The Monroe Tournament semifinals will feature Tottenville, Xaverian, Grand Street Campus and John Adams — which team doesn’t fit?
That was the question Adams coach Glenn Beyer asked hours after his teams’ dramatic 6-5, eight-inning victory over top-seeded Norman Thomas at Lehman HS in The Bronx. The eighth-seeded Spartans were down to their final out in the seventh when Jose Caceres Jr. walked, Richie Lebron singled and Anderson Deleon hit a routine groundball to second, but it was thrown away allowing Caceres to score.
“It was like the Texas Rangers – we were one strike away from going home,” Beyer said. “The game was over, we were walking off the field.”
Adams will face No. 2 Tottenville in the semifinals Thursday at 10 a.m. at James Monroe.
Andy Paulino followed with an RBI single, but Norman Thomas pulled even in the bottom of the frame. Adams again answered as Barahoma led off the eighth with a double, scored on another Tigers error and worked a scoreless eighth for the save as the Spartans, who were seeded eighth after going 2-1 in pool play, have reached the final four of the prestigious showcase.
“Results are important, but ultimately we’re looking for experience and action,” Beyer said. “What do we get out of this? Two more quality games. It’s nice to win, but all we talk about before the tournament is representing John Adams well and we have represented.”
Tottenville 5, Manhattan Center 0: Tommy Scarangello threw five scoreless innings, Vin Aiello worked the sixth and Jonathan Dilluvio the seventh, John Giakas had a two-run double and Billy Riches drove in a run for Tottenville, the second seed which is 4-0 in the tournament and will meet No. 8 John Adams in the semifinals Thursday at 10 a.m. at Monroe. Manhattan Center finishes 2-2.
GEORGE WASHINGTON TOURNAMENT
George Washington 14, Gregorio Luperon 3: Randy Rodriguez and Wesley Rodriguez each had two hits and two RBIs, Nelson Rodriguez drove in two runs, Alexis Torres homered and added two RBIs and Franklin Acosta picked up the win on the mound for George Washington, which is 4-1 in the tournament and meets Walton in the semifinals Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Cardozo meets John F. Kennedy in the other semifinal Thursday at 10 a.m.
Walton 4, Environmental Studies 2: Danny Mota pitched six innings for the win, Kenny Berihuete picked up the save with a scoreless seventh and Alex Jimenez drove in the game-winning run in the fifth for Walton, which is 3-2 in the tournament and meets George Washington in the semifinals Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Environmental Studies finishes up 1-4.
BROOKLYN JOE MASCALI TOURNAMENT
Telecommunications 7, New Dorp 6 (8 innings): Rio Santos drove in the game-winning run, Juan Rodriguez threw three of scoreless relief and Alex Fernandez added an RBI for Telecom, which improved to 3-0 in the tournament. A.J. Bermudez hit a three-run home run for New Dorp, which is 2-1. The two teams meet again Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at New Dorp in the semifinals.
James Madison 6, Port Richmond 0: Matt Zalon struck out seven and allowed five hits in six innings for the win, Jordan Wilson had two hits and Alyasa Seales drove in two runs for Madison, which improved to 2-1 in the tournament and takes on McKee/Staten Island Tech in the semifinals Thursday at 10 a.m. at New Dorp. Port Richmond went 0-3.
McKee/Staten Island Tech 4, Lincoln 3 (8 innings): Kristian Cichon doubled, moved over to third on Mike Beckwith’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Mike Ahr’s single in the eighth inning, Mike Carola earned the win with one scoreless inning and Pasquale Montemarano struck out six and scattered four hits over seven innings of work for MSIT, which is 2-1 in the tournament and meets Madison in the semifinals Thursday at 10 a.m. at New Dorp. Lincoln finishes 0-3.
Midwood 6, New Utrecht 3 (8 innings): Milo Sklar had a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning, Jeff Daniels tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the win and Danny Kaye added two RBIs for Midwood, which finished 1-2 in the tournament. New Utrecht went 0-3.
OTHER SCORES
Cardozo 11, John F. Kennedy 0