Final: Holy Trinity 1, St. Anthony’s 0
WP: Sebastian Velasquez (6.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 7 Ks)
S: Tyler CookCook drove in DelVecchio for the game’s only run in the 6th inning pic.twitter.com/XuSh5CvKC9
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2023
Sebastian Velasquez twice has faced St. Anthony’s this season, and twice he has mystified their offense and out dueled their ace pitcher, Jason DeCaro.
The Rhode Island-commit took the mound today against the top-seeded Friars and he was usual dominant self, firing 6.2 shutout innings, allowing 1 hit, five walks, struck out 7 and left with a 1-0 lead. Closer Tyler Cook came on the retire Kevin Baez Jr to end the game and advance the Titans to the winner’s bracket.
Both pitchers were completely dominant and did not allow a single hit through three innings. Decaro allowed a single to Andrew Heppner in the fourth inning but retired Velasquez on a pop out to end the inning. In the home half of the fourth, the Friars got their first hit on a one-out single by Teddy Valentino and he moved to scoring position when Decaro walked but Velasquez was able to make the big pitch when he needed to and he retired clean up batter Phil Mazzola on a fielder’s choice and Dan Scubla on a pop out to second to end the inning.
Both pitchers fired 1-2-3 innings in the fifth which set the stage for the sixth.
Sebastian Velasquez no-hit St. Anthony’s during the regular season and followed that up with 6.2 shutout innings allowing just 1-hit during today’s playoff win over the No. 1 ranked Friars @GCsports pic.twitter.com/oRrfmjWo0B
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2023
After Decaro struck out Sean Maddi for the first out, SS Nicholas DelVecchio rips a one-out single to left center field. During the next at bat, DelVecchio stole second and the throw went into center field. He scampered to third, and the throw beat him. To the naked eye it appeared like an out, but the umpire ruled him safe. It was a critical call, as the ensuing batter would bloop a single to center to score the game’s first run.
Decaro was able to end the inning with a 6-6-3 DP to get his team back in the dugout.
Mid 6: Tyler Cook bloops a single to center to score Nick DelVecchio and Holy Trinity leads 1-0 pic.twitter.com/mGmmoHQQxR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 21, 2023
Velasquez now working with the lead, was able to fire another zero in the sixth inning. He issued a one-out walk and they opted to intentionally walk Decaro to bring up Phil Mazzola. There was a brief scare as a foul pop caused a collision between Velasquez and Cook near the Holy Trinity dugout. It proved to be inconsequential as he got an infield pop out to SS later in the at bat to end the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Decaro worked around a leadoff walk issued to Andrew Heppner, who was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Velasquez went back out for the seventh inning and he issued a one-out walk to Dan Scubla who moved to second on a passed ball. He advanced to third when the next batter grounded out to third. Velasquez reached the pitch limit and came out in favor of Tyler Cook. He did his job, retiring the lone batter on a grounder to first base to pull off the upset.
With the victory, Holy Trinity will play tomorrow against No. 2 Chaminade, who defeated St. Dominic – also by the score of 1-0.
St. Anthony’s will now be in the elimination bracket – they will play the winner of Kellenberg and St. Dominic.
