East High Baseball is the Primetime 585 Spotlight Team

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — This week’s Primetime 585 Spotlight team is the East High baseball team.

The Eagles racked up four wins in the past week and are the only undefeated baseball or softball team left in Section V. Last Monday, they beat Edison in the City Cup Championship.

“It really starts in the offseason, putting in the work. Just grinding, never giving up,” said sophomore outfielder Justus Robinson. “We were here at 6:00 in the morning, 5:00 in the morning, waking up early, putting in work in the gym, hitting, fall league. It really starts there. Just believing that we could win.”

They’re seeking to become the first city school to win a Section V title in baseball since Jefferson won in 1980.

“Our motto is confidence and not cockiness and I think that’s what you’re seeing,” said head coach Kyle Crandall. “From them, you’re seeing a lot of confidence. We intentionally scheduled a much more challenging schedule this year and they’re rising to the occasion every game.”

East is led by Miguel Matos, who threw a 2-hitter against Brighton, striking out ten batters. He also went 4-4 with two doubles.

“It’s just confidence, trust, and being strong mentally,” said Matos, a senior. “Sometimes we’ll start a game down and when we get energy, we get back in the game.”

The Eagles have a number of dangerous hitters, including Mitchell Nieves, Justus Robinson, and Eric “Chunky” Jones whose three-run double helped East to a 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Pal-Mac.

East will meet HF-L on Wednesday in the Class A semifinals. Congratulations to Coach Crandall and the Eagles for earning our Team of the Week honors. In the words of Dr. Nelms, “culture is contagious”!

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