Here was the final out of last night’s NSCHSAA Final @SAFriarsBase pic.twitter.com/8b8kvPYgIo
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2024
Trailing 2-0 in the 6th inning against the reigning Catholic League Champs is an unenviable position to be in, but the St. Anthony’s Friars were not going to be denied this time. Not after coming up close in many instances over the past two decades as the Friars searched for that elusive Catholic League Championship.
The 2024 Friars, led by head coach Paul Parsolano, were able to outlast Holy Trinity in 9 innings at Mitchel Field to capture their first NSCHSAA Championship since 2000.
“I’m at a loss for words. They are such a tough team – to be able to keep answering the way these guys have. I can’t believe these guys pulled it off,” said Parsolano, who was an assistant on the coaching staff during St. Anthony’s last championship. He also helped St. Joseph’s to Skyline Conference titles in 2016 and 2018 before taking over St. Anthony’s in December 2018.
This year’s team got off to a rough start at 2-5, having gotten swept by St. Dominic who were the regular season champs. After that game, the Friars turned around their season. They swept Holy Trinity, St. Mary’s and St. John the Baptist to capture the No. 3 seed entering the playoffs.
In the playoffs, they defeated Kellenberg, 3-2, in a nail-biter before losing to these Holy Trinity Titans, 7-1, at Farmingdale State College. With their season on the line, they defeated St. Dominic, 19-4, in an elimination game to reach the Finals.
St. Anthony’s coach Paul Parsolano led the Friars to their first championship in 24 years when he was an assistant coach on staff. They overcame Holy Trinity in 9 innings pic.twitter.com/PWRpl4SUxQ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2024
They defeated Holy Trinity in Game 1 on Sunday at Mitchel Field, 6-3, behind a great performance on the mound by senior Kevin Baez and a huge day at the plate by sophomore CJ Alfano, who was named MVP of the tournament. He doubled twice, homered scored two runs and drove in four to lead the Friars’ offense.
It put them in the drivers’ seat, needing to win one of the next two games to capture the Championship. To make things a bit more challenging, they would not be able to use sophomore RHP Luke Coats, who was the winning pitcher against St. Dominic on Thursday. With that being the case, they sent junior Lucas Miller to the mound, who most of the league was unfamiliar with. He suffered an injury and didn’t pitch during the regular season. He was opposed by Holy Trinity sophomore Victor Acosta.
Early on, both pitchers were very impressive as the game was scoreless through three innings.
The Titans got on the board first on an RBI single by Sean Atkinson to score Andrew Heppner, who got things going with a one-out walk.
After another scoreless inning by Acosta, Holy Trinity extended their lead to 2-0 on a sac fly by Tyler Cook to score Jalen Josey – who led the inning off with a single to right field.
At that moment in time, while the game was not over, Holy Trinity was in complete control as Acosta was cruising through the Friars’ lineup and they had only 6 outs to work with.
With their backs firmly against the wall, St. Anthony’s responded. Michael Carr led off the inning with a single to left field. He was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Johnny Francisco. Leadoff batter, Anthony Carlo, drew a walk to bring up the meat of the order. CJ Alfano was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Phil Mazzola hit a grounder that looked like it might have a chance to squeak through the infield but the shortstop, Jayden Alvarez, made a nice play getting the force out at second allowing just one run to score. Alex Bono came up next, and he came through with an RBI single through the left side to tie the game up at 2-2.
Tyler Cook came into the game from right field. He is the closer for the Titans and put on a performance for the ages in the 2023 NSCHSAA Tournament. The Titans were hoping to use him to seal this victory and worry about Game 3 when the time comes.
To his credit, Cook escaped the jam with a strikeout of Adrian Tavarez to keep the game tied.
The Titans went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth to send the game to the seventh. Immediately, the Friars threatened to score with a leadoff walk drawn by Kevin Baez. After a strikeout, another walk put the potential go-ahead run into scoring position. Things got even more dicey as a potential inning-ending double play was booted to load the bases with one out. Tyler Cook showed why he’s so tough to hit, though, striking out the next two batters to end the jam and send his crowd into a frenzy.
In the bottom of the seventh looking to walk it off, the Titans got a two-out runner when Jayden Alvarez got hit by a pitch for the third time of the game and he moved to second on a walk of Tyler Cook. Andrew Heppner, last year’s playoff hero, popped out to short on what looked like a seeing-eye single.
Mid 8: St. Anthony’s takes a 3-2 lead on an E6 with 2 outs. They will look to seal the deal pic.twitter.com/95uHydKKb2
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2024
In the top of the eighth, luck was once again on the Friar’s side as they benefited from a two-out throwing error by the shortstop to go ahead 3-2. The inning had started off with a walk to Kevin Baez, and as is always the case, that came around to score.
Tied again! Jalen Josey comes through with a 2-out, 2-strike RBI single and it’s 3-3 as we head to the 9th pic.twitter.com/cSDmQT8C5G
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 27, 2024
Bottom of the eighth, Titans were down to their final 3 outs. They showed the toughness that made them the NYS Champs in 2023. Andrew Sinclair led off the inning with a well-struck single to left. He advanced to second on a sac bunt by Ryan Czyz. After a strikeout of Sean Atkinson for the second out of the inning, a walk to Aidan Anello (after he was down 1-2 in the count) extended the inning. Next up was Jalen Josey, who came through with a clutch, 2-out, 2 strike single to center to tie the game. Anello was thrown out at third to end the inning but the Titans were alive.
In the top of the 9th, Cook went back out. He appeared to only be getting stronger as he got a fly out to right and a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Anthony Carlo drew a walk after being down 1-2 in the count to keep the inning alive. CJ Alfano and Phil Mazzola also drew walks to put the go-ahead run in scoring position.
During the next at bat, Carlo was able to score on a wild pitch to put the Friars ahead, 4-3, in the top of the 9th. Bono wound up striking out but the damage was done, all occurring with two outs and nobody on.
In the bottom of the 9th, Joe Pritchard came on looking to notch the final three outs.
After a ground out to third, Alvarez drew a walk to make things a little more dicey.
Cook struck out for the second out of the inning, which brought up Heppner. Pritchard was able to get in on his hands and get a pop out to third. By the time Michael Carr secured the ball, an army of Friars had already begun to stampede towards the mound to let out 24 years of excitement.
The St. Anthony’s Friars are the 2024 NSCHSAA Champs. CJ Alfano was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
Next up is the NY State Tournament. The semifinals will be June 7 against Archbishop Molloy at Fordham University, 6pm.
