HSMSE baseball team finally takes the field

The HSMSE Dragons boys baseball team made their PSAL debut Tuesday at Randall's Island against the Campus Magnet Bulldogs after having their first two games postponed. The Dragons were anxious to get on the field and it was evident from the first inning of play. Coach David Scheiman said that it took the players a few innings to get over the shock of taking the field. "Initially they were nervous and didn't have the ability to get into game mode. After two innings they started to change."

The first two innings were marred with errors and wild pitching by the Dragons. Campus Magnet jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the second frame. Senior pitcher Daniel Perez admitted he was overcome by the pressure surrounding the first game. "I was nervous; I hurt my back the night before and was worried about it while I was pitching."

In the top of the third inning, the Dragons started to come to life with the help of relief pitcher, senior Matthew Josephs. Josephs started the game at second base and was summoned to the mound to relieve Perez. Josephs quickly cooled off the Bulldogs' bats, allowing only one unearned run for the next two innings.

"It was fun to be out there. I wasn't getting my fastball over so I switching to my change-up which they started swinging at and missing," Josephs said.

The Dragons bats heated up in the bottom of the third due to the timely hitting of Josephs and junior catcher Zach Elvove. After two walks, Elvove plated both runners with a double to left-center. Two batters later, Josephs scored Elvove with a single over the shortstop's head.

Unfortunately, this would be the end of the Dragons' scoring, as they could not muster a counter-attack late in the game. Their defense improved as they got deeper into the game, with junior shortstop Leo Pena making a nice play in the field and first baseman Harry Cummins making a diving stop to save an extra-base hit.

The final score was 14-3 after six innings. Even though the Dragons lost their first game, they felt a sense of accomplishment by getting on the field. "It felt good to be out there even though we lost," Perez said.

Josephs saw a spark in his teammates during the second half of the game that caused him to be optimistic about the remainder of the season. "We could win a couple of games if guys swing the bat and field better." 

Coach Scheiman was proud of his charges after such a long wait. "This was four years in the making, the guys never gave up and had full support of each other."