Tottenville’s Michael Sullivan will get the ball Saturday against George Washington. (Denis Gostev)
PSAL baseball beat writer Zach Braziller breaks down the third-seeded Tottenville Pirates in advance of Saturday’s Class A championship game at MCU Park in Coney Island.
Tottenville
Nickname: Pirates
Head coach: Tom Tierney Jr. (12th year)
Record: 22-1, Staten Island A
Batting order: SS Gil Mendoza, CF Evan Reailly, 3B Thomas Kain, RF Kevin Krause, Anthony Capo LF, C George Kantzian, P Michael Sullivan, 1B Carmelo Donofrio, 2B P.J. Savino
Key reserves/pitchers: P Michael Sullivan, P Mike Gillen and P Vin Aiello
Team notes: Looking for its 12th city title and first since 2007. .. Won Staten Island A for the 27th straight year. … Defending PSAL Class A city champions. … Swept second-seeded Grand Street Campus in the semifinals, by a cumulative 18-11 score, after topping No. 11 South Bronx, 9-4, in the quarterfinals. … Program architect Tom Tierney Sr. passed away at the age of 82 on April 12 from natural causes.
SCOUTING REPORT
(from league coach under condition of anonymity)
“As the season went along they got better and better, especially their offense. Their role players have been stepping up. Big bats like Mendoza and Krause, Kain and Kantizan, they’re gonna hit. All the guys around them are getting on base and doing some damage, a lineup that deep is tough to defend. … Their pitching has been solid. The kid Sullivan is gonna pitch. He’s a ballplayer. He’s been rolling. He attacks the strike zone with an above-average fastball, has a good breaking pitch. He’s a very tough lefty. … They’re gonna be very tough to beat.”
PLAYER CAPSULES
Gil Mendoza
Year: Senior
Position: Shortstop
Notes: Thee-year starter. … Playing football and baseball for The Peddie School next year … Star running back on football team, Mendoza was an All-City first team selection by The Post as he ran for over 1,000 yards (1,164) in the PSAL City Championship division and also led the league in rushing touchdowns (18).. … Has transitioned well to shortstop from third base and has scored a team-best 24 runs.
Tierney’s take: “Since we moved him to the leadoff spot, he’s done a great job getting on base and having big games for us.”
Evan Reilly
Year: Senior
Position: Center field
Notes: First-year starter replaced Joe Sessa in center field early in regular season and kept job with stellar defense and surprisingly potent bat. … Hit .500 during regular season with eight RBIs. … Drove in two runs in series clincher over Grand Street.
Tierney’s take: “He’s given us a good No. 2 hitter that can do a lot of things. He can bunt, he can run, he’s a tough out, he gets on base, sets the table.”
Tom Kain
Year: Senior
Position: Third baseman
Notes: Led Staten Island A in hits (27) and RBIs (26). … Moved from first to third base and performed well at hot corner. … Is headed to JUCO Gloucester County College (N.J.). … Muscular power-hitting right-handed bat, Kain rarely expands the strike zone as his 12 walks illustrate.
Tierney’s take: “He’s been great all year, one of our top hitters. We’re gonna need him to have a big game.”
Kevin Krause
Year: Senior
Position: Right fielder
Notes: Third-year starter headed to Stony Brook on a full scholarship. … Reached base in eight of nine plate appearances in sweep of Grand Street, with five hits, four RBIs and four runs scored. … Missed 10 days with broken left pinky toe late in regular season and is nursing various leg injuries. … Has moved to right field in the playoffs because of injury. … Built like a truck at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, he went undrafted.
Tierney’s take: “He’s the best hitter I’ve seen in a long time and we’ve had some pretty good hitters. He hits to all fields, he hits all pitches, he’s a tough out and he hits with power. Hopefully he’ll stay hot for one more game and drive in runs.”
