JACKSON — Timely hitting and solid pitching combined for the expected result as the Jackson Junior Babe Ruth baseball team opened its season last week with a 4-2 victory over Henry Hudson.
Unfortunately, the stellar play faded as St. Rose posted a 9-0 shutout over Jackson Monday night to drop the Jaguars’ record to 1-1 on the season.
"We played very well in the opener," coach Kevin Johnson said. "We seemed to do a lot of things right in that contest. We came through with the big hit at the key time and our pitching was outstanding. The loss to St. Rose isn’t indicative of how good a team we really are. We are much better than what we showed them."
In the win over Henry Hudson, Ari Goldberg and Joe Murphy each tossed two shutout innings in the early going as Jackson raced to a 4-0 lead. Rob Santilli got the save in relief.
"We really couldn’t have asked any more from our pitchers that game," Johnson said. "We did a good job of keeping their hitters off balance. We kept away from the walks and our defense made the routine plays."
Jackson took the early lead with a three-run second inning. Santilli and Mike Rizzo each poked RBI doubles, and Alex Ciafardini got the third run across with a sacrifice fly.
Jackson added an insurance in the fourth.
Rizzo singled and later came around to score.
In the loss to St. Rose, John Cantalino tossed a couple of good innings but was victimized by spotty defense, Johnson said.
"John did a good job, we just didn’t support him the way we should have," Johnson said.
Mike Miranda, the team’s catcher, and Bobby Dowe were cited for fine defensive play.
"It’s still very early in the season," Johnson said. "We do have a number of very good players on this team. We expect to be competitive in the league."
— Mike White