Tottenville’s Brendan Farr slides in safely for a run. (Damion Reid)
Tottenville’s Gill Mendoza scores. (Damion Reid)
If misery loves company, than Brendan Farr, Thomas Kain, George Kantzian, and Will DiFede were perfect for one another.
They spent much of last year on the bench together commiserating. The four talked about their future often. They weren’t playing much and Tottenville was struggling offensively, the reason for the Pirates’ quarterfinal exit from the playoffs.
“Every day we said next year is our year,” Kain recalled.
Next year is now. And thanks to the emergence of those four, in addition to returning starters such as catcher Kevin Krause, shortstop Tim Gonzalez, and center fielder Zach Grantie, it’s also looking like Tottenville’s year.
The Pirates laid waste to No. 2 George Washington, sweeping the Trojans in the best-of-three PSAL Class A semifinal series, with a shockingly easy 17-5 victory at the College of Staten Island. Just a day earlier, Tottenville, winners of 15 straight, knocked around GW ace Nestor Bautista in a 6-2 win.
The Staten Island dynamo will return to MCU Park in Coney Island – the scene of its last city title in 2007 when the place went by another name – next Friday for the PSAL Class A title game against either No. 4 James Madison or No. 8 Lehman. The Pirates have won 10 championships, four by current coach Tom Tierney Jr.
“This is the year,” said Kain, a junior first baseman. “We got hot at the right time.”
The offensive onslaught was stunning coming against a powerhouse program known for its dynamic lineup. The Pirates, however, were the unstoppable force this weekend. Saturday, they had 14 hits, four for extra bases, and drew 11 walks. George Washington also committed six errors, five in Tottenville’s nine-run second inning. The big frame made Pirates ace John Silva’s short three-inning outing on three days rest meaningless.
Farr, who entered the day in a 1-for-11 playoff slump, enjoyed a career in one day, going 5-for-5 with four runs scored, three RBIs, and two stolen bases. Granite, the second-place hitter, scored three runs, drove in two, and walked three times. Together, the two reached base in all 10 plate appearances.
Krause added two hits and four RBIs, Kantzian, arguably the best No. 8 hitter in the city, had two hits and scored twice, and DiFede drove in three runs.
“Easily the best lineup in the city,” Farr said. “We haven’t played a lineup that is better than ours.”
George Washington (19-2) wouldn’t disagree. Tottenville (22-1) bludgeoned the Washington Heights powerhouse with doubles in the gap, patiently scored three runs off of bases on balls, and hit singles the other way. After the Trojans scored one in the first, the Pirates responded with three in the bottom half, Farr sparking the rally with an opposite-field triple off GW starter Kevin Torres. The sophomore would walk in two runs in the inning and failed to register an out in the second.
“It’s a lineup that can grind on you,” Tottenville coach Tom Tierney Jr. “We have long at-bats. You’re gonna put men on base, make errors, we’re gonna hit the ball, too. It’s a recipe for runs.”
The tone for this year was set early, as Tottenville put up 20 runs in a run-rule victory over Petrides, the first of 10 double-digit performances during the regular season. In April, the Pirates won the prestigious Clarkstown South Tournament.
Those performances quickly washed away the disappointment of last year, when runs were hard to come by. Then came a two-game sweep of McKee/Staten Island the final week of the regular season that kept the Staten Island A crown in Huguenot for the 26th straight year. The Pirates weren’t worried about getting guys in; they expected to, beating MSIT aces Ryan Mannello and Matt Abramowitz twice in three days.
“It’s almost like it’s contagious,” Tierney said. “It lets guys relax. … This [offense] is right up there with the others we’ve had. And they’re doing it with wood bats.”
As a result, Tottenville is the odds-on favorite to win the ‘A’ crown next Friday. Granite, the Seton Hall-bound center fielder who picked up the win in Game 1, was at the game in 2007, when the underdog Pirates upset powerhouse James Monroe. His brother, Matt, was a senior on that team. Granite would like to relive that night – as a player, not a spectator.
“Every since he won it, I said I got to win one,” he said. “It’s the greatest feeling to win it all as a senior. I want it bad.”