JFK Baseball Wins Big Over Port Washington

On a sad day for Plainview, its baseball team found a great way to kick off a three-game series against a conference rival: Strong on the mound, strong at the plate, mostly due to the efforts of one Hawks star.

That would be Steven Stafford, who took the hill and got the win as Plainview JFK toppled Port Washington 14-5 in Conference II action on Monday. The win gives the Hawks a 3-1 conference mark, while the Vikings fall to 0-4.

Before the game, a moment of silence was observed in memory of Spencer Reis, the Plainview freshman who on Sunday.

Stafford gave up three straight hits in the top of the first, giving the visitors an early 2-0 lead, but he soon settled down and helped his club get those runs back, and then some. The Hawks quickly loaded the bases in their half of the frame, and after catcher Chris Tracz drew a walk to plate a run, Stafford's two-run single gave JFK the lead they wouldn't come close to giving up.

3B Dylan Schmidt's pop fly single made it 4-2, but the home team was just getting started. With the bases loaded once more in the second, Tracz crushed a Drew Friedman pitched for a bases clearing triple, and Stafford drove his batterymate home with a hit to make it 8-2.

Stafford got the side in order in the second and fourth, and in the fifth, he stroked a two-run double to make it 11-5. Tracz added a two-run double in the sixth, as the catcher was 3-3 with a whopping six RBI's.

Stafford would be a perfect 4-4 with 5 RBI's, and gave the Hawks five strong innings on the hill, walking only one and striking out six.

"He's a great player, he came through big at the plate today and pitched a great game," Hawks coach Justin Szwejkowskisaid. "We could have made a couple more plays [defensively] to keep those runs down, but he did a good job."

Schmidt added two hits and an RBI, and Chris Ferolito and Dominic Palumbo each had a pair of hits in the winning effort as well.

Despite the lopsided score, Szwejkowski says his team actually needs to be more aggressive at the plate, especially as they get set to face Port Washington star pitcher Bryce Keller on Tuesday.

"We looked at way too many strike threes and had way too many errors," Szwejkowski said. "It was 14-5 and that's great, but realistically it could have been 19-1."

14-5 isn't bad of course, and the Hawks will try and take the second game of the series, sending Jake Faraci to the mound on the road on Tuesday.