Cubs Beat Cortlandt, Lose To Putnam Valley

CARMEL—After starting the season on a tear, the Carmel Cubs U18 team has struggled to score runs of late and split their two games last week. The Cubs (11-3) beat Cortlandt 5-1 on Saturday after losing 7-4 to Putnam Valley on Thursday.

Carmel’s Ben Torres comes to the plate against PV/C last week at Camarda Park. SKIP PEARLMAN Troy Torres led the Cubs in their win over Cortlandt, not only did he pitch a complete game one-hitter, but he also added a pair of RBIs.

“He pitched a great game,” said coach Fernando Torres. “We played very sloppy defense behind him, but he’s definitely been a plus as far as leading the pitching staff.”

With Torres keeping Cortlandt off the bases, and the Cubs struggling to score runs the two teams went into the bottom of the sixth tied at one before the Cubs were able to pull away. With two outs and a runner on second, Cortlandt intentionally walked a batter to get to Chase Dulitz, who came through with a ground-rule double to break the tie.

Carmel’s Rob O’Malley slides home safe as ball gets away from PV/C catcher Ralph Capodieci. SKIP PEARLMAN “It could have been a homerun,” Torres said. “They called it a ground-rule double, but it was a moon shot.”

Torres followed by driving in two more runs with a single to give himself some breathing room before closing out the game in the seventh.

“We’ve been struggling with the bats,” Torres said. “But we turned it on in the sixth, and were able to scratch across some runs.”

Before their win over Cortlandt the Cubs came up short against Putnam Valley in a game that was called after six innings due to darkness.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the fourth, the Cubs finally broke through and scored four times in the inning to take the lead. Austin Barbosa, Scott Shepard, Charlie Mills and Ben Torres all had an RBI in the inning. Barbosa finished the game 3-for-3 to lead the team offensively.

Carmel’s Chris Harlin (L) stays in rundown between second and third long enough for Nick Palmiero (2) to reach second. SKIP PEARLMAN “Austin’s been coming up big for us,” Torres said. “He had a big day, kind of led us. And he plays a solid third base.”

After taking the 4-1 lead, the Cubs gave it right back in to top of the fifth. Ben Torres returned the mound for his fifth inning of work but was pulled before recording an out in the inning. He struck out four, in his four plus innings of work without allowing a hit, but was undone by control issues and sloppy defense behind him.

Putnam Valley’s first four batters in the inning all reached base without a hit, setting them up for a four run rally to take the lead for good. Nick Palmiero replaced Torres and pitched two innings in relief.

PV/C’s Anthony Tyndal checks his swing in game against Carmel last week. SKIP PEARLMAN “In the fifth we kind of collapsed,” Torres said. “They got a few hits, few walks, and we really didn’t do much offensively after that.”

The Cubs were scheduled to play another game against Cortlandt and a game against Armonk, but the games were rained out. No makeup dates have been scheduled yet.

“We’ve lost two out of our last four, they were games we probably shouldn’t have lost,” Torres said. “Hopefully we can get this back on track for the home stretch.”

The Cubs will play their next two games against Yorktown. They will play host today (Thursday) at Camarda Park at 6 p.m., and will play Monday night in Yorktown at 6 p.m.
Carmel’s Kyle Cassidy watches ball off bat at Camarda Park last week. SKIP PEARLMAN
Chris Considine of Putnam Valley delivers against Carmel last week. SKIP PEARLMAN