The Townsend Harris boys baseball team closed their 2013 season on Wednesday, May 15 with a 7-6 victory over Robert F. Wagner Jr High School.
The first three innings went scoreless with Townsend scoring the game’s first run in the fourth inning. An inning later the Hawks tacked on three more runs to expand their lead.
Entering the seventh inning with a 4-1 lead, relief pitcher Mason Rivero replaced starter TJ Ritter. With yet another impressive performance, TJ allowed only two hits and one run through five innings.
Rivero had a difficult time finding the strike zone giving up five runs in the top of the 7th allowing Wagner to take a 6-4 lead.
The bottom of the 7th was the final opportunity for the Hawks to win their last game of the season. Junior Harry Quinn, got on base at the start of the inning and every hitter after chipped away one hit at a time. Sophomore Richard Bennett drove Harry in to score a run and close in on Wagner’s lead. With bases loaded the Hawks tied the game 6-6 as senior Ameer Kazmi scored on the walk by freshman Evan Noblesala.
The pivotal moment in the Hawk’s victory occurred when TJ Ritter stepped up to bat and singled, allowing senior Elijah Dominguez to bring in the game winning run for a final score of 7-6.
After the game, Richard Bennett said, “I think that we all played our hardest throughout the entire game, and that led to probably one of the best victories I’ve ever experienced.”
“We seem to always come up big when the games are on the line and we have proved that we can bring a high energy, high performance mentality even after a loss,” freshman Mason Rivero said after the comeback win.
Junior Harry Quinn agreed saying, “The baseball team proved once again that no odds are insurmountable, coming from behind to win in the last inning. Just like all season, the team came together and fought their hardest, and I think that the momentum we gained will be enough to keep us going through the playoffs and hopefully to the championship.”
As the regular season came to an end, senior captain Ameer Kazmi was nothing but proud of his team. “I can’t be any happier to be called the captain of the baseball team. Everyone on this team is an exceptional baseball player and they helped turned this team around. Today’s game against Wagner really was a perfect display of the kind of team we are,” said Ameer.
The Hawks will enter the playoffs in second place in the Queens “B” Central league, with a 13-3 record- the best the Hawks have performed in many years.
