Monroe 7 Tottenville 5
Near the end of April, with his team undefeated in league play and considered to be one of the best in the PSAL, Monroe head coach Mike Turo thought about canceling the rest of the Eagles’ season.
“We couldn’t do anything,” Turo said after Monroe (35-6) beat Tottenville (26-7) yesterday, 7-5, to capture the PSAL A championship at Yankee Stadium. “We went about 21 days before we got back to playing regularly.”
The problem? You name it. Most troubling was the fact that some members of the team were being threatened by local gang members stemming from a food fight in the school’s cafeteria. Turo went out and talked to the gangs himself to resolve the situation.
That accomplished, Turo then had to deal with rampant academic ineligibility, including that of ace Noel Rosado – a loss that forced the coach to use many pitchers he hadn’t planned on using.
“It didn’t look good,” Turo said. “I didn’t sleep for a few nights.”
And while Monroe hit its stride in the playoffs, yesterday didn’t look too promising, either. Starter Randy Guzman struggled, giving up four runs to Tottenville in the bottom of the first and then walking the first two batters in the second. That’s when Pablo Trinidad saved the day. He retired the next three and allowed just two hits until the seventh.
“I was giving coach the eye,” said Trinidad, who had pitched three times in the playoffs, but just once during the regular season. “I wanted the ball.”
Monroe scored twice in the fifth to make the score 4-3, with Trinidad knocking in his second run with a sacrifice fly. The Eagles finally jumped on top in the sixth, again courtesy of Trinidad. They batted around, with the biggest hit coming from Trinidad on a two-out, two-RBI single to center, giving Monroe a 6-4 lead.
“Everybody else had put their heads down,” said Trinidad, who went 3-for-3 with four RBIs, striking out nine on the mound. “But I knew I could do it. We had won against better pitchers than they were pitching against us.”
Monroe tacked on another run before Tottenville rallied in the last of the seventh. Trinidad got two outs on consecutive comebackers before the pressure of pitching at the Stadium took its toll and he hit Mark Alfieri. Chris Consolmagno pinch-ran and scored when Troy Esposito belted a double to right. Trinidad walked the next two to load the bases before striking out Demi Vieira.
“This whole year was wild,” Turo said. “If you had told me all of this would happen and we’d win, I would have laughed. It was too much adversity.”
Forest Hills 5, Transit Tech 2
Matt Rigotti jogged around the field at Yankee Stadium and grabbed some dirt to bring home as a souvenir. He’ll have another thing to remember his day at the Stadium by: a pitching gem.
The senior struck out 14 and surrendered only two hits, as the Rangers (28-5) won the PSAL B crown. The Express finished at 28-4.
“I was pretty good today,” Rigotti said. “I’ll definitely tell my kids about it.”