Renegades 5

S.I. Yanks 2

Every day, Andy Stankiewicz wants his players to learn something new about the game they play for a living.

In return, the rookie Staten Island Yankees manager figures he’ll learn a few things, too.

Stankiewicz sent rookie Josh Smith to the mound for a fourth inning of work last night, and Hudson Valley drilled him for three runs in a 5-2 Renegades victory at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

“Once you get past three, you start to second guess a little bit,” Stankiewicz said. “He’s a guy we’re trying to build up. But you could see he wasn’t his typical sharp self.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Stankiewicz, an ex-Yankees infielder who came north with hope of bringing Staten Island its third New York-Penn League crown in five years.

Too many nights, though, he’s ended his sentences with doubt, his voice trailing off after another Yankees loss.

Take last night, for instance. His win-starved, offense-challenged squad (11-22) played well enough to take a 2-2 tie in the ninth. Smith, a late signee out of Texas who was making his fourth S.I. appearance, had thrown 33 pitches in three innings, his longest pro outing.

Still, Smith started the inning with no one warming in the bullpen. Pitching coach Dave Eiland didn’t signal to the relief corps until Matt Rico and Joshua Kendrick dropped singles into the outfield.

And before a pitcher could even shed his windbreaker, Gabriel Martinez roped a double to left center and gave the Renegades the lead for good.

“It didn’t surprise me to go back out there,” said Smith. “In that inning, I couldn’t spot my fastball. I was just throwing it up there.”

So the teaching continues, but the learning goes on the manager’s office as well. Last night, the pitching staff. In the long run, how to cope with a losing season in pinstripes.

“The toughest thing a manager has to do is learn his pitching staff,” Stankiewicz said. “And I’m learning. I’m trying very hard to learn.”