Fordham Prep’s Vincent Capone fields the ball and looks to throw. (An Rong Xu)
Mick Regan raced down the third-base line as the relay throw came in from left fielder Adam De La Cruz. If he scores, Fordham Prep caps off a seventh inning rally to beat St. Raymond. If he’s thrown out, both teams get to play extra innings in a brisk, cold sea breeze.
He slides just as the tag is applied. He’s out; at least that’s what Regan thought during the split second between the play and the umpire’s call.
“I felt like I was out, I thought the left fielder got me,” he said with an amazed look on his face. “I guess he didn’t.”
Despite protest from St. Ray’s catcher Leo Bravo, Regan was ruled safe. Nearly all of his Fordham Prep teammates, who were already hovering right around home plate, mobbed him in a scene straight out of Game 7 of the World Series and rightfully so.
Down a run going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Rams were able to come from behind, on the strength of Vinny Capone’s game-winning sacrifice fly, and defeat St. Ray’s 4-3 in CHSAA Class AA baseball Sunday night at Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Staten Island.
“It was a bang-bang play, it was all up to the umpire on that one,” Fordham Prep coach Pat Deane said. “It was a great throw and a great relay, but I thought he got under the tag and I guess the umpire did, too.”
Even though the Rams struggled mightily on offense against St. Ray’s hurler Anthony Colon throughout the game, the seventh inning proved different, even with the bottom of the lineup coming to the plate. Robbie Lynch reached on an error to lead off the frame and following a sac bunt by Kevin Flynn and a laced single to right by Regan, Rams star Andrew Velazquez came to the plate. A lengthy at-bat ended in him reaching first base on a catcher’s interference call, but by then, Colon had lost control of the strike zone. He walked Ryan Mahoney with the bases loaded to tie the game and then with Capone’s sac fly, he went from dominant to discouraged in a matter of minutes.
“Colon pitched really well. He hit his spots, but we just got to him in the seventh,” Capone said. “They are a great team, but we just wanted it that much more at the end.”
“We just stayed focused in the bottom of the seventh and we all have confidence in ourselves,” Regan added. “We never get down on ourselves, we support each other.”
Lost in the late-game heroics was the pitcher’s duel the first six innings proved to be. Colon did not give up a hit through four innings and through five, he had only given up one run on one hit. His final line of seven innings, three hits, and four runs was solid, but in the crucial last few innings, it was Sean McNamara winning the battle of the aces.
He went the distance, giving up just three runs on seven hits and striking out three and ultimately getting the victory despite giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning.
“I felt like I was mixing inside and outside pretty well with my fastball and I was able to keep their hitters off balance,” McNamara said of his performance. “When I gave up that run in the seventh, I thought ‘oh no,’ but I knew my team had my back.”
With this victory, the Rams (8-0) have now lay claim to an eight-game winning streak and the distinction of snapping the seven-game win streak of St. Raymond (7-3). Highly contested matchups with dramatic finishes like these can make or break a season, and Deane sees this win as maybe their biggest of the year.
“These guys are so resilient and I’m so proud of their effort,” he said. “This is a signature win for us, definitely. We came back against a great team, and we realized that we can compete with some of the best teams in the city.”