No Ace? No problem. Calhoun improves to 6-0.

So we know about Joe Christopher, right? For the uninitiated, he's the St. John's Unviersity-bound pitcher who made MSG Varsity's top 100 baseball players, served staff ace in Calhoun's county championship season last year and pitched his way to a 5-1 record and an 1.18 ERA. Yeah, well, he's out. Not for long, according to coach Joe Correa, but since Christopher was feeling discomfort in his shoulder at the beginning of the season, "we didn't want to risk it," he said. 

The sentiment is that he'll be ready when he's ready and, because Calhoun figured 'better safe than sorry,' he hasn't pitched in league this year.

You'd figure that Calhoun would be on the ropes, right? I mean, at least a little bit? Especially in a conference that boasts both Bellmore JFK and Carey. Well, you'd figure that if you didn't read my handy dandy blog headline, The Colts are 6-0 in league, led by some excellent run production (read all about their ridiculous lefty-heavy lineup here) and some very, very good (wait for it) starting pitching.

We've got Frank Trimarco, Alex Vargas and Thomas Viverito, who prmake up a bedeviling lefty-righty-lefty rotation that has (and will) provide plenty for teams to deal with. Trimarco is 2-0 with a 0.58 ERA, allowing just five hits in two starts. Vargas is 2-0 and is pitching to a 1.50 ERA in his starts. In a relief appearance against Long Beach, he struck out three in two innings. Both wins were complete games with a combined 17 strikeouts. Viverito, meanwhile, leads the staff in wins (three).

Thursday, catcher Jake Thomas said it's simply the nature of a very mature, very talented team. And when their ace can't pitch, he finds other ways to contribute.

"A lot of people can pitch," he said. "Having Joey  [Christopher] on the bench helps in that he's teaching a lot of the pitchers what they need to use in order to pitch a stronger game."

Added Trimarco: "He's coming back soon, but people are stepping up. There's me, Alex and Thomas and we can throw complete games and give our bullpen a rest. Joey is a big loss, but we can handle it."

Apparently.