In eight of Ed Shectman’s nine seasons as Martin Van Buren baseball coach, he’s led the Vee Bees to the postseason, though never past the second round. Schectman and his players shook that stigma last week and on Sunday, they made history.
No. 11 Van Buren topped No. 23 Queens Vocational Tech, 7-2, in the PSAL Class B semifinals at Lafayette in Brooklyn, the first time the school has reached a baseball title game since 1958.
The Vee Bees will take on No. 13 John Bowne in the finals 1 p.m. Saturday at MCU Park in Coney Island.
“It’s somewhere I’ve been hoping to do but realistically didn’t expect to,” Shectman said. “This year I had more expectations than getting out of the first round of the playoffs and the kids have been really playing good baseball. Once we knocked that door down [of losing in the second round], my kids didn’t want to stop knocking doors down.”
He added: “I’m not surprised because we played a bunch of close games we won. I think they built off last year where we had a hard time winning those games.”
Van Buren (17-3) rallied from five runs down in the quarterfinals against No. 14 InTech, dramatics the Vee Bees didn’t need on Sunday. That’s because senior ace Saul Vargas tossed his second straight complete game of the postseason, allowing just one earned run on five hits, striking out seven and walking three.
“To be honest, I was nervous, but I overcame,” Vargas said. “I felt in control and I threw strikes.”
Left fielder Miguel Ang Crispin had two hits and three RBIs, Edgar LeBron had three hits, scored once and drove in a run and Elvin Reyes and Eliecer Rodriguez III also scored two runs apiece.
Van Buren split the Queens B South title with Queens High School of Teaching, but it enjoyed regular-season success before. This group was closer than previous clubs, Shectman said, with eight seniors who had suffered postseason failure before.
“We have a lot of camaraderie, a lot of kids that get along real well,” the coach said. “They boot each other up when we’re down. They’re very supportive of each other.”
“This team has more heart than the past four years; last year and the year before we couldn’t beat teams like that,” Vargas, a senior, added.
The group was unified to get Shechtman beyond the second round and did with consecutive one-run victories over No. 22 Thomas Jefferson and No. 27 Truman to start the postseason. In the win over Truman, a 1-0 nail-biter, Vargas tossed a complete-game, three-hitter.
“Saul Vargas has been a stud on the mound,” Shectman said. “I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Well, one more win would be nice.
No. 13 John Bowne 4, No. 9 Washington Irving 1 (10 innings): The Wildcats (17-3), two years removed from missing the playoffs, advance to the PSAL Class B final with its second big upset o the postseason. Washington Irving finishes the season 14-3.