FDR 10- Red Hook 0
HYDE PARK – With a whopping 14 seniors set to graduate this spring, the Franklin D. Roosevelt High School baseball team is going to have a younger, less experienced look to them next year.
However, the Presidents will surely enjoy this recent string of success, a run that has shot FDR up the standings of the Mid Hudson Athletic League.
FDR certainly looked seasoned in an easy 10-0, six-inning mercy-rule win over Red Hook in Hyde Park on Thursday afternoon. The Presidents grabbed three quick runs in the first and never looked back on a day that included special Senior Day celebrations for FDR’s graduating players.
“This has been a great group,” FDR head coach Kory VanZandt said in reference to his 2019 class. “They’ve been committed and dedicated to the group since day one…to see them come together today, in a season where we’re having a lot of success…it was great.”
FDR enjoyed early offensive production, particularly by way of a monster two-run-homer off the bat of Isaiah Harris. Conor Harris (no relation) added an RBI single in the inning, and Joseph Felipe Jr. added a run-scoring single of his own later on in the second. Red Hook errors and walks led to several later runs for the Presidents.
“I was just really happy to have an opportunity to play, get a nice hit, and do something,” Harris said of his blast.
Conor Harris paced the Presidents with three hits on the day. Ryan Card also reached base three times for FDR, which improved to 11-3 on the season.
The Presidents were also stellar on the mound, as Jack Cimorelli, Owen Pacchiana, and Tyler Landolfi combined for an 11-strikeout shutout over six innings of work.
Red Hook drops to 2-8 on the year, but one of the youngest teams in Section 9 has made considerable progress on the season, per head coach James Armstrong.
“This team is looking to improve every day,” Armstrong said. “We’ve got some big games coming up next week that guys are excited about…the rest of the season’s really important, and we’ve got to stay focused.”
On the other side of the diamond, however, the Presidents continue to gear towards sectionals, and according to VanZandt, the team’s drop to Class A is by no means going to be a vacation.
“We know there’s a lot of really good teams in Section 9, Class A, and it’s going to be competitive,” VanZandt said. “It’s going to take all phases of the game to make things happen.”
The Presidents will look to keep the momentum going when they host Spackenkill on Monday afternoon. Red Hook will try to bounce back as they visit Rhinebeck on Saturday morning.