Peglegs Start off Season Hot

As senior Malcolm Hubbell stepped up to the plate to begin the second game of the spring season against Norman Thomas, the noise in Pier 40 turned up another notch. The nucleus of the noise came from the home team dugout, which was filled with animated Peglegs cheering him on. Despite Malcolm reaching the base by a HBP, that was all the Peglegs needed. The final score was a 14-1 rout of Norman Thomas in five quick innings.

The bats were busted out early in the game. The top of the first inning saw senior Jared Asch hit a line drive to right field, which brought Hubbell home from second base (who advanced on a wild pitch). Soon after, in the second inning, a single from junior Maximillian Mah, followed by a double from Hubbell, allowed senior Jeremy Rubin to bring home Mah with a single. Junior Owen Potter then pulled one through the gap between second and third to increase their lead to 4-0. Asch followed with a sacrifice fly to end the inning 5-0 in favor of the Peglegs.

But the game really broke open in the third inning. After Asch loaded the bases with a single to left field, junior Cooper Nisenbaum stepped up to the plate and delivered a blast into right-center field. His triple drove three players home and brought out cheers from the spectators and the Peglegs in the dugout. He and Asch would finish the game with four RBIs each. Their success could not have been possible without the top of the order (Hubbell, Rubin, and Potter); they generated the hits necessary to spark the streak of 10 unanswered runs.

On the field, Hubbell had a fantastic performance on the mound, striking out six players in two out of three innings. He brought the heat with his fastball, which consistently hit the outside corner; he also showed great chemistry with sophomore catcher Luca Bielski. “All I really had to do was throw strikes, and [Norman Thomas] hit the ball pretty weakly,” Hubbell said. “I was pretty satisfied with the amount of strikes I threw, and I am grateful to my teammates playing defense for making their plays.”

The Peglegs crushed Norman Thomas in their two games with a combined score of 24-1, showcasing their dominance both on the field and at the plate. Ace pitcher Asch had a lights out performance on Opening Day, striking out nine batters in the span of two innings. Then, to finish the job, Rubin was put in relief for the remaining three innings, throwing only 28 pitches.

If there has been a pattern in the team across the span of seasons, then it is the Peglegs’ ability to produce most of their runs in the span of one inning. This is what makes the team so dangerous in the AAA Western Division. The Peglegs have already made it count this year. On Wednesday’s(3/28) game against West 50th Street Campus, senior center fielder Daniel Kim’s triple in the third inning brought home three valuable runs. The Peglegs would go on to score two more in the inning and would proceed to win the game by a score of 7-4, mainly thanks to their explosive performance in the third.

In more recent news, the Peglegs have played their last 5 games against teams from the AAA Eastern Division. They went 2-3 during this five game span. losing some last inning thrillers to the likes of Bayside High School as well as going toe to toe with powerhouse Benjamin Cardozo High School. The Peglegs tied the game up in the sixth inning against Cardozo to make it 5-5, but a late seventh inning double with the bases loaded gave Cardozo the 7-5 victory. Still, these games serve as excellent benchmarks to see where the Peglegs are in regards to other teams come playoff time.

With the spring season half-way complete the Peglegs stand third in the division with a 5-4 record(3-1 in against teams in their division). While a playoff spot is not far off in the picture, they will have to prove themselves as major contenders in their last six games, two of which are against second place Newton, and one of which is against the undefeated Beacon High School. These games, especially the game against Beacon High School, is what the team has been preparing for this entire season, and, with Asch and Rubin leading the team both offensively and defensively, a victory against Beacon might just be possible.