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Klein helps Warriors win pitchers duel with Flyers
 | | MOUND WARRIOR...Cheektowaga Central pitcher Jon Klein looks in at his catcher's signals Tuesday while trying to finish off Maryvale in the seventh inning. (Times photo) |
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Heading into Tuesday afternoon's rivalry game against Maryvale, the Cheektowaga Central baseball team had lost five league games this spring by a total of seven runs. Warriors sophomore pitcher Jon Klein wasn't about to let another close game slip away against the Flyers, pitching a masterpiece.
Klein struck out seven and allowed only one walk, one hit and one run in the Warriors' 2-1 win against Maryvale, which came into the contest with an Erie County Interscholastic Conference-III-leading record of 6-1. Central improved to 3-5 in league play, one day after losing a 3-2 heartbreaker to ECIC-III foe Pioneer.
"He was on today," Warriors head coach Dan Kaplan said of Klein, who earned a spot on the ECIC-III First Team in 2007. "He looked like the pitcher of last year."
Klein outdueled Flyers senior Nick Hughes on the mound, as Hughes struck out four, walked two and hit one batter in 5 and 1/3 innings. He also allowed five hits.
Central has struggled to find its offensive rhythm so far this season, one year after tying Maryvale and Starpoint for ECIC-III supremacy with a 9-3 record. Pitching has been solid, according to Kaplan, but getting timely hits to break open close games has been another story.
However, the Warriors scraped together a pair of runs Tuesday, with a two-out single in the bottom of the sixth by Dan Kruszynski scoring senior Jonah Messina from second base. Messina had singled with one out, then advanced to second base on an errant pickoff throw to first by Maryvale senior pitcher Nick Hughes. Flyers junior Brooks Estarfaa replaced Hughes and struck out Central sophomore Jeremy Limardi, but Kruszynski followed with a liner to center field.
Kaplan praised the timely hitting of Kruszynski, who had seen limited playing time this spring.
Maryvale had tied the game at 1 a half-inning earlier when Estarfaa led off the frame and was hit by a pitch. He then stole second base and later advanced to third on a bunt single down the first base line by senior Jake Nowak. After junior Jamie Mecca struck out, senior Nick Nolder perfectly executed a squeeze bunt down the third base line, scoring Estarfaa. Central escaped further damage in the inning when Jonah Messina robbed senior Nick Law of an RBI, going to his knees in the hole at shortstop to stop a hard grounder and throwing out Law by a half-step.
The Warriors opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when junior catcher Justin Hejna boomed a two-out, RBI double to center field, scoring junior Jared Messina.
However, Hughes escaped basesloaded jams in second and fifth innings, respectively.
Last Wednesday, senior Matt Farino's two-RBI game and a masterful job by Nowak on the mound, gave Maryvale the 4-0 victory over Starpoint. Nowak allowed just two hits while striking out six in a 99- pitch, complete-game effort.
Starpoint left a dent in the top of the second inning. After Nowak struck out the first batter, the next hitter smashed the ball towards right field for a double. A walk followed, but, after a sacrifice bunt, Nowak coaxed a groundout to escape trouble.
Starpoint's tall, lanky left-hander was hurling curveballs nearly the entire game, but it didn't seem to affect Maryvale. In the bottom of the second, Law laced a single to left field. Senior Eirik Moore walked on the next at-bat, setting up a run. Later in the inning, Farino smacked a single past the second basemen to plate the first run of the game.
The next inning, Mecca drew a walk. Senior Matt Bunting pulled off a successful bunt that allowed him to leg out a single. After a popout and a groundout, senior Shane Latshaw made the pitcher work. On a 3-2 count, the pitcher threw a wild pitch on a strikeout, allowing Latshaw to advance, while allowing Mecca to score and Bunting to advance to give Maryvale a 2-0 lead.
Farino then swatted a single to center field, scoring Bunting and starting a rally. Latshaw later scored on another wild pitch to extend the locals' lead to four.
In ECIC-IV action, the John F. Kennedy baseball team (5-7 overall, 3-5 in league play) continued its upand down play, defeating first-place Eden, 10-9, Friday before losing to lowly Holland, 4-3, Monday.
Against Eden, senior Jordan Halligan went 4-4 with a double and three RBI. Against Holland, senior Aaron Schaefer hit a two-run homer to highlight a disappointing loss.
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