Fordham Prep’s Sean McNamara tossed a four-hit shutout against St. Joseph by the Sea to send his team to the finals. (Denis Gostev)
On paper, it sounded like a mismatch. On the mound for one team was a flamethrower who has interest from the likes of St. John’s, Manhattan and Rhode Island. The other had a pitcher whose fastball would barely break the speed limit.
“Nobody really talks about how hard I throw or what schools are looking at me,” Fordham Prep right-hander Sean McNamara said. “I definitely want to prove myself.”
The junior has done so all year and Wednesday night was the latest – and greatest – example.
McNamara tossed a four-hit shutout to lead No. 4 Fordham Prep to a 6-0 win over fifth-seeded St. Joseph by the Sea in a CHSAA Class AA championship round elimination game at St. John’s University. In the process, he outdueled Sea senior ace Brian Russell, one of the top pitchers in the city.
Fordham (16-8) moves on to the intersectional finals where it meets No. 6 Iona Prep 7 p.m. Friday night back at St. John’s. The Rams will have to beat the Gaels twice to win the title. Game 2 would be 4 p.m. Sunday at SJU if Fordham wins the first game.
If there is a Game 2, it’ll be McNamara getting the ball just like he has done in countless big games this year. He’s already beaten Iona Prep twice this year and now has defeated Sea (17-6) two times in the playoffs in the last week.
“Any time we need a big win, Sean Mac is usually the guy we turn to,” coach Pat Deane said.
Yet the 6-foot-3 starter doesn’t do anything that dazzles. He estimates his velocity somewhere between the mid 70s and the low 80s. And out of the 84 pitches he threw Wednesday night, he said, 82 of them were fastballs. It’s all about movement and location – and his head, skills he credits acquiring to first-year pitching coach Gene Calamari, formerly of Fordham University.
“It changed my whole mindset about pitching,” McNamara said. “It’s more of a mental game than anything.”
He could put his mind to ease a little bit in the first inning when Andrew Velazquez, who was selected in the seventh round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, singled and scored on an error and Jack Sexton added an RBI single to make it 2-0. Fordham got two more runs in the second on Ryan Mahoney’s clutch, two-out, two-RBI single.
The biggest hit, though, came in the third when Robbie Lynch sprayed a two-out pitch from Russell to right field for a two-run triple.
“I knew I just blew it out of the water,” Lynch said. “Sean isn’t going to give up six runs.”
McNamara didn’t even give up six hits. He allowed just two heading into the seventh when both Joe Palmeri and Lou Mandia reached on infield singles. But McNamara got Vincent Yodice to pop out to Velazquez at short and Alex Amadeo grounded out to Vinny Capone at second base.
“He’s good every day,” Velazquez said. “I have the utmost confidence when he’s pitching. “Strikes, strikes, strikes and more strikes.”
Steve Fondu – the latter half of the “Mac and Cheese” combination coined by Velazquez – will go Friday night against Iona Prep, Fordham’s biggest rival. The Rams will come in confident with both their hitting and pitching clicking.
“That’s the perfect combination for a city championship,” Velazquez said.