One week after copping the school’s fourth consecutive Junior Varsity CHSAA Archdiocesan title, St. Joseph by-the-Sea defeated Archbishop Molloy (Brooklyn/Queens champ) 10-3 Sunday to take the CHSAA city crown at Fordham University in the Bronx.
The win capped a 26-1 campaign for the Vikings.
Sea jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first as Anthony Molinini (two hits) singled to left to lead off the contest and Mike Marchese followed with a knock to center. Nick Zarski’s booming double to deep left drove in the pair.
The Stanners responded with a three-run second to take a 3-2 advantage, putting the Vikings in unfamiliar territory.
“We haven’t been behind on many occasions this season and it was nice to see the resiliency of this group at a time when it was needed,” explained Sea coach George Quinn, who has led the Vikings to the aforementioned four-straight titles.
After a scoreless third frame, Sea tallied four times in the fourth and would cruise to the championship from there. Paul Cilmi singled and scored on a triple from Jason Bassett. Frank Sommo (two hits) followed with an RBI single and after a hit by John Gano (two hits) both were driven in by an Anthony Depetro single to right.
The winners tacked on a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh to secure the margin of victory.
Team ace Bassett hurled five innings of two-hit ball for the winners, while Gano tossed the last two innings striking out three.
“The group was able to stay in the moment, remain focused and continue to tack on additional runs taking the air out of Molloy’s balloon,” said Quinn. “We started four freshman in the infield; it wasn’t perfect but they made enough plays including two DP’s to get us across the finish line.”
Ad Choices