I didn’t have the luxury of a time machine, but I went back to the future this week. Each day, I rose early. To those who know me, that’s a surprise. I’m not a morning person. Getting up before noon is a miracle. Yet I was fine – once I dragged myself out of bed and grabbed a large coffee – for the early-start times because this was such a fun week covering the 42nd annual Monroe Tournament.
My only request for Monroe coach Mike Turo and head umpire Jimmy O’Gorman, the tournament organizers, is starting these doubleheaders at 11 or maybe 12. But I digress.
There were great games featuring elite teams from different boroughs, there were big-time performances, an abundance of major-league scouts and Cinderella runs. The timing, unlike last year, was perfect: halfway through the regular season. I learned a lot. Join me below as I share those observations:
— I felt this would be the case last year and I believed it in early April, but now I can say it with complete conviction: Grand Street Campus is the best team in New York City. The Wolves lineup is deep, they have lockdown pitching, sturdy defense and the top prospect in the five boroughs in center fielder Williams Jerez.
What makes the lineup unique is its combination of power and speed with the Monroe Tournament MVP Basael McDonald and Jerez hitting back-to-back – the two have 37 stolen bases in seven league games – in front of run-producers Ernesto Lopez and Jose Cuas. Jerez is an absolute stud, a 6-foot-4 five-tool prospect one scout told me could go as high as the top two rounds. After Grand Street’s first Monroe Tournament title, Jerez took batting practice for a few scouts and put on an absolute show, blasting 400-foot booms over the wall in right.
Now with the emergence of a deep starting rotation – ace Willy Santana, the pitcher of the tournament, followed by Geraldo Gonzalez, Luis Hiraldo and Alex Cuas – it doesn’t seem Grand Street has a weakness. Tottenville, Monroe and Bryant would agree.
— Of the four, the biggest surprise has to be Alex Cuas, the 6-foot-1 freshman who became a star overnight. Showing poise and precision beyond his years, the underclassman closed out Monroe in the semifinals and went the distance against Bryant in the title game. All this from a kid that had logged just 3-1/3 innings in seven league games; something tells me we haven’t seen the last of him. Those Cuas brothers have some bloodlines.
— In Queens, Bryant is the best in the borough. Yes, that’s a guarantee; write it down. Sure, the Owls still have to take down John Adams and star shortstop Jeffrey Valera in Queens A West. But Bryant topped Cardozo, the Queens A East leaders, in the tournament, and upset South Bronx and Lehman. Though the Astoria school ran out of gas in the finale yesterday, I can see them doing damage in late May.
The 3-4-5 of Adonis Lao and twins Chris and Nick Alvarez is lethal while for the first time coach Rocco Rotondi has a plethora of big arms. Bryant, of course, has been here before, off to a nice start only to crawl to the finish line. That won’t happen this spring. They win Queens A West and reach the city quarterfinals.
— I can’t figure out DeWitt Clinton. The Governors are 6-1 in Bronx A East – the best division in the PSAL – have a win over Lehman, yet failed to win a single game in the tournament and has lost to Evander Childs in league play. The Governors lineup is improved, Joaquin DeJesus and Juan Allende Amparo are experienced and tough atop the rotation and Melvin Mercedes may be the best shortstop in the city. The Bronx program is still an enigma. Clinton better get it together in a hurry with matchups against struggling John F. Kennedy and impressive South Bronx right after the break.
— Tottenville looked human for the first time this year, losing two straight after 18 consecutive wins to start the season. Should the folks in Huguenot be worried? I wouldn’t be. The Pirates beat themselves in the loss to Grand Street Campus and were a big hit from knocking off Lehman in the quarterfinals when Michael Sullivan popped out with the bases loaded. It is clear the Tots lineup isn’t quite as deep as it was last year and they don’t have the shutdown ace, but few do. Coach Tom Tierney’s team will be there in the end.
— While we’re on the topic of city powers, here’s my take on Monroe: The Eagles can be confounding one day, dominating the next. Turo has a pair of aces in Jordan Frair and Ricardo Parra and a scary lineup that can’t be pitched to. I wouldn’t want to see them in the postseason.