Every day during baseball season, Jason Torres likes to chat about his favorite sport with one of his favorite teachers.
Brian Basil is a math instructor at New Hyde Park High School, and he and Torres like to chop it up in between algorithms and homework assignments.
Recently, both Basil and Torres had reason to talk trash to each other. During a recent Gladiators game against Glen Cove on April 2, Basil’s nephew, Jason Basil, hit a home run to lead off the game against the righthanded pitcher.
But then Torres said, no more. In a spectacular performance, Torres struck out 14 Big Red hitters and allowed only three more hits.
“Yeah, we talked a lot about that the next day,” Torres said with a laugh. “His nephew hit a good one, but then they didn’t get anything else. That was maybe the best game I’ve ever pitched.”
That’s a bold statement by Torres, because since arriving at New Hyde Park as a freshman relief pitcher, he’s had plenty of dominating outings.
After a strong sophomore season in 2023, cut short by an ankle injury suffered in gym class, Torres broke out last spring, hitting .406 with 26 hits. On the mound, he had a 1.29 ERA, averaging more than a strikeout per inning.
“He’s pretty much the total package you could want in a player,” said New Hyde Park coach Joseph Rotondaro. “He reminds me of a great kid we had here, Luke Orbon (now at St. John’s University). Jason can hit with average, he’s got some pop, and is so good on the mound.”
Torres is so in control on the hill that Rotondaro said he lets him call his own games.
“He’ll come in and ask me my opinion on this or that, but I take the leash off him and let him go, and he does a great job,” Rotondaro said. “You just don’t get someone like him on your team very often.”
For Torres, the baseball journey began shortly after he learned to walk. His dad, Jason Torres, is a huge baseball fan who introduced his son to the sport early.
“I had the big puffy bats and the tee in the backyard, and all I wanted to do was swing,” Torres said. “My Dad coached me most of my life and really taught me so much.”
As he grew, Torres said it was defense, not pitching or hitting, that he loved most about baseball. Eventually, his ability to throw in the 80s on the mound caught the eye of high school coaches, and Torres learned a lot on the Gladiators’ 2022 team that made the playoffs.
“Just watching all the older guys, like Jayden Patel and how they did things, taught me a lot,” Torres said.
With a three-pitch arsenal, Torres keeps batters off balance and, as he showed in the Glen Cove game, can rack up strikeouts.
Looking for a college close to home, he was recruited by Molloy, in Rockville Centre, a strong Division II program.
“It’s a small school, the class sizes are very small, and it’s a great school for business, which I want to major in,” Torres said. “And I really hit it off with the coaches.”
Torres still has a senior season to navigate; the Gladiators opened the year going 4-3.
And if he keeps his superstitions going (four pieces of candy each night before a game), Torres could lead New Hyde Park back to the playoffs.
“I just honestly want to keep a steady pace, and keep going and throwing complete games, with a low ERA and lots of strikeouts,” Torres said.
And also, of course, to keep talking baseball in math class.
