CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - On Monday, March 30, John Jay hosted Edgemont, and Jackson Moreo immediately surrendered a double to deep left.
“It was a little first-inning nerves,” said the Wolf. Even though the run came around to score, the starter credited his teammates for not letting the early hit knock him off balance.
“They have my back from the jump,” said Moreo. And 11 unanswered runs later, the home team invoked the mercy rule in the sixth to even its record at 2-2.
After a wild pitch gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the first, the offense didn’t wait long to respond. Ty Beshara walked, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Jacob Storch lined a single up the middle to tie the game.
Storch then stole second, and another wild pitch put him at third. Ben Kalish followed with a walk, and with runners on the corners, a double-steal attempt appeared to pay off for Edgemont.
Storch was caught in a rundown, but the defense failed to execute, and he slid in safely under the tag. That left Kalish on third, and he came home on Amogha Bhat’s chopper to third.
Up 3-1, Moreo had settled in. A pop-up and two grounders to Storch ended the top of the second. A Luke Fisch single later stalled at third, but Moreo worked out of trouble. He induced a double play on a soft line drive to second and struck out Will Terrasi swinging to end the inning.
In the third, Storch drew a leadoff walk and, after stealing second, moved to third on a Kalish grounder. While conventional baseball wisdom might hold the runner, head coach Mark Lawrence saw it differently.
“Doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t go if the ball is taking the third baseman away from the bag,” he said.
A wild pitch to Bhat created an opportunity, but Liam Feastar beat Storch back to the plate. With the bases clear, Bhat battled back, fouling off three pitches in a full count before drawing a walk. He then stole second to put John Jay back in scoring position.
Luca Maiuolo followed. After laying off two outside fastballs, the sophomore got one he could handle.
“He left one in on me with two strikes, and I put it in play,” Maiuolo said.
His single to left scored Bhat, and the rally was just getting started. Aidan Chernick singled, Fisch drove an RBI double to deep left, and Eli Tubbs added an RBI single as John Jay pushed across seven runs in the inning.
With a comfortable cushion, Moreo continued to attack.
“My whole thing is deception,” he said.
He struck out the side in the fourth and credited the pitching staff’s offseason strength program for his improved velocity.
“I gained a lot of velo,” Moreo said.
He also praised his catcher. “Luca called an amazing game, helping to keep guys off balance,” he added.
Moreo cruised through the fifth and recorded two more strikeouts in the sixth to set the stage for the finish. He helped his own cause with a double, Kalish reached on a bloop single, and Bhat walked again to load the bases.
A balk forced in a run, and after Chernick delivered a sacrifice fly for the 10th run, Tubbs’ ground ball to second led to a throwing error that brought the game to an end.
“Jackson gave up the leadoff double and never looked back,” Lawrence said. “He just kept pumping strikes.”
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