Late arrivals plague Flyers
Skeds make Aviation players tardy
AVIATION SOPHOMORE Junior Ramirez is the sort of pitcher a coach could build a program around.
But Ramirez may transfer to another school because of a rigid curriculum that often leaves him and his teammates scrambling to get to games on time.
The loss of Ramirez would be a tough one for Aviation, which beat Bayside on Tuesday, 4-3, when Ramirez struck out 10 batters and allowed just two hits in a PSAL Queens ‘A’ East game that raised the Flyers’ record to 3-2.
At Aviation — which prepares students for careers in aviation maintenance and the aerospace industry — Ramirez and his teammates must fulfill a rigorous vocational and academic course load. His shop class finishes at 3:30 p.m., making it hard for Ramirez to arrive on time to league games, which begin at 4 p.m.
Ramirez missed the first inning of last Thursday’s 7-4 win over Forest Hills, and his fill-in surrendered two runs. After arriving for the second inning, Ramirez struck out 10 batters and allowed two hits and no earned run. “Thank God I had my mom to take me from school to (that) game,” said Ramirez, who was also late to another game last week. “So that was helpful, or I would have gotten to the game in the third or fourth inning.”
Ramirez and his teammates are often being pulled out of class early by Aviation coach Mike Fischer, who has become adept at shuffling his lineup to compensate for late arrivals.
Senior shortstop Nelson De La Cruz said that after he leaves shop class early, he has to come in the next morning at 7:15 a.m. to make up for the lost time.
Fischer said he filed a request with the school to have his players put in earlier classes but it didn’t get the desired result. He also once tried scheduling games at later times but ran into problems with adult recreational leagues that claim possession of the fields.
“The program at Aviation always affects baseball the most because we start early and we don’t have a school field,” said Fischer, whose team plays at Juniper Valley Park, a roughly 40-minute drive from the school. “It affects us in a lot of ways. I’ve had kids quit the team because of it.”
It’s not a new problem for Aviation. For as long as Fischer has been there — 22 years — he’s had to deal with late arriving kids. But this year’s team is made up mostly of juniors and seniors who get out of class at 4:15 p.m. Some freshman and sophomores get out earlier, said Fischer, who recalls having to forfeit only one game in over two decades of coaching.