Monroe’s Frailyn Paez had two RBis on Wednesday. (Denis Gostev)
There are certain pitchers that like to work backwards, throw fastballs ahead in the count and off-speed stuff when they’re behind. Mike Turo does the same thing in tournaments – with his best pitchers going last.
“I go backwards,” he said.
His current ensemble of arms makes that game plan possible. He hasn’t had to use either of his top starters – senior Jordan Frair or sophomore Ricardo Parra – in the first four days of the Monroe Tournament. While fellow powers Tottenville and Lehman used aces in the quarterfinals on Wednesday and Grand Street Campus went to its best arms to reach the semifinals, Turo had the luxury of going to a hungry and talented sophomore against Manhattan Center.
The gamble worked just as Turo hoped – Jeffrey Castillo delivered 6-1/3 solid innings and the top-seeded Eagles’ lineup continued to pound opposing pitching in a 10-1 victory over Manhattan Center, the eighth seed in the tournament. Monroe will host fourth-seeded Grand Street in the semifinals Thursday at 10 a.m.
“You have the young pitchers go and they do well and you can hit the ball, you can win a tournament like this,” he said.
Since a 2-1 loss to South Bronx on Apr. 6, Monroe has won three league contests by an aggregate 37-1 and all four of its games in the prestigious tournament by a comfortable margin. In two of the victories, over Richmond Hill and Manhattan Center, the Eagles, ranked third in the PSAL by The Post, have put up a total of 23 runs.
“The whole team is hitting, which is key to getting runs in,” said senior third baseman Kelvin Toribio, who had three RBIs, including a two-run double. Frailyn Paez added three hits and two RBIs and Luiz Tavarez and Vladimir Gomez each scored three runs. “It comes from confidence. We’re just looking for contact right now; nobody’s looking for home runs.”
The lineup managed just nine total runs in wins over Cardozo and William Bryant, but the pitching has yet to give up more than three runs.
And that’s without Turo going to the hard-throwing pair of Parra or Frair. Senior Jesus Brito, junior Carlos Cortijo, Castillo and freshman Innoel Nunez have produced dazzling starts.
“That helps us a lot,” Torbiio said. “We got these good teams coming up. We have to have our aces ready to go.”
Castillo kept down Manhattan Center’s young but talented batting order by spotting his fastball to each side of the plate and mixing in a still-developing changeup. Castillo, with just 4-2/3 innings of work in league play, had plenty riding on the start: a chance to show Turo and pitching coach Jose Bautista he deserves more starts.
“I think I impressed them,” he said.
Not only has Monroe’s pitching depth enabled Turo to hold off his co-aces for the seminal moments of the tournament, it offers added motivation to each hurler. One bad inning can send them to the bottom of a long list, which adds to the competition, though it has remained friendly.
“We’re a team, we want to make it to the championship,” Castillo said. “When one pitcher throws, the other pitchers motivate him.”