George Washington’s Henry Rodriguez has done whatever is asked of him at second base and near the bottom of the order. (Christina Santucci)
PSAL baseball beat writer Zach Braziller breaks down the top-seeded George Washington Trojans in advance of Saturday’s Class A championship game at MCU Park in Coney Island.
George Washington
Nickname: Trojans
Head coach: Nick Carbone (firstyear)
Record: 21-0, Manhattan A East
Batting order: SS Randy Rodriguez, 3B Jorge Toribio, C Nelson Rodriguez, RF Erick Roman, DH Osvaldo Pichardo, LF Alexis Torres, 1B Justin Ferrer, 2B Henry Rodriguez, CF Fernelys Sanchez.
Key reserves/pitchers: P Yael Regalado, P Renaldo Rodriguez, P Jariel Cedeno, P Kevin Torres, 2B Wilton Guzman
Team notes: Looking for its third city title and first since 2008. .. Won division title for 27th time in 28 years and went undefeated. … Alma mater of former Major League Baseball star Manny Ramirez. … Ranked 22nd in the country by MaxPreps.com. …. Swept No. 4 Lehman, 5-4 and 5-1, in the PSAL Class A semifinals and rallied past No. 8 William Bryant, 5-3, in the quarterfinals and No. 17 Norman Thomas, 9-8, in the second round.
SCOUTING REPORT
(from league coach under condition of anonymity)
“They have no weakness, they have the toughest lineup you’re gonna face in the city one through nine. They have Fernelys [Sanchez] batting ninth – he has to be one of the best nine hitters in the country. … This year they have all-around hitting. You can’t get Nelson [Rodriguez] out. … They’re all contact hitters, they’re athletic, they’re very fast – pick your poison. They’re able to come back, they’re fighters. They can win 1-0 or bang away with the best. … [Yael] Regalado, he’s tough, he’s got a live arm. If [Jariel] Cedeno doesn’t have his good breaking stuff, you can get to him, but he’s the kind of kid you have to be very patient with, go the other way. … They are very sound defensively, they got good arms in every position and they have two kids that might get drafted in Sanchez and Rodriguez. … To beat them, you have to keep the games tight and hopefully they break under pressure. But they’ve been tested, they’ve come back. This is one of their better teams and they’re playing for [suspended coach Steve] Mandl. They won’t quit.”
PLAYER CAPSULES
Randy Rodriguez
Year: Junior
Position: Shortstop
Notes: First-year starter. … Spent two years behind Mike Antonio, now in the Kansas City Royals organization, and led Trojans in batting during regular season. … Slick-fielding shortstop is the lineup’s sparkplug. … Had go-ahead two-run double in 5-3 quarterfinal win over Bryant.
Carbone’s take: “He’s the table-setter, he’s been great all year. He’s been a hit machine.”
Jorge Toribio
Year: Senior
Position: Third baseman
Notes: Two-year starter emerged as one of the leaders on team. … Hit .348 during regular season with 13 runs scored and 11 RBIs. … Drove in go-ahead run in Trojans’ clinching PSAL Class A semifinal victory over Lehman.
Carbone’s take: “We look to him for a lot of leadership, he hit very well this year and when called upon, he can come in as a closer.”
Nelson Rodriguez
Year: Junior
Position: Catcher
Notes: Third-year starter. … Built like an ox at 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds. … Considered one of the top junior catchers in the country and has already been invited to the Under-Armour All-American game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. . … Batted .500 with three homers, 21 RBIs and 20 runs scored this year.
Carbone’s take: “He’s our go-to guy offensively and defensively. He leads the team in home runs and RBIs, he’s second in average and he always seems to come up big. He’ll find a way to make a play offensively or defensively on Saturday.”
Erick Roman
Year: Junior
Position: Right fielder
Notes: Three-year starter like Nelson Rodriguez. … Rare cleanup hitter that mixes power and speed. … Scored 21 runs this year.
Carbone’s take: “He’s a guy with a lot of experience and we expect to come up big. He doesn’t look like a prototypical cleanup hitter but he has a lot of pop in his bat.”
