The junior varsity (J.V.) boys’ baseball team in Island Trees finished their season with a three game series versus North Shore. The winner of the best of three match-up, would take first place in the league. After dropping the first game against North Shore, the boys bounced right back and took the next two games. The Bulldogs had great pitching performances by Andrew Kramer, John Obremski, and John Nicolino. Nicolino pitched outstanding in the final game of the season to lead the boys to victory.
The Bulldogs finished the season with a record of 13-4. Leading the charge on the pitching staff was Rich Tufano (4-1). In 28 innings pitched, Tufano allowed seven earned runs and only five walks. He also finished with 20 strikeouts and 1.71 ERA. Kramer and Obremski were the other starters for J.V. and made many solid starts. They combined to record 167 outs on the year.
Another reason for the team’s success was a strong bullpen, which was led by Anthony Saracino, John Nicolino, T.J. Romano, and John Papa. Saracino led the team with two saves and had an ERA of 1.62.
The offense was led by Justin Fragoletti, who put up impressive numbers this year. He finished hitting .526 with 1 homerun and 14 runs batted in. He also had a very impressive .667 on base percentage in 54 plate appearances. Tom Gilmartin (.412) and Rich Wisor (.350) led the outfielders in hitting. Gilmartin lead the Bulldogs with 21 hits for the season. Second basemen Rocco Privatera solidified the infield batting .343 and provided some vocal leadership.
Freshman infielder Anthony Raucci finished hitting .333 with a very impressive .510 on base percentage. Kramer led the Bulldogs in RBIs with 17, while freshman Tucker Hahn provided some power, leading the team with 8 doubles. Obremski also had a solid year in the infield and at the plate hitting .333. Keith Scofield played solid all year and Mike Ferrufino, John Papa, and George Potamousis also played well in the infield too.
With Jimmy DeVita out early in the season, catchers Joe Piscopio and Nick Ligor provided the J.V. with solid defense and some timely hits. DeVita bounced back after being injured early with some outstanding defense behind the plate. He also did a great job of handling the pitching staff.
