Rams baseball 'Little Rascals' drop three straight in a trifecta vs Arlington, Dobbs Ferry and Suffern
April 10, 2024 at 10:53 p.m.
The Little Rascals got spanked. Again. And again. And again.
That's thrice. And that ain't nice.
Readers of this space know that "The Little Rascals" is Rams head baseball coach Sean Burke's nickname for his young team, the name coming from that comedy series of days gone by about overachieving youngsters with a knack for getting things done.
Reality setting in
The new spring season started out that way with the Rams romping over beatable teams like East Ramapo and Roosevelt.
But now reality is setting in.
The Rams have lost their last three games in a row, scoring just once in that downward spiral in the past week or so.
And it isn't just that they lost by shutouts to large schools like Arlington and Suffern by scores of 7-0 and 13-0, that unlucky 13 horse collar coming just this past Monday (4/8).
They also got beat 11-1 by Dobbs Ferry, a small school they figured to beat.
Looking for answers
That troubling trifecta has Burke trying to figure out what's going on.
Against Arlington, for example, the Rams’ hard-throwing senior Josh Virella seemed to be pitching in the zone, according to Burke, "but Arlington brought the bats."
And then some. Because the first Admiral batter walked. The next batter singled. Next came a walk. The clean up hitter singled in two runners. Then Virella walked the next batter to reload the bases. And the next hitter tripled. And the Rams had dug themselves a hole they couldn't get out of.
Especially since they struck out 15 times. And got only two hits, one by Virella, the other by Jordany German, usually the Rams’ best pitcher.
The only real bright spot came when sophomore Bryan Sachs came in from shortstop to take over in relief.
"Sachs threw well in relief, which is promising, and we'll see how he continues to develop on the mound going forward," Burke said.
Big step backward
But the Rams took a big step backward in their 11-1 loss to Dobbs Ferry.
"One of my toughest defeats in recent times," Burke said. "Our outfield play was spotty, we had only two hits, and German (usually the Rams’ ace, stopper and best pitcher) didn't have his best stuff."
So, without the German curve ball breaking, the Dobbs Ferry batters just sat on the fast ball and hit it all over the lot.
And the Rams didn't respond because the best they could do was come up just with two hits once again, one by German, the other by 8th grader Adam Castaneda, the second baseman who moves to shortstop when Sachs pitches.
"Overall, we haven't been hitting the ball lately and that is our main focus going forward," Burke said. "As I continue to say, this is a young, inexperienced team and that inexperience results in inconsistent play."
Suffering in Suffern
Unsaid was the less said about that most recent 13-0 loss to Suffern the better because the Mounties came into that game having lost two straight contests while scoring just one run and emerged looking like world beaters while holding the suddenly punchless Rams to just three hits, making it an extra long bus ride home from Rockland County.
The ride over the Mario Cuomo Bridge gave Burke time to put the losses into perspective.
"I thought vs Arlington we actually played well," he said. "Make no mistake, we were never in a threatening position, however, I thought we played well. Our defensive sets have been lacking and we need to improve on executing our play calling. However, the improvement starts with me. I always say 'when we win, it's the players. When we lose, it's on me.' The coaching staff needs to continue to drive home key points, and obviously continue to make hitting a focal point in practice."
Time will tell
He thinks it's just a matter of time before the Rams’ heavy hitters like John (Tommy) Tomassetti and Virella start breaking out. And the cold weather hasn't helped with the way the ball comes off the bat or comes out of the pitcher's hand.
"It's my job to figure it out," Burke said. "As long as the effort level is there, we will continue to get better."
He thinks "The Little Rascals" will start coming of age beginning with their next home game Saturday (4/13) against a beatable Edgemont at 11 a.m. with Fox Lane providing a tougher test during an away-home series Tuesday (4/16) and Thursday (4/18), both at 4:30 p.m.
Whatever happens in those games will revolve around to a return to form by the Rams’ three pitching aces: German, Virella and Sachs. And grim as the past few days have been for the Rams’ pitchers, it was next to nothing compared to what happened to four Major League pitchers this past weekend because at least three and probably all four—the Marlins’ Eury Perez, Shane Bieber of the Guardians, Spencer Strider of the Braves and Yankee reliever Jonathan Loáisiga—will be undergoing elbow or ligament UCL repair surgery, more popularly known as Tommy John surgery.
That will cost them the season at the least.
And that's something nobody wants to have happen at any age.
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