Environmental Studies’ winning formula is simple and was put on display. The Eagles pride themselves on being a strong defensive team and while Manhattan Center made mistakes in the field they were steady behind ace Jocelyn Jimenez.
“I know if I’m having a bad day and I’m not throwing strikes, my team is going to back me up,” the senior windmiller said. “As a pitcher that’s what you want. A pitcher doesn’t want to feel like they have to do it all by themselves. I’ve been lucky have this team.”
The combination along with some timely hitting earned host Environmental Studies an important 14-1 five-inning run-rule win over Manhattan Center in PSAL Manhattan A softball Monday at Harlem River Park. Jimenez was excellent in the circle allowing one unearned run on three hits and struck out four.
“If you look at her strikeout numbers, they are down from before,” Eagles coach Jose Ferrer said. “She really doesn’t have to strikeout batters because when the ball is hit into the field we catch it almost all the time.”
It was the bats that failed Environmental in its first meeting with Manhattan Center, a 4-3 defeat in eight innings back on April 4. Ferrer said his team left 15 to 16 runners on base and lacked the big hit. This time around they scored early and often.
The patient Eagles (9-4) drew seven walks over the first two innings against Rams starter Idaysha Quinones. In the second, they got an RBI single from senior Chasity Velez (two hits, scored four times, two RBIs) and a sac fly by Francesca Then to help grab a 7-1 lead.
“It was a big relief,” Velez said of taking an early lead. “We knew once we hit the ball and we do smart base running, that’s the way you got to play the game.”
Environmental Studies, which called its early-season loss to the Rams (6-5) depressing, added a run in the third and six more in the fourth. Destini Torres, who scored twice, drove in a run with a single and Amanda McLean smashed a two-run double to left field. Manhattan Center’s lone run came on a ground out by Yen Pham in the first and the Rams stranded Dzifa Avalime after a long two-out triple in the fourth.
“We made mistakes all around, just throwing the ball away, giving them extra bases,” said Center coach Randy Cantor, whose club has lost three straight. “It just didn’t look like we were focused out there.”
The win puts the Eagles in the driver’s seat for the division title. They are a game ahead of Manhattan Center, LaGuardia and Stuyvesant with two games left to play. But Environmental Studies’ goals go beyond that after losing to Petrides, 9-8, in the PSAL Class A second round last season. Its strong defense and potent top of the order has them striving for a quarterfinal berth.
“Since we made it that close,” Jimenez said, “now we are even more hungry to make it.”