Osvaldo Pichardo
Year: Senior
Position: Designated hitter
Notes: First-year starter got better as the year went on and hit .467. … One of hardest workers on team, often spends hours after practice and games working on hitting. … Played two years on the junior varsity and was a seldom-used reserve last spring.
Carbone’s take: “We didn’t know how much playing time there would be with Nelson eating up most of the innings behind the plate, but he came out swinging. He works tremendously hard on fundamentals. It’s paid off for him.”
Alexis Torres
Year: Junior
Position: Left fielder
Notes: All Hallows transfer has found his niche after a slow start. … Has driven in 19 runs and scored 20 times to go along with three home runs. … Has been used on the mound as well and closed out Lehman in Game 1 of the PSAL Class A semifinal series.
Carbone’s take: “I don’t think he got off to the start he wanted, I don’t know if it was nerves or a new team, but he settled in. He’s got a lot of pop in his bat, he can hit the ball a long way. He’s a guy that needs to drive in runs for us.”
Justin Ferrer
Year: Senior
Position: First baseman
Notes: Broke into starting lineup this spring. … Solid defender with pop offensively. … Adds depth to deep lineup.
Carbone’s take: “He’s really our emotional leader. He gets guys going; he likes to talk.”
Henry Rodriguez
Year: Junior
Position: Second baseman
Notes: Smooth defender that is pesky at the plate. … Spent last spring on the junior varsity and began the season on the bench before taking over at second a quarter through the year.
Carbone’s take: “He’s a guy that as he got innings he would just make big plays defensively and started to hit the ball. He has a nice approach at the plate. He knows what his role is. If we need him to get a guy over, he’ll get him over, we need a walk he’ll be patient. He’s smart.”
Fernelys Sanchez
Year: Junior
Position: Center fielder
Notes: Athletically gifted outfielder was at center of coach Steve Mandl’s suspension as Lehman coach accused Mandl of recruiting away Sanchez. … Had a brilliant series against Lehman, driving in game-winning runs in Game 1 and making possible game-saving catch in Game 2. … Has been invited to the Under-Armour All-American game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Carbone’s take: “He’s probably the best ninth hitter around, he could hit third or fourth on a lot of other teams. He’s kind of our second leadoff guy. He has tremendous speed and a lot of power. He came up big against Lehman last weekend. I knew it was emotional, there was a lot of pressure on him even though he didn’t show it. We’re looking for him to do more of the same this weekend.”
PITCHING
Notes: Carbone was noncommittal who would get the ball – hard-throwing right-hander Yael Regalado, consistent senior Kevin Torres or breaking ball specialist Jariel Cedeno. … Cedeno won the clincher over Lehman – his 12th win against no defeats versus PSAL competition – while Regalado (4-0, 0.44 ERA during regular season) struggled with his command in Game 1. … Freshman southpaw Reynaldo Hernandez could be an X-Factor with his high-80s fastball.
Carbone’s Take: “It’s one of those games if you have to throw guys an inning or two each or go batter by batter, what’s what we’ll do. … We got a little bit of everything, Yael is a hard-throwing guy with good movement on his pitches, Jariel is gonna come and mix it up nicely, hit his spots and throw that curveball. Rey’s a big lefty. Kevin Torres is a little bit of all those guys.”
COACH
Carbone was put into a difficult situation when Mandl was suspended by the PSAL for one year on Feb. 15 for alleged illegal recruiting. The assistant coach was in charge of arguably the city’s most recognizable baseball program. The former Manhattan College standout took over and did a phenomenal job, leading the Trojans to an undefeated league season, their first Clarkston South Tournament title and the PSAL Class A finals despite facing several deficits along the way.
Carbone is of course blessed with talent – GW is seemingly always stocked – but he not only had to run the program, he had to do so with Mandl’s many court proceedings hanging over the team. The players had no idea when – or if – Mandl, who could be back Saturday depending on his case, would return yet Carbone kept them focused and determined.
“We know it’s his team; if he can come back Saturday that would be simply amazing,” Carbone said. “If he’s not back, we’re gonna continue to do what we do.”