Bronx Science adjusting to tougher division

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Last year at this time, the Bronx Science baseball team was in the early stages of a season that saw the Wolverines go 14-2 in the regular season and reach the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) AA semifinals. They finished just one victory short of reaching the championship game at Yankee Stadium.

This year, however, the road to the postseason might be filled with a lot more potholes along the way. Due to their success last season, Bronx Science was rewarded, if you will, with a jump up to the AAA level. It’s a big step up in competition for the Wolverines and one that’s starting to sink in just four games into the season.

Monday was the latest lesson learned for Bronx Science as it hosted Taft High School at Harris Field and a long first inning in which Taft scored five times led to an 11-1 loss. The defeat dropped Science to 1-3 on the season as the Wolverines continue to adjust to their new surroundings.

 “I guess you’re rewarded for last season by going up to AAA and it’s unfortunate that the people that brought us to the AAA aren’t here to reap the reward,” Bronx Science head coach Chris Dahlem said. “Plus we’re a younger team with a new pitching staff and basically a whole new setup this year from a year ago.”

Yes, gone are a lot of the major contributors from last year’s team, the ones most responsible for Bronx Science making the leap to AAA this season. And now this year, with their step up in weight class, the Wolverines will see some heavyweight baseball programs on their schedule game after game, including defending PSAL champion and perennial power George Washington along with Walton and Monday’s opponent, Taft.

“One thing that we’ve learned early is that if you make one mistake, you pay for it,” Dahlem said. “That’s almost a guarantee. That wasn’t the issue in the league that we were a part of in the past. Then we had the ability to make up for mistakes. But here you make that one mistake and it’s a guarantee that you’re going to pay for it. That just shows you the caliber of the baseball we play in the Bronx at this level.”

The latest lesson learned by the Wolverines came in the first inning Monday. Taft had loaded the bases with one out against Bronx Science starting pitcher Louis Silverman when it looked like the Wolverines might escape without any damage when Taft’s Kevin Harrison bounced back to the pitcher to set up what looked to be a perfect opportunity to turn a 1-2-3 double play and get out of the inning unscathed. 

But Science was only able to get the force out at home, leaving the bases loaded with two out and another chance for Taft to break the game open early and that’s exactly what it did. The Golden Eagles went on to score five runs in the inning before tacking on another run in the second inning, one in the third and four more in the fourth as Science could never get into the game.

Science managed just one hit in the game, a single in the fourth inning by third baseman Sawyer Stettin, as Taft dominated the new kids of the AAA.      

“That would have been a big boost for us if we had turned that double play,” Dahlem said. “But that summed up how we played in the field. We’ll go a game where we’re perfect in the field and we’ll come out winners in that game. A ball hit back to the pitcher, a double play is exactly what you want there. Unfortunately it didn’t go that way for us and then it led to more gasoline on the fire.”

The Wolverines are experiencing a bit of culture shock right now as they venture into their new AAA world and it will take some time for them to get acclimated to their new surroundings. Seeing the likes of powerhouse George Washington and other PSAL behemoths across the diamond from you can have that effect of a team.

“We saw GW [on April 6, a 10-0 loss] and honestly I think some of the guys were shell shocked,” Dahlem said. “You get there and you’re just in awe of everything. It’s a great program that [GW] coach [Steve] Mandl has there. But it’s not just them, all the teams in our division play a very high caliber of baseball that we need to become accustomed to. But not just us the players but I think us the supporters and us the school community for us to be competitive.”

When Bronx Science got the word it was being bumped up to the elite AAA level it embraced the move. But right now the Wolverines are experiencing the growing pains associated with that move.

“We absolutely did,” Dahlem said of relishing the move up. “Although I think now, experiencing what we’re experiencing, I think they realize what a big jump it has been and really what it’s going to take to be competitive here. I think (the seniors) wish they had another year to go into it again. You never approach a season thinking you’re going to do extremely well. You know that it takes hard work and I think during the off-season there was more work that could have been done to prepare for this.”

The season doesn’t get any easier for Bronx Science as they see division-rival Walton twice later this week before another visit with George Washington. Patience might be the word to live by for the Wolverines as they navigate their new waters.

“We have Walton twice this week and then GW on Saturday but with regards to bouncing back I think it’s an attitude,” Dahlem said. “You can see it with the guys when they get here but it’s a matter of maintaining it. It’s the same attitude from last year. It’s just dealing with a lot more adversity than last year.”

Bronx Science, baseball, Chris Dahlem, Sean Brennan

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