcher-first baseman Josh Virella and slugging third baseman John (Tommy) Tomassetti, both seniors.
The new Big 4
He sees them as Port Chester's new Big 4.
"So far they are a slam dunk as our go-to guys and have been living up to our expectations, all really stepping up by playing lights out during our summer game league schedule, basically a tryout for the varsity season to come. It gives us a chance to evaluate the Ram candidates for starting varsity positions when the season starts for real in the spring once we're back on a regular school schedule," Burke said.
Burke used the Rams U-team performance in their latest three games last week to illustrate how well his new Big 4 has been playing in winning two of those three games in the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League (GHVBL).
Loss a win
In their 11-1 win over Pleasantville last Tuesday (7/4), for example, Sachs homered, Virella went three for three, German cruised with 10 strikeouts in four innings and Tomassetti played solid defense at third base.
In the Rams’ 8-4 win over The Heat Wednesday (7/5), Sachs got two hits including a lead off triple, Tomassetti belted a couple of extra base hits and Virella radiated confidence on the mound, pitching with calm, poise and precision while throwing ever-increasing heat.
But as good as the Rams have looked on the field, Burke thought they played their best ball during their 2-1 loss to Hen Hud Thursday (7/6).
"It was like watching a mirror image of two very good teams who play the same kind of small ball, bunt, steal, make contact, play solid defense and ride good pitching," he said. "Hen Hud is well-coached, doesn't make mistakes and doesn't beat themselves. This time, they came out on top. But the game could have gone either way. Sachs pitched a great game. And we played a very good game."
Learning from losing
That's what's important to Burke because playing ever-improving ball is what playing in the GHVBL summer league is really all about.
“We're not keeping statistics, we're evaluating while watching our go-to guys develop while the rest of the team gains more experience and learns to play our Port Chester style of varsity small ball," Burke said, "And right now that includes learning from a loss, like we did most recently against Hen Hud."
"You can have a great summer and a not-so-great spring season when the win-loss record really counts," he said. "And the converse is also true. While winning or contending for the GHVBL title would be nice, it isn't what's important now. Winning league and Sectional games is what we want to do once school starts. Our 2021 team that won the school's first League Championship in a quarter of a century had a terrible summer season, but playing summer ball helped make us better for when the games counted during the regular school season."
That League Championship came during a COVID-era season when the pandemic limited travel, a move that eliminated long bus trips and resulted in large school Port Chester playing a schedule consisting of nearby small teams like Edgemont, Ardsley and Sleepy Hollow. But a league title is a league title no matter who you play against.
Same but different
And that elusive league title, the Rams’ first in 25 years, came about because Burke started the trend of Rams playing summer baseball as a way of turning around a losing baseball culture, his eye set on returning Port Chester to its former glory days.
"Now we have the same team, same emphasis on small ball, same blend of young, inexperienced players and older veteran players, just with different players and different go-to guys on what is essentially the same small ball team," Burke said.
That means playing in the GVHBL is basically show and tell time for the Rams to see what they have in their quest for another league title with a team built to go deep into the Sectionals.
Let good times roll
Right now Burke is also seeing good things happen in the GHVBL with such new players or previously seldom used varsity players as catcher Scott Sullivan, outfielders Ryan Gagnon, George (Pags) Pagnotta, Johnny (Jay Bo) Borzoni and Billy Villanova, pitcher/first baseman Joey (Chick) Cicarelli and second baseman/shortstop Adam (The Kid) Castaneda (the first eighth grader ever to be called up to the varsity by Burke). Other potential varsity candidates include Brian Escobar, Tommy Hinz and Erick Samano.
Burke hopes to see further development all around in the Rams’ upcoming games against Eastchester Thursday (7/13) away at 6 p.m. as well as during an away-and-home series against Harrison Saturday (7/15) and Tuesday (7/18) at home at 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. respectively.
With the regular GHVBL summer season going, going, almost gone, and the playoffs looming, it is a good thing the Rams’ go-to players are living up to their name, the Big 4 is closing on a roll and the newcomers are starting to come of age. Just in time for showtime!
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