Published: April 17, 2008

The Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s (FCLC) intramural softball team, Jean-Claude Ram Van (JCRV), lost a five-inning 18-7 against the Furies on April 6, in addition to losing a key player. JCRV rebounded and won 14-10 against the Ross’s Bosses on April 13.

On April 6, right fielder Christian Okolski, FCLC ’10, dislocated his left shoulder in the top of the fifth inning. Okolski injured his shoulder when he slid head first into third base while trying to avoid the tag. Because of the severity of the injury, Okolski was taken to the hospital and will have surgery on his shoulder on April 18. He will not be able to play for the rest of the season.

“Okolski’s loss was devastating,” said first baseman Anthony Bruno, FCLC ’09. “His injury motivated us even more to win and made everyone assume a bigger role on the team.”

On April 13, JCRV took a bigger role on offense by batting around the line-up in the top of the first inning against the Ross’s Bosses. JCRV scored 10 runs that inning, hitting mostly singles instead of going for the home run.

The Ross’s Bosses attempted to answer back with a lead-off home run in the bottom half. However, JCRV were able to hold the Bosses to four runs that inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, with one out and JCRV up 10-8, shortstop Adam Dexter, FCLC ’10, made the play of the game by making a difficult diving stop to keep the bases clear.

“If there were an all-star team for softball, Adam Dexter would be the starting shortstop every year,” said pitcher and captain Joe Lynn, FCLC ’09. “He’s absolutely phenomenal.”

On April 6, JCRV kept the Furies in check until the bottom of the fourth inning, when errors by the JCRV defense kept the inning alive and allowed the Furies to score eight runs. The error-filled effort showed Lynn that the team was not playing up to its full potential.

“We are much better than how we played,” Lynn said. “We could have dominated the other team.”

In the top of the fifth inning, JCRV attempted to come back from a 12-run deficit. The highlight of the inning was a two-run home run from Bruno.

“We needed runs bad, as it was getting late in the game,” Bruno said. “It also gave us hope that we’d come back and take the game.”

But the fifth inning ended with JCRV only scoring three runs. Though the team lost the game and one of their best hitters in Okolski, Lynn said he would shake things up in the lineup and “try something new to hopefully kick-start the offense next game.”

“Overall we were a little too lazy and out of focus on Sunday, and it could have been put in the W column had we been less lax going into the game,” Okolski said.

“Our team has to hit more singles and hard drives instead of going long for the home runs,” said catcher Daniel Kohan, FCLC ’09. “We’re not at batting practice. We play and hit to win.”

Holding their last two opponents to 28 runs may prove important for JCRV’s playoff chances. In the men’s A-League Softball league, 10 out of 15 teams make the playoffs. If teams are tied with the same record, they are then ranked by the number of runs that team has let up against their opponents. Currently, JCRV are ranked 13th with a 1-2 record and 42 runs scored against them.

The team views the playoffs as an attainable goal as JCRV prepares for their last regular season game against the Good Guys on April 20.

“After the win, the playoffs are in the horizon,” Kohan said. “We see it and feel it, but we just have to grab it by the horns.”