Anytime you are going against an opposition’s ace, you have to do the little things. Clarke executed well, stealing six bases in their 4-0 victory against Harrison Cohen and Cold Spring Harbor. Their starter, Vinny Trovato, fired a four-hit shutout with only 99 pitches.
“He mixes everything, said Head Coach Tom Abruscato. “He did that in a playoff game for us last year. He throws three pitches every game for a strike on any count. When you can pitch backwards, it’s great,” he added.
They knew they would have a difficult task against George Washington-commit Harrison Cohen, but they were able to benefit from some defensive miscues and aggressive base running to get on the board.
“When you face a kid throwing 90, you can’t chase and we chased early in the game. We got a young team–we have seven underclassmen starting so–there’s no excuse, but when a kid is going to GW, he’s going to GW for a reason–he’s a Div-I pitcher. You have to put the ball in play and we didn’t so we had to play some small ball.
Cohen struck out 12 batters over 5 innings, but was tagged with the loss–despite allowing zero earned.
Leadoff man E.J. Cumbo drew a walk to start the game, advanced on a wild pitch, stole third and scored when the throw went into left field. That was all Trovato would need as he breezed through the Seahawk’s lineup, allowing no more than one base runner in any inning.
Cumbo was a finalist for the Nassau County Diamond Award last year, and Abruscato noted he has been key for them since ninth grade. He struck out only two times as a sophomore in a full season.
“He’s a great player–the knock on him is his size but he plays like he’s 6’2”, he puts the ball in play. Especially now with the pitch count, when you get a guy that can battle, that’s a big difference down the road.
Teddy Vitetzakis added an RBI single in the fourth to provide an insurance run for the Rams.
With the victory, they improve to 2-0-1 while the Seahawks drop to 2-1-1.
