There’s no loud music when Kenny Cedel comes in during the late innings of Tottenville games, but he could merit it.
Cedel spent most of his junior season as the closer for the Pirates and was very effective. But even though he made a habit of closing out opponents, he was simply too good for head coach Tom Tierney Jr. to keep off the mound for such extended periods of time.
“I had to get him out there more,” Tierney said as the second-seeded Pirates prepared for their PSAL semifinal game yesterday. “He was too valuable to just pitch a couple of innings, as important as those were.”
So Cedel spent this season as a starter. That doesn’t mean, though, that he’s lost his killer instinct.
He has put his various abilities on display throughout the PSAL playoffs, pitching a complete game against Lehman in the quarterfinal round.
Just as important, however, was the two-thirds of an inning he tossed on Friday night as the Pirates clung to a 3-1 lead with the tying runs on base in the first game of the best-of-three semifinals against No. 3 Grand Street at the College of Staten Island.
The first batter Cedel faced grounded to short, a potential game-ending double play ball, but an error caused the ball to head to left. Grand Street cut the lead to 3-2 and the tying run was just 90 feet away.
“I wasn’t nervous or upset,” Cedel said. “That doesn’t do you any good in those situations. I just had to put my head down and go to work.”
He quickly did that – leaving nothing else to chance.
He struck out the next batter and ended the drama with the next at-bat by grabbing a come-backer and tossing it to first.
“Even though I haven’t closed as much as I have last year, I still feel good doing it,” Cedel said. “Once you’ve done it and closed games, I don’t think it goes away.”
Cedel’s success in the situation surprised no one, including starter Andrew Costello, who had pitched brilliantly before tiring in the seventh. The senior didn’t even put up a fight when Tierney decided to remove him just two outs short of a complete game.
“I’m not a selfish player,” Costello said. “And knowing that Kenny was coming in made me very confident. I had no doubt that he was going to do the job.”
Tierney was similarly confident.
“As much as we rely on Andrew, it’s just the same with Kenny,” Tierney said. “It’s like we have two aces. So when you can bring in Kenny fresh in that type of spot and you know he’s done it before, it’s a great luxury.”
And one that not many teams have at this stage of the playoffs, when arms have often been overused from a long season.
“I’m ready to go, ready to do anything,” said Cedel. “Whenever it is.”
