The no-hitter, with 14 strikeouts in just five innings, would have been regarded as impressive under any circumstances.
But what Jordan Wiener did on Thursday showed fortitude and determination far beyond what could reasonably be asked from an 18-year-old.
Wiener, a senior at Robert F. Kennedy High, threw his gem a day after the funeral for his father, Mitchell Wiener, a Queens intermediate school assistant principal and avid New York Mets fan who died May 17 after contracting swine flu. The performance came against Prospect Heights in a 10-0 victory in the PSAL Class B tournament in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.
"When my father was put in the hospital on (May 13), I told myself, 'Death or survival, I was going to pitch,' " the left-hander told The Daily News. "I knew that's what he would have wanted from me, to go out there and pitch. I was going to pitch no matter what."
Wiener, who will attend Queens College in the fall, was 6-0 with a 0.68 ERA and averaged better than two strikeouts per inning in the regular season.
"He's cut from the same cloth as his father," RFK coach Mike Mulstay said. "Not only him but his whole family. He's a one-in-a-million kid. It was special."
Amid chants of “M-V-P,” Wiener struck out 14 out of the 15 hitters he faced, with a routine groundball the exception. He allowed one runner via a dropped third strike, but Wiener erased him with a pickoff throw to advance RFK to a second-round game this week vs. Alfred E. Smith High.
Nicolas Patino and Romine Mohammed slugged three-run home runs to supply the offense.
More Baseball: Miller Place victory was no walk in the park
A premature celebration after a presumed walk-off walk in the 10th inning nearly cost Miller Place a victory against Islip and a chance to advance in the sectional Class A playoffs. Section XI did uphold Miller Place's 4-3 victory after a protest and appeal process via telephone right on the diamond.
The game appeared to have ended with Michael Moch's bases-loaded walk driving in Mike Moosbrugger in the bottom of the 10th. But a celebration ensued before the Miller Place runners on first and second moved up a base, and Islip coach Pete Blumenauer quickly appealed the call on the field.
After calls to the Suffolk County and state rules interpreter, the umpires shot down the appeal. The ruling was that Moosbrugger and Moch were the only relevant runners. The run counted once they touched their respective bases.
Swine flu slows down Section VIII action
Nassau County officials took precautions against the H1N1 ("swine flu") outbreak by postponing five postseason events involving the Levittown School District, which closed 12 schools last week.
Todd Heimer, executive director of Section VIII, said school superintendents made the recommendation after consulting with health officials.
The start of the best-of-three series in the Class A baseball quarterfinals between Garden City and Division was postponed, as was Game 2 in the Class AA quarterfinals between Port Washington and MacArthur.
In softball, a Class A playoff between Manhasset and Division and a Class AA game between Farmingdale and MacArthur are expected to be made up this week. The girls Class B lacrosse quarterfinal between Division and Plainedge was also postponed.
With the prospect of a dozen games remaining in the next three weeks for winning baseball teams, Section VIII will work to avoid scheduling doubleheaders to make up for lost time.
Championships Preview: NYSPHSAA tennis and golf up first
With sectional tournaments in the team sports hitting high gear beginning Tuesday, New York State Public High School Athletic Association crowns in two individual sports will be awarded this week:
* The state tennis tournament takes place Thursday through Saturday at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. Action in singles and doubled kicks off at 1 p.m. on Thursday and then 8 a.m. on the remaining days.
Stanford recruit Matt Kandath of Albany Academy steamrolled his way to his third Section II championship last week and will be going for a NYSPHSAA hat trick. Ranked No. 15 nationally in boys' 18s, Kandath never dropped so much as a set in three years of Section II action.
He could be headed for a rematch with 2008 finalist Daniel Kreyman from Long Beach, who has dropped just one set in 18 matches this spring after going 23-1 in 2008. The Wake Forest-bound right-hander made the varsity team as a seventh-grader, missed his whole freshman season with an injury and played left-handed as a sophomore while rehabbing his right rotator cuff.
Brendan Ruddock of Connetquot dropped a very competitive first-rounder to Kandath a year ago and will likely be a tough out as he wraps up his scholastic career. Ruddock will attend Minnesota in the fall.
The doubles draw will be fairly wide open. Kentaro Abe and Keisuke Oshima of Keio Academy won the championship a year ago, and Abe was partnered with Ken Nakata this spring. They dropped a 6-2, 6-2 final to Kelly Morque and Garrett DeBease of Rye in recent Section I action that could have been a preview of this week’s medal round.
Bryan Chow and Chris Frost of Niskayuna might also figure in the mix.
* Keep an eye out for Gavin Hall in the 36-hole boys golf tournament at the Cornell University-Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Ithaca. The Pittsford Mendon eighth-grader already has a stellar resume and a growing reputation in a community with a rich tradition in the sport.
Dominic Bozzelli, McQuaid
File Photo by Christine Wiggins
Hall tied for 12th at states with a 73-78—151 a year ago but still was only the third-best Section V performer because Dominic Bozzelli of McQuaid beat Yarik Merkulov of Penfield in a playoff after they tied with two-round scores of 142. Hall beat Merkulov, now a junior, by one stroke and Bozzelli, a senior, by three recently to win sectionals despite playing with a broken finger.
Also keep an eye on Rondout Valley junior Andrew DeForest, coming off a Section IX record-setting four-under-par score for 36 holes last week. DeForest faded to ninth at states last spring with 70-80—150 after a solid opening day.
Mike Miller of Brewster was third at states a year ago but had to scramble this season at the Section I tournament to narrowly make it back to Ithaca.
The field tees off from the first and 10th tees on Sunday at 9 a.m. and Monday at 7:30 a.m.
Odds and ends
* Sachem East junior point guard Kristen Doherty will enroll at Boston College in September 2010 to continue her basketball career, Doherty averaged 28 points, 5.6 steals and 3.8 assists last season and will start her final season with 1,691 career points.
* Senior midfielder Marshall Johnson scored four goals to lead Canandaigua to a 10-7 boys lacrosse victory over Fairport in a non-leaguer between state-ranked teams. Devin Alves added three goals and two assists for the Braves, who won their 14th straight game.
* McQuaid senior Tomarris Bell is undecided on which events he’ll enter at the Section V track and field championships following a monster performance – 3,707 points to shatter his own sectional mark – at the Rochester City Athletic Conference Championships.
If he shuns the multi-event discipline, he’ll choose from a menu of possibilities including the long jump, triple jump, high jump and high hurdles. Bell played basketball last winter but entered and won the high jump at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships at the New York Armory in March by clearing 6-11½.
* Bill Plante, the state's winningest hockey coach, has filed a $1 million federal lawsuit against the Salmon River Central School District in an attempt to get his coaching jobs back, The Daily Times in Watertown reported. Plante, who owns 542 wins and a record six NYSPHSAA championships in hockey, filed suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Syracuse
Plante also coached girls varsity volleyball, boys modified lacrosse and girls modified softball before being removed by the school board Feb. 21, 2008. He contends the district never provided him with a hearing to tell his side. The suit complaint does not specify the reason he was removed as coach, the paper said.
* Christ The King sophomore Bria King is the only New York player among 27 ninth- and 10th-graders invited to try out Thursday through Sunday for the U.S. Women’s Under-16 team in basketball. Twelve players will be picked to represent the U.S. in the inaugural FIBA Americas U-16 Championship and then form the core of the U-17 team next summer as well.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at johnschianosports@gmail.com.
