On Sunday, April 27, finally under warm blue sunny skies, the Jericho Jay Sox fifth grade travel baseball team hit the road to take on the Albertson/Herricks Raiders in league action. The Jay Sox managed a split of the two games, taking the first game, 8-6, and dropping the second game 12-4.

In the first game the Jay Sox jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top half of the first inning. Jeffrey "Pedro" Goren led off the game for the Jay Sox by drawing a walk. He stole second, and came around to score on a line drive single by Michael "Don't call me Nicholas" Tuccillo. Michael promptly stole second and scored on a rope single by Jeremy "Hit Away" Feinstein. Brandon "Big Mac" First drew a walk as the Raiders carefully pitched around the Jay Sox slugger. After a ground out, Brandon came around to score on a fielder's choice off the bat of Jordan "Blue Cheese" Zinger.

The Raiders tried to run away with the game in the half of the first inning, as they managed to push across 5 runs in their half of the frame. However, the Jay Sox managed to stop the bleeding in the bottom half of the first inning by making a timely pitching change. Jeffrey "Pedro" Goren came in with 2 outs and the bases loaded and 4 runs already in. From that point on, the Raiders' bats fell silent as Goren, in relief, pitched a tremendous game over the final 5 2/3 innings despite struggling with his signature spinning knuckler.

Goren did not give up an earned run while striking out 9, walking 3, and only giving up 2 hits. Adam "Meat" Benvenisty, was solid behind the plate for the Jay Sox as the signal caller. The Jay Sox added a single run in the 2nd when Benvenisty came around to score on a rocket double off the bat of Nicholas "Don't call me Michael" Tuccillo. The Jay Sox added another run in the 3rd when Michael Tuccillo led off the inning with a walk. He advanced to 2nd on a wild pitch, and scored on a clutch 2 out hit by Matthew "Ice Cream" Newman. The Jay Sox broke the game open in their half of the 5th. Back to back 1 out hits by Nicholas Tuccillo and Max "Mr. Yankee" Resnick were followed by another hit by Michael Tuccillo, a walk to Feinstein, and a shot up the middle by First that scored 2 runners. Goren closed out the game by striking out 3 of the last 4 Raider hitters to preserve the victory and pick up the win.

In the second game, the Raider bats came alive against a Jay Sox squad depleted by injuries. Playing with only 9 available players, the Jay Sox tried but came up short. Marc "Aflac" Roth got the start on the hill for the Jay Sox. Marc struggled with his control early, but escaped major damage in the 1st by leaving the bases loaded. Josh "Goose" Varghese pitched a strong inning of relief, and made a great backhand stab of a smash down the 3rd base line earlier in the game. Benvenisty paced the Jericho attack in the 2nd game with a hit and a walk.

The Jay Sox are off to a good start and to date have also received solid contributions from Charlie "The Pest" Fasano, and Jason "Lefty" Leeds. Unfortunately, the Jay Sox will be without one of their more productive and versatile players, Brian Watt, who suffered a fractured wrist before the first game.

The Jay Sox have had excellent fan support. Their next doubleheader is scheduled for Merry Lane on Sunday, May 4 at 10 a.m. when they take on the Terryville Thunder.