Ron Patnosh had his mind made up. The longtime St. Raymond’s coach wanted ace Ricky Eusebio on the mound Monday against Regis and then worry about the possible division title showdown with Xavier on Tuesday.
Ravens assistant Marc DeLuca disagreed. Knowing Regis was without its ace, Chris Bates, and that Eusebio has won four games against Xavier over the last two years, he thought the senior right-hander was better suited to take on the Knights. Along with assistant John Santoianni, the St. Ray’s coaching staff had a healthy debate.
“They talked me into it,” Patnosh said. “We argued back and forth for about 10 minutes and as it turned out it was the right call.”
That’s because James Santiago pitched a gem in a 4-2 victory against Regis at Ravens Field. That result, combined with All Hallows’ extra-inning win against Xavier at Van Cortlandt Park later that afternoon, clinched the CHSAA Bronx/Manhattan division title for St. Raymond’s, its first since 1995.
Santiago, the junior left-hander, allowed just two hits and struck out seven for the complete-game win. He had one bad inning, the fourth, when a two-out walk to No. 9 hitter Kevin Ames opened the door. Regis (10-7) took a 2-1 lead on Rob Mohen’s double to left.
Rafael Dilones led off the fifth with a single up the middle and that was the last hit Santiago gave up.
“The wildness hurt him when he let up the two runs, but then he settled down and he was unhittable,” Patnosh said. “He started throwing strikes, getting the ball over the plate and he was tough out there. That’s a big win for him.”
Santiago said his fourth-inning struggles served as motivation the rest of the way.
“That one inning just made me want to go out on the mound and do better, pitch harder and do what I have to do for my team,” he said.
Santiago did just that. After his third, and final, walk of the game to pinch-hitter Jerry DelGiacco, Santiago, who consistently hit the outside corner with his fastball, retired the final 10 batters he faced.
“Beautiful job, he threw his strikes,” St. Ray’s catcher Joe Tellez said. “He only had one bad inning, but other than that he threw strikes, hit all his spots and he was confident.”
Luis Paniagua, who scored the Ravens first run on a second-inning wild pitch, reached on an infield single, sparking a two-out rally in the sixth inning. Chris Munoz, running for Santiago, hustled home and scored from second, tying the game at 2.
“We have a lot of fast runners and we all know the field pretty well, so we know where to go on every bounce,” Tellez said.
Manny Rivera followed with a huge RBI double to center and reached third on a wild pitch. The rightfielder scored the insurance run on Rich Sanchez’s single up the middle to put St. Ray’s (13-4) in front, 4-2.
“Last time against Regis we were flat and that’s what put us down, so we wanted to show them that we wanted it,” Rivera said. “I wanted to come up, swing at the first pitch down the middle because that’s what he was throwing and I was able to capitalize on it.”
Mohen, who got the start because Bates was at the invite-only National Pre-Draft Showcase in Des Moines, Iowa, allowed three earned runs on nine hits, striking out three with three walks in 6-2/3 innings.
“He pitched well, Rob did what we basically wanted him to do,” Regis coach Mike Skrapits said. “They got a couple of hits at the end, but he did a good job.”
While St. Ray’s has wrapped up the division title, Xavier and Regis are still battling for second and third. The Raiders will finish second if they beat Cardinal Hayes and the Ravens beat Xavier on Tuesday. But Regis will need a better offensive effort against the Cardinals than they showed versus St. Ray’s.
“[Santiago] threw a lot of strikes, went right after us,” Skrapits said. “He’s a good pitcher, but I think we should have had more than two hits. I don’t know if something is missing in our approach, but we’re going to try and get it fixed before next week.”