Iona Prep coach Fred Gallo gets Gatorade shower as his team sends him out a champion. (Denis Gostev)
Iona Prep celebrates its victory over Fordham Prep. (Denis Gostev)
Vinny DeMaria’s father, Vinny Sr., played on Fred Gallo’s first baseball team at Iona Prep, back in 1983. So getting the legendary coach his second – and final championship – was paramount for the senior shortstop.
“It’s special, because it’s his last year,” DeMaria said.
Gallo, the Hall of Fame head man, announced his retirement last week and last night his team sent him out a champion.
Sixth-seeded Iona Prep defeated No. 4 Fordham Prep, 9-2, in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional baseball title game at St. John’s University. And both DeMaria’s – father and son – had a hand in the victory.
DeMaria Jr. went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI and also turned four double plays, bailing Temple-bound ace Tim McCarthy out of jams. Two of those twin killings were on line outs with DeMaria catching runners off first base in the fifth and sixth.
DeMaria Sr. helped Iona Prep (18-6) out of its own bind. The team forgot its batting helmets back at school and, after using Fordham Prep’s helmets in the first inning, DeMaria Sr., pulled a bag of them out of his trunk. He’s the coach at Woodlands HS in Westchester.
“My full circle started with a DeMaria and ended with a DeMaria,” Gallo said.
Ironically, Iona Prep did most of its damage in the first inning with Fordham’s helmets. The Gaels battered Rams starter Steve Fondu for five runs in the initial frame, giving McCarthy some breathing room.
“We said from now on, we’re taking other people’s helmets,” DeMaria said with a laugh.
McCarthy, a 6-foot-7 right-hander who also won a Class A title with the Iona boys basketball team, gave up just two runs on eight hits with four strikeouts. Gallo and McCarthy met in an embrace afterward.
“Nothing like going out on top,” McCarthy said of his coach.
Normally, McCarthy gets little run support – Iona Prep is not known for its offense. He lost to Fordham Prep (16-9), 9-1, in a Bronx/Westchester first-place tiebreaker game two weeks ago, which sent Iona to a longer playoff path.
“I was afraid Timmy McCarthy wouldn’t be able to pitch with a lead,” Gallo joked.
After 30 years, it’s that rapport with players that the 71-year-old Gallo will long for in the future, not so much the trophies and the victories.
“You know what you miss?” Gallo said. “You miss the camaraderie with the kids. … I never worried about games and wins.”
Iona Prep, which won six straight games in the postseason, tacked on two more runs in the third on RBIs by Christian Berg and Cody Polchinski and Berg had another RBI in the fifth when the Gaels extended their lead to 9-2.
A light-hitting team all year, this was the perfect time to break out. It was all for Gallo, who retires with a 543-263 record, nine division titles and four Archdiocesan crowns.
And now one more city championship.
“I will never lose another baseball game,” Gallo said. “It’s a great way to go out.”