Bruins win six of seven

Senior pitcher Nick LoBello scattered five hits and struck out seven and senior battery mate Lou Aponte and sophomore Dan Capone drove in three runs apiece to lead Baldwin to its sixth win in seven Conference AA-II baseball games, 7-1 over visiting Port Washington last Friday.

“Our pitchers are going very well,” Bruins coach Frank Esposito said. “If they haven’t dominated, they’ve kept us in the game. We’re not walking too many batters, which was a problem the past two years.”

LoBello issued just one walk to the Vikings in his third complete-game win this spring. “Nick’s an experienced pitcher who knows when to challenge hitters and when to try to nibble,” Esposito said. “His curve and slider are tough to hit.”

Baldwin upped its conference record to 7-2 and overall mark to 10-3 heading into crucial three-game sets against MacArthur, the Nassau Class AA runner-up last season, and Plainview-JFK. “Nobody’s beaten us up yet,” Esposito said. “We’re tied for first with MacArthur and one game ahead of Plainview. Turns out our last six are the toughest.”

Senior Tom Kelleher was a hard-luck loser in the middle game of the series with Port Washington, falling 2-1 on a throwing error in the third inning. Port’s Bryce Keller quieted the Baldwin bats with a four-hitter and struck out nine. “Tommy pitched great, but we faced their best pitcher and he shut us down pretty good,” Esposito said.

The first game of the series saw much-improved senior Louie Lopez strike out 10 batters in a 12-7 victory. LoBello and Capone had three hits apiece to lead the run support. “Louie put in a lot of work during the offseason,” Esposito said of Lopez. “It’s paying off for him and the team.”

In Baldwin’s previous series, a three-game sweep of Herricks, junior reliever Keith Teurff picked up wins in games Lopez and LoBello started. Kelleher won the finale April 21 and helped his own cause with a three-run homer.