NYPost.com PSAL baseball beat writer Zach Braziller breaks down Friday’s Class B championship game between No. 1 South Bronx and No. 3 Queens Vocational Tech at MCU Park in Coney Island at 4 p.m. To follow our interactive live blog, click here.
No. 1 South Bronx Phoenix
Head coach: Frank Rojas
Record: 20-0, Bronx B North
Player to watch: Kevin Victoriano
How they got there: Defeated No. 5 Washington Irving, 9-8, in eight innings in the semifinals; defeated No. 8 Lab Museum, 9-2, in the quarterfinals; defeated No. 17 Smith, 10-1, in the second round; and defeated No. 32 Seward Park, 9-0, in the first round.
No. 3 Queens Vocational Tigers
Head coach: Bob Schimenz
Record: 19-1, Queens B North
Player to watch: Jason Perez
How they got there: Defeated No. 15 Transit Tech, 4-2, in the semifinals; defeated No. 22 Grover Cleveland, 10-0, in the quarterfinals; defeated No. 19 Truman, 3-2, in the second round; and defeated No. 30 Beach Channel, 11-1, in the first round.
Outlook: When South Bronx Campus went through a restructuring process and several schools moved over to the a building at Mott Haven, this opportunity was created for the Phoenix. Danauris Baez and Kevin Victoriano, such a big part of last year’s PSAL Class A quarterfinalist club, stayed in the current building while their teammates went over to Mott Haven and its new program. The SUNY Old Westbury-bound duo helped South Bronx go undefeated in Bronx B North, battering the opposition.
Baez hit .519 this year with 28 RBIs and five home runs while Victoriano hit .590 with a team-high 32 RBIs and 25 stolen bases.
“Those two guys make our program very strong,” said South Bronx coach Frank Rojas, who stayed with his two leaders. “With those two guys, I knew we would do very well.”
Others emerged as the year went on, such as Jose Soriano, Radnny Fernandez, Adrian Vazquez and Mothaury Guzman. Soriano, who Rojas calls his team leader, drove in the game-winning run in a 9-8, eight-inning, semifinal victory over No. 5 Washington Irving, South Bronx’s sternest test by far this postseason.
Victoriano will get the ball Friday with a chance to win the school’s first-ever baseball championship. The senior, who has gone 10-0 on the mound this year and has struck out 105 in 52-1/3 innings pitched, was disappointed when he couldn’t stay with his old teammates. But he’ll have a chance to do what they couldn’t: win a title.
“We finally reached our goal and I’m hoping we can be successful [on Friday],” Colon said. “I feel blessed to go back to [the championship]. I feel very fortunate. We worked so hard for this. It didn’t come easy.”
Queens Vocational, meanwhile, is back in the final five years after it won the title. The Tigers have gotten a favorable draw – the highest seed they have faced was No. 15 Transit Tech in the semifinals – though their road hasn’t been easy, winning tight games over Transit Tech in the semifinals and No. 19 Truman in the second round.
The Queens B North champion has a potent offense, led by catcher Jason Perez. The senior was third in the PSAL in RBIs during the regular season with 32 and hit a ridiculous .706. Outfielder Radison Moronta and third baseman/pitcher Henry Alvarez also had big years at the plate. Alvarez, Daniel Corona and Joseph Taveras could also see time on the mound Friday, though Corona has pitched the best in the playoffs, going 2-0 with a 2.15 ERA in 13 innings pitched.