Rams Slowed by Foxes, Hornets

CARMEL—After opening the season by winning 12 of its first 13 games, the Carmel High baseball team was just about due for a rough stretch.

It came last week, as the Rams suffered through a pair of blowout losses – sandwiched around a close game, but still a loss. Carmel opened the week with a 9-1 loss to Lakeland, and the Hornets made it two straight two days later, topping Carmel 4-2 in Shrub Oak.

The capper came Friday night at Dutchess Stadium, when Fox Lane put a 19-1 whooping on the Rams, who just about ran out of pitching by the time it was all over.

Friday against Fox Lane (11-4), Brendan Sergio picked up the win, while Estlin Link (3-1) took the loss for Carmel, which fell to 12-4 overall, 6-2 in league play.

Ian Anderson had an RBI for Carmel, and Chris Harlin went 2-for-3. Francesco led the Foxes with three RBI.

Last Thursday at Lakeland (11-4), Anderson was on the losing end for the Rams, with Jon deMarte earning the win for Lakeland, holding the Rams to three hits.

Carmel scored both of its runs on wild pitches. David Judisky went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI for the Hornets.

“DeMarte is the real deal,” Rams manager Bob Shilling said. “We played well… Ian kept us in it. And we had the tying run on third in the sixth. But he's the best pitcher we've faced all year.”

The prior Tuesday at Carmel, Lakeland's Justin McCarthy limited the Rams to one run on three hits in earning the win. Bret Viola took the loss.

Chris Salvo had a homer and three RBI for Lakeland, Judisky homered, and Zack Lanan added two RBI. Ryan

Shilling said his team may have come into the Lakeland series a little too pumped up.

"In the Tuesday game, we felt the pitching matchup was pretty equal (McCarthy vs. Viola), but they hit the ball well. I think in that series that the kids maybe were a bit over-hyped… they wanted to show people what we can do… the kids were over-pumped. And we got beat. Against Fox Lane, they are a very good team, and we were a little pitching short… and it showed. But we've had a good year so far. We had five or six good weeks, so we forget this. Everybody has a stretch where nothing goes right. It's how you rebound, and Mahopac is next up, so we won't have to worry about getting the kids motivated."

If Carmel can beat Mahopac twice this week, the Rams would clinch at least a share of the league title.

Carmel has to play Mahopac yesterday (Wednesday), and Saturday at 11 a.m., as part of the Tantalos tournament. The championship and consolation games are both set for a 2 p.m. start. The Rams also face Somers today (Thursday) at Renegade Stadium at 4:15 p.m.