Elvin Soto says Xaverian has had the same goals since he’s been part of the perennial powerhouse.
“Win the division, be No. 1 overall [in the playoffs] and hopefully take the championship as well,” the Arizona-bound junior catcher said.
The Clippers already clinched the Brooklyn/Queens division crown and on Friday will play St. Joseph by the Sea for the No. 1 seed in next week’s CHSAA Class A intersectional tournament after defeating Archbishop Stepinac, 8-3, at MCU Park in Coney Island Wednesday.
“When we had tryouts, all the early-morning batting practices, all the suicides we ran in the gym, this is what we looked for, to have the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs and be recognized as the best team,” second baseman Eric Kalman said.
Kalman was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk. His drove in J.T. Torres in the first inning to bring No. 1 Xaverian (17-1) to within 3-2 after fourth-seeded Stepinac (13-6) raced out to a 3-0 lead, thanks to Steve DePompeis’ two-run double to left center.
The Clippers also fell behind early to Bishop Ford on May 11, but they didn’t respond and the Falcons cruised to a 9-2 victory, Xaverian’s lone CHSAA loss of this season. On Wednesday, though, Xaverian scored twice in the first inning and tied the game in the second on Vincent Esposito’s two-out RBI triple to right.
“We took the Bishop Ford game as a learning experience and we stayed together and we stayed up and didn’t let them take advantage of us early,” Kalman said.
Kalman doubled to left in the fifth inning, driving in J.T. Torres, who reached on an error by third baseman Donato Signore. Stepinac also made two more errors in the sixth inning that opened the door for the Clippers to score four runs, two driven in by Soto.
“We didn’t execute, we blew a hit-and-run, we had a couple of passed balls,” Stepinac coach Pat Duffy said. “We’re usually pretty solid fundamentally and we couldn’t even handle a bunt defense in the later innings, so that’s disappointing.”
Frank Catalano started for Xaverian, allowing two earned runs on six hits, striking out one with one walk in five innings. Frank Scudiero came out of the bullpen to start the sixth inning and only allowed an infield single in the final two innings.
“He was just lights out. I love that guy out of the bullpen,” Soto said of Scudiero. “That’s our closer. He and Kieran Monaghan are just phenomenal out of the bullpen.”
While Stepinac will head to Ravens Field to take on St. Raymond to determine the third and fourth seeds in the Class A intersectional tournament, Xaverian will face St. Joe’s by the Sea Friday afternoon at Shore Road attempting to again be the tournament’s top overall seed.
“We’re still not where we want to be,” Xaverian coach Lou Piccola said. “At this time of the year I think we have an idea of what we need to do it and it all comes down to pitching.”