St. Ray’s fails to dominate in non-league match-up

A lack of determination cost St. Raymond’s,  as they hosted and lost 10-5 to John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in a non-league match-up this past Saturday, April 19.

The loss mirrored a struggling season for St. Raymond’s, who has yet to dominate as past Raven teams have.  In fact, it was obvious right from the opening inning that the Ravens just did not have what it took to pick up the duke. 

Kennedy, visiting from Westchester, jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza when Luis Gonzales drilled a double to centerfield. 

St. Raymond’s had a chance to answer back, but with the bases loaded and one out, Dan Perillo, swung at a 3-0 pitch and popped it up to the pitcher.  Andrew Gonzalez was able to score a run on a base hit to left field, but Kennedy would get out of the jam with a force out on the next at bat.

St. Ray’s would fall apart in the second inning, as Kennedy lit up starter Sandro Ferreira and his relief pitcher, Chris Batista for 5 runs.  The Ravens had no answer in the bottom half of the inning and the 3rd inning was no better than the previous two.

Though it started out very well for Batista, with two strikeouts, it seemed to all fall apart. With two on and two out, Joe Smith drilled a triple into far centerfield that would allow 2 runs to score. The very next batter, Mike Mercurio, hit a single that would score in Smith and get Kennedy its 10 runs. That would be all they needed. 

Perillo would score a run in on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 3rd inning and then drive in two more runs on a bases loaded single in the 4th.  The Ravens would only muster up one more run  and Kennedy would walk away with the win. 

Despite it being a non-league game, all the experience is crucial for high school ball players to succeed, but it’s typical of a coach to not use their best players, rather playing the guys that often are benched.

“I played the bench today and they stunk up the joint,” said coach Ron Patnosh.

The team has not faired too well this season.  The Ravens have an overall record of 7-6 this year, with a league record of 4-3.  Inexperience and stubbornness have been to blame. 

Patnosh noted that the coaches are having a very difficult time making the kids learn their coaching and so they keep making the same mistakes. He added that his freshmen played very well but that overall the team got down on themselves early and that contributed to their loss.

“We made early mistakes,” Patnosh said, “and we never recovered.”

CHSAA, Baseball, St. Raymond, Ravens, Ron Patnosh