Westchester Square News: Grand Disaster

Westchester Square News: Grand Disaster: Grand Disaster Mets once again made Yankee Stadium their home By Rich Mancuso BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 14- The Mets bid a far...

Grand Disaster

Grand Disaster

Mets once again made Yankee Stadium their home

By Rich Mancuso

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 14- The Mets bid a farewell to Yankee Stadium this season. And perhaps they would want to play in the Bronx more after another two-game series sweep over the Yankees. That’s four straight wins in the Bronx dating back to last season and now six straight over their cross-town rivals.

In all probability, the two teams won’t meet again in October, but for some reason, Yankee Stadium has a way of making a hitter look better. What looked like a dismal offense the past two weeks has become a distant memory and after their 12-7 win Tuesday night, you wonder if Manager Terry Collins would prefer the next two games to be played in the Bronx and not at Citi Field.

“A lot has to do with the ballpark,” commented Collins. “Guys get a descent pitch they know they can drive. For sure we have swung the bats better here.” His team scored a season high 12-runs Tuesday night and in the two games hit six home runs.

They don’t get that type of offense at Citi Field where the dimensions are different. Curtis Granderson knows. He spent enough time at Yankee Stadium, and hit 64 home runs when he wore pinstripes at the new Yankee Stadium. Add two more with long balls in the first two games of this home-and-home series.

But, Citi Field is different. Granderson can’t hit the home run to right, or over the fence in any of the other power alleys. Though the more viable explanation about Granderson is, he is not the same hitter that once was.

And 21- runs in two games for the Mets, well that was a rarity until they came to the Bronx. A lot may be attributed to the decimated Yankees pitching rotation that has manager Joe Girardi doing some patch work with three front line starters on the disabled list.

“We have to stay in rotation,” said Girardi. “These are the people we have.” Vidal Nuno got roughed up in 3 1/3 innings and it was not pretty. The night before, Hideki Kuroda allowed four runs in six innings. When the series shifts to Citi Field Wednesday night, the 5-0, Masahiro Tanaka gives some hope for the Yankees to get a win.

Oh, then there is the Thursday night series finale. The Yankees will have Chase Whitley on the mound making his major league debut. 

There are concerns for the Yankees, but the Mets want to take this momentum to Citi Field. The Mets believe this is psychological and the same production coming in the Bronx can continue in their home ballpark.

“When you play here you know you can score,” said Granderson who hit his fifth home run with two on that put the Mets in front 4-0 in the first inning. “Now we have to take that to our place.”

But, Granderson and the Mets have been trying to figure it out for the first six weeks of this season. They have been trying to figure a solution to the power outage at the plate since their new ballpark opened five years ago and they know Citi Field is not Yankee Stadium.

One media member in the Mets clubhouse commented, “The architects got it wrong” when it came to the construction of Citi Field. Of course they did, because Citi Field is not a hitter’s park, though opposing hitters have never seemed to complain when they bang out hits and the home runs, again maybe attributed to a psychological issue with the Mets over the years.

Whatever it is, this Mets team comes home Wednesday evening with a psychological advantage over the Yankees. Quickly, the mighty Yankees are not as invincible as they once were.  

Comment Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com  Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso  www.newyorksportsexaminer.com  

Westchester Square News: Fun at the Fair

Westchester Square News: Fun at the Fair: Fun at the Fair (Photos by Gary Quintal) Fun shone through for youngsters during the annual Fair at the Square event at Westche...

Fun at the Fair

Fun at the Fair

(Photos by Gary Quintal)

Fun shone through for youngsters during the annual Fair at the Square event at Westchester Square on Saturday. Before the torrential rains struck, youngsters enjoyed a day of fun including rides, face painting and music from the likes of K-Andance.

See More Pix At Bronx News https://sites.google.com/site/bronxnews/ 

Westchester Square News: Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again

Westchester Square News: Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again: Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 12 - By coincidence, the Atlantic-10 Softball Champions...

Westchester Square News: Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again

Westchester Square News: Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again: Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again By Howard Goldin BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 12 - By coincidence, the Atlantic-10 Softball Champions...

Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again

Lady Rams Crowned Champs Again

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MAY 12- By coincidence, the Atlantic-10 Softball Championship was played on the home field, Bahoshy Field in the Bronx, of the #1 seed, the Fordham Rams. The home field had been a decided advantage to the Rams this year as they were winners in 14 of the 15 games they played during the regular season at Fordham.

Fordham’s Bridget Orchard, the Atlantic-10 Coach of the Year, appeared to have her team primed for the tournament as the Rams were victorious in 15 of their final 17 regular season games. They lost their last two contests to Dayton after winning 15 in a row.

The Rams, the first seed in the A-10 Championship received a first round bye last Wednesday. They faced the University of Massachusetts, the victor over Dayton in the first round, at noon on Thursday.

With the bases loaded in the second, Rachel Gillen grounded into a fielder’s choice that drove in the first run of the game. UMass tied the game at one in the third, but that was the last run scored by the visitors.

Fordham catcher Gabby Luety blasted a three-run homer in the third. Two innings later, third sacker Kayla Lombardo hit a two-run home run to move Fordham ahead by a score of 6-1. 

With the bases filled and two out in the bottom of the sixth, the Rams added three more runs on three singles by Paige Ortiz, Gillen and Cora Ianiro to end the game, 9-1, by the mercy rule. 

A-10 Co-Pitcher of the Year Michele Daubman was the winner of her 16th game of the season.A-10 Player of the Elise Fortier failed to get a hit but scored three runs.

The winners of each contest, Fordham and #2 seed St. Louis, met at noon last Friday. Interestingly, the Atlantic-10 Co-Pitchers of the Year, Daubman for Fordham and Brianna Lore of the Billikins, were in the circle to start the contest. 

To no one’s surprise, the hurlers engaged in a pitchers’ duel in which no runs were scored during the first five frames. Billikins worked Daubman for a run in the sixth with a lead-off single, a sacrifice but that pushed the runner to second and a run scoring single by Kelsey Biggs. 

The Rams took the final lead in the seventh in a most exciting manner. With one out, Fortier took a 3-2 over the fence in right to tie the game at 1. The homer was her 18th of the 2014 campaign and her 44th at Fordham, one short of the school record. The next batter, Lombardo, followed with her 10th of the season to give the Rams their final lead. 

Lombardo, Fordham’s third sacker, spoke about the back-to-back homers after the game, “Elise and I, the third and fourth hitters, are supposed to put the ball out of the park. In that situation, we were just doing our job.”

Daubman’s 18th win of the season was protected by Patti Maloney, who earned her A-10 record sixth save of the year.

The two teams met again on Saturday afternoon in the championship final. Lombardo, a junior, expressed her feelings about the championship encounter after the win on Friday, “We’re set to play our game and go out with the same desire and hunger that we always have. We’re just on a mission. We want to repeat so badly.”

Lombardo did not underestimate her teammates as Fordham defeated St. Louis by a score of 11-0 in the Championship final on Saturday. Freshman Sydney Canassa led off the bottom of the first with a home run to put Fordham ahead. A double by Amy Van Hooten and an rbi single by Luety scored the second run of the inning.

The Rams scored four in the second capped by a two-run homer by Fortier. The home run was her 19th of the season and her 45th as a Ram. Thus, she broke the Fordham career mark for four baggers in only three seasons as she spent her freshman year at Stony Brook. 

Six hits and an error gave Fordham six runs in the third frame. Luety began the damage with a home run. 

Again, the Co-Pitchers of the Year of the Atlantic-10 began the game in the circle. Lore of the Billikins had pitched two games on Friday and was obviously not up to her usual manner. She gave up 11 runs and 11 hits in 2+ innings. She was unable to retire any of the five batters she faced in the third. Daubman who pitched two hit ball in the five innings of the game, earned her third win. She was voted the MVP of the Championship. Luety, Daubman’s catcher remarked, “She [Daubman] perfected everything this year.”

The A-10 championship for the Rams was their third in the last four years. The victory automatically qualifies Fordham for the NCAA National Softball Tournament. On the evening of Sunday, the brackets of the tournament were announced. Fordham is going to Tallahassee on Friday evening to face #8 seed Florida State. The two other schools in the foursome are South Florida and South Carolina. The tourney is a double elimination so the rams will also be facing at least one of the other Southern colleges.