Madison’s Joe Abadia gets a hit. (Damion Reid)
Madison’s coach Vinny Caiazza is not happy with the call. (Damion Reid)
If ever a playoff game should end on a base-running mistake followed by a play at the plate, this was it.
For seven innings Saturday afternoon, No. 4 Madison and eighth-seeded Lehman traded crooked numbers. The two sides combined to use eight pitchers, pick up 27 hits, and give away momentum like it was a hot potato.
Lehman made the last mistake and was therefore the loser. Madison hung on to even the best-of-three semifinal series at a game piece, outlasting the Lions, 13-12, when second baseman Robert Salo gunned down Jhosse Estrella at the plate for the last out. The third and final game is tomorrow afternoon back at the College of Staten Island.
“Crazy,” Madison center fielder Joe Calascione said. “I’m dead. It was worth it.”
Calascione led the Madison attack with three hits, three runs scored, and an RBI, left fielder John Yuksekol had two hits and two runs scored, and catcher Chris Mann had two hits and two RBIs. Julio Velazquez paced Lehman (17-4) with two hits and three RBIs and Andy Ramos scored three runs.
The Knights (20-1) raced out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1, staff ace Eddie Lenahan and closer Matt Ecock allowed seven straight runs to put them in a hole, but the Brooklyn school followed by plating two in the fifth and seven in the sixth. The big hit came from little-used sophomore Mike FItzpatrick, who ripped a two-run triple to right-center field off Estrella, Lehman’s second of three pitchers. Lehman’s frantic two-out rally in the seventh was cut short when Felix Fernandez singled with first and second and Velazquez rounded second too hard and got hung up.
As Salo chased him to third, the sophomore saw Estrella sprinting home. He turned and threw a strike to the plate, where Mann had plenty of time to make the tag. Mann immediately jumped into the arms of Fitzpatrick and the two were soon mobbed by teammates.
“We showed how much heart and how much fight we have,” Calascione said. “This really showed what we’re made of. We’ve been in that situation so many times against top PSAL teams before. That’s what we live for.”
Even so, Madison’s celebration didn’t seem very plausible just an hour earlier. Known for its pitching and defense instead of offensive prowess, Madison trailed by four runs entering the top of the fifth. Over the next two innings, the Knights scored nine runs on seven hits, shattering their no-hit reputation.
Calascione started the two-run uprising in the fifth with a double, scored on Ecock’s groundout, and Mann plated another run with a bloop single. Lehman got a run back in the home fifth on an Andy Ramos single, but Fitzpatrick – remember that name – retired Estrella on a 5-5-3 double play. Calascione added a run-scoring single in the sixth to cut the deficit to a single run, Yuksekol walked, and Fitzpatrick rifled a fastball into the gap, scoring the go-ahead runs. Leadoff man Joe Abadia also had a two-run single in the inning.
“He grew up today, on the mound and at the plate,” Madison coach Vinny Caiazza said of Fitzpatrick, who worked two solid innings of relief for the victory.
Despite a four-run lead and just a man on first with two outs in the seventh, Lehman made it interesting. Ramos, Estrella, Velazquez and Fernandez all reached as three runs scored with two outs, setting up the final dramatic moment.
In Friday’s humbling 10-2 loss, Madison played what Caiazza described as its worst game of the year. The Knights uncharacteristically were sloppy defensively. But they executed that final play perfectly.
“We’re not looking to go home anytime soon,” Salo said. “We want to go to the championship. From one through nine, to all the bench players, we all did our job.”
Beating Lehman a second time won’t be easy. The Lions have ace Tyler Gurman, who beat top-seeded Monroe on Tuesday, on full rest while Caiazza is unsure who will get the ball since he has used his best arms already in the series. Plus, Madison’s prom is Saturday night, although Calascione said the entire team understands the order of importance.
“We’re gonna have fun, nobody’s gonna get crazy,” he promised.
Earlier in the week, Caiazza said he may attend prom to make sure his players stay away from any alcohol if the series went three games. He left the College of Staten Island singing a different tune.
“I’m going home. I’m exhausted,” a clearly relieved Caiazza said. “I feel like I just played a game.”
