St. Joseph by-the-Sea’s Frank Sconzo reacts after an out at the plate. (Denis Gostev)
Mike Murphy came into this season as Monsignor Farrell’s ace. He wasn’t that when he took the mound with the Lions facing elimination.
“Honestly,” coach Bob Mulligan said, “we didn’t know what we were gonna get out of him.”
Murphy struggled late in the year after a hot start. Jason Failla and Joe Liotta supplanted him at the top of the rotation.
But he felt great in a one-inning relief appearance Sunday against Bishop Ford and pitched a gem Monday. Murphy tossed a complete-game five-hitter with three strikeouts to lead No. 15 Farrell to a 5-0 win over No. 5 St. Joseph by the Sea in Game 2 of a CHSAA Class AA third-round, best-of-three series at St. John’s University in Queens. Sea won Game 1, 8-2, earlier Monday.
“We had our backs against the wall,” shortstop Joe Venturino said. “We had no choice.”
Murphy got into trouble in the second inning when Sea second baseman Matt Bowers laced a single up the middle with Frank Sconzo on second. Farrell center fielder Mike Viegas gunned Sconzo down at the plate to end the inning. Murphy allowed just two hits and one runner to second base the rest of the way.
“Mike has permission to airmail the cutoff man like that,” Mulligan said. “He’s usually around the plate on those throws.”
Farrell (9-9) broke through against Sea starter Liam Vogt in the fifth inning with an RBI single by Venturino and Phil Ciprello’s sacrifice fly, which made it 2-0. Vogt came up lame on a bunt attempt by Rob DeAngelis earlier in the inning, but stayed in the game. Venturino ended up going 3-for-4 with two RBIs after making three costly errors in the field in Game 1.
“I’m a senior,” he said. “I gotta pick up my team. They’re expecting me to make the plays. I knew it would come around.”
The Lions chased Vogt in the sixth, tacking on three more runs off him and reliever James Gurrieri. Murphy closed out the contest with ease in the seventh. The two teams meet again 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sea in Game 3. The Farrell players were amped to meet their Staten Island rivals in the postseason.
“We wanted Sea from the beginning,” Murphy said. “Most of them are all of our friends. It’s fun to play them.”
Vikings coach Gordon Rugg feels like the league should separate division foes in this round. The two teams played three times in the regular season with Sea taking two.
“We beat each other up all year,” Rugg said. “They’re one of the best teams in the city, too.”
Especially with Murphy pitching like that. He said the one-inning appearance Sunday at Ford gave him confidence. Mulligan said he wasn’t getting ahead of hitters and Murphy added that he just felt like he was throwing harder Monday than in previous outings. His slider and changeup were also working nicely.
“I don’t know how he did it in this heart,” Venturino said. “I’m dying.”
Added Mulligan: “Mike really stepped up for us.”
He kept Farrell alive. Now the Lions are one win away from making the eight-team championship round Wednesday. They’ll face Chris Falcone of Sea (13-4), the team’s No. 2 starter, on Tuesday. Mulligan isn’t sure who he’ll throw with Liotta and Failla both having gone in the last two days.
Still, Farrell has put itself in position to advance and that’s all that mattered on Memorial Day.
“If we do that,” Mulligan said of moving on, “then we’ll really have something to be proud of.”
St. Joseph by the Sea 8, Monsignor Farrell 2 (Game 1): Nick Gonchar went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and a run scored and was a home run short of the cycle for Sea. Joe Santigate walked four times and scored three runs and Vogt had an RBI single. Brian Russell gave up two runs on six hits with six strikeouts for the Vikings.
Liotta gave up six runs in 4-1/3 innings for Farrell before being relieved by Kevin Garzone and Anthony Van Sise. Venturino and Brett Bracco each had RBI singles.