Determined for Thursday’s contest not to be his last in an Archbishop Molloy uniform, Jonathan Ramon wanted to set the tone for his teammates.
The Evansville-bound slugger did just that with one mighty swing. It was a 400-foot tone-setter.
His two-run, first-inning blast over the centerfield wall at Jack Kaiser Stadium at St. John’s got No. 7 Molloy headed in the right direction in its 9-4 win over third-seeded Moore Catholic in a CHSAA Class AA championship round elimination bracket matchup.
“When he does something good, it picks [the team] up,” Molloy coach Jack Curran said.
The Stanners (14-8) will look to keep their season alive 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon back at SJU against No. 1 Xaverian, which fell to fourth-seeded Fordham, 9-4, on Thursday.
Ramon added a single and a run-scoring double as the Stanners pounded out 11 hits against Moore pitchers John Baggs, Anthony LoBello and Chris Wolf. Leadoff man Chris Piteo had three hits, scored three runs and drove in two runs with a double, Mike Lipovac doubled twice and had three RBIs and Donovan Armas also had two hits and scored two runs.
It was the latest big offensive output for Molloy, which scored five runs in a loss against St. Raymond ace Anthony Colon on Wednesday and notched nine runs against Holy Cross the day before. A major reason for the production, Curran said, is Molloy is playing every day.
“They’re seeing more pitches and they’re getting confident at the plate,” he said. “That’s a big difference.”
It was more than enough cushion for ace Rosario DiLorenzo, who went the distance. Aside from a shaky third inning, when he was touched up for four unearned runs, the senior right-hander kept Moore (13-5), the Staten Island champion, at bay. He struck out 10, walked only one and allowed seven hits just three days after he tossed five shutout innings in a win over Holy Cross.
“It’s a do-or-die situation and my adrenaline took over,” he said. “You never want your high school [career] to be over. I really wanted to pitch today, not that I don’t trust other guys, but you always want to pitch in big games. … We live to fight another day, I guess.”
Even with the win, Molloy still faces long odds. It has to win its next three games, starting with Xaverian, to reach the finals, and five straight to win it all. It has been done before, a team dropping the opener of the double-elimination tournament and winning the title — by Molloy, in fact.
“We have the mindset we can still win this championship,” Ramon said. “We can compete with all the teams left in this tournament.”