Baseball, Sports

Fordham Wins First “Battle of the Bronx”

BRONX, N.Y. — The last time Fordham (3-9) won a “Battle of the Bronx,” it was April 30, 2013.

It felled its rival Manhattan (2-10), 6-1, on a rain filled Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s always tough. I know those guys want to beat us, beat me,” Fordham coach Kevin Leighton said about facing his former team. “It’s good to see those guys. I had some guys there. I still have some guys there that I recruited awhile back. It’s always good to see those guys, but it’s important for us to win and as much as I like some of those guys, I want to beat them.”

Fordham pitcher Ben Greenberg going into his windup during yesterday's first "Battle of the Bronx." Photo taken by Jonathan Reyes.
Fordham pitcher Ben Greenberg going into his windup. Photo taken by Jonathan Reyes.

Throughout the game, Manhattan had two potential game deciding scoring opportunities.

In the second-inning, Vin Teixeira hit a single up the middle followed by a missed homerun by Evan Brown, who hit a double off the top of the right-field fence. With nobody out, Manhattan were set up to score easily when Fordham pitcher Ben Greenberg settled down and struck out Joe McClennan, Matt Forlow popped-out in the infield and Chris Kalousdian lined out to left-field.

Manhattan managed to break through Greenberg in the seventh-inning when he walked outfielder Kalousdian. This ended Greenberg’s afternoon. Coming in for relief was Cody Johnson, who walked Christian Santisteban and Mikey Miranda to load the bases, and then walked Chris Reynolds to force in a run.

In to replace Johnson was Joseph Serrapica, who struck out Teixeira for the biggest out of the game and pitched two-plus scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season.

Greenberg pitched six-plus innings and allowed a single run in his first career start.

“I was a little nervous definitely when I got out there at first, and even as the game went on when I got in situations with runners in scoring position,” Greenberg said. “But I trusted my defense behind me and Pat [Gardner] did great behind the plate today, so that helped a lot with the nerves and the jitters a little bit.”

Manhattan pticher Tom Cosgrove looks at the signs being given by catcher Mikey Miranda. Photo taken by Jonathan Reyes.
Manhattan pitcher Tom Cosgrove looks at the signs being given by catcher Mikey Miranda. Photo taken by Jonathan Reyes.

As for Manhattan pitcher Tom Cosgrove, he threw two scoreless innings until the third-inning when a pair of errors — one commited by Cosgrove himself and the other by Miranda — led to two Fordham runs.

“I didn’t feel like I had an edge in that game for whatever reason,” Tom Cosgrove said of his second loss of the season.

Manhattan coach Jim Duffy hesitated before saying it was still early in the season, but realized the team is 12 games in.

“It’s not that early anymore,” Manhattan coach Jim Duffy said. “That’s the most disappointing loss of the year so far for us. I was looking for us to play better and for us to go on the road and win. It would have been a really great way to propel us into the weekend. We didn’t play well. We had too many mental mistakes. It’s the stuff that we can’t have. We’re giving too much away. I don’t know why. I don’t have an excuse for that. I don’t have an answer for that. We need to be better in all aspects and I expect us to be.”

For more photos of the game click here.