Anthony Capo
Year: Sophomore
Position: Left fielder
Notes: Only underclassman in starting lineup. … Hit .350 during regular season and has scored 24 runs. … Has started every game in outfield. .. Long, lean sophomore has bright future.
Tierney’s take: “He’s been very good defensively and at the plate he’s given us a lot of big hits. He’ll get the runner in from third base with a sacrifice fly or ground ball. He’s not striking out much. He just handles pressure well. … He’s a baseball player. He thinks about the game, has good instincts. We expect him to be pretty good for us the next few years.”
George Kantzian
Year: Senior
Position: Catcher
Notes: Second-year starter. … Following up another solid regular season — .436 batting average, 17 RBIs, 2 HR and 15 R – with a clutch postseason. … He had go-ahead two-run single in Game 1 victory over Grand Street and has played the field, moving behind the plate in Krause’s absence. … Began year at cleanup spot but was dropped to sixth late in year and has been reenergized.
Tierney’s take: “I think he was pressing too much in the four-hole, especially when Kevin was hurt. He went into a little slump. When Kevin came back it took a few games, but since then he’s really relaxed and he’s come up with some big hits in the playoffs like he did last year.”
Michael Sullivan
Year: Junior
Position: Pitcher
Notes: Has come on in playoffs, picking up three wins in postseason on mound and adding three RBIs in quarterfinal victory over South Bronx. … Hard-throwing left-hander with late-breaking slider and pop in his bat. … Goes the other way well. … Played junior varsity last spring. … Hit .387 during regular season with 15 RBIs and eight runs scored.
Tierney’s take: “He was a guy we turned to in the beginning of the season with his bat and he’s done a great job. He can hit doubles and home runs and he can hit the better pitching. … He earned his spot [at the top of the rotation.] He’s pitched great all year. He’s a competitor, he’s gonna battle you. With his stuff and makeup, we like our chances”
Carmelo Donofrio
Year: Senior
Position: First baseman
Notes: Despite hitting only .217 during the regular season, did produce 11 RBIs. … First-year starter at first base.
Tierney’s take: “He’s stepped in and made some big plays on defense. He’s given us some timely hits and a little bit out of the eight-hole.”
P.J. Savino
Year: Senior
Position: Second baseman
Notes: Solid defensive second baseman has begun to hit more. … The junior played junior varsity as a sophomore.
Tierney’s Take: “He really makes some big plays defensively, he turns the double play well and his hitting has come around, too. He’s given us some really good at-bats.”
PITCHING
Notes: Of Tottenville’s five postseason wins, Michael Sullivan is responsible for three of them – and he hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 15-2/3 innings of work. … Senior Mike Gillen, a right-hander who relies on a 12-to-6 curveball, enjoyed a solid regular season, going 4-0 with a 0.45 ERA. … Vin Aiello is the closer, though he did pick up the win against Grand Street as a starter.
Tierney’s take: “It was Gillen and Sullivan from the beginning as guys fighting for the top spot and Gillen had a real good year. Sullivan just outpitched him in the playoffs. He’s been our best guy.”
COACHING
Tierney is looking for his first back-to-back run of titles after winning it all last year. It’s been a difficult few months for the 12th-year coach as his father, Tom Tierney Sr., passed away at the age of 82 April 12 from natural causes. Tierney Sr. was the program’s architect and his son has picked up where he left off, winning five titles in 11 years.
He played three years at John Jay College and one at the College of Staten Island, and landed at the Huguenot school in 2000.
While loaded with fundamentally sound and skilled players, Tottenville did struggle midway through the year, losing back-to-back games to Grand Street Campus and Lehman in the Monroe Tournament, falling to Susan Wagner in league and dropping the Clarkstown South Tournament championship game to George Washington.
Top-heavy much of the year, Tierney changed his lineup when Krause returns for the playoffs. The alterations – moving Krause to cleanup, pushing Kantizan back to sixth, moving up Capo to fifth – worked wonders. The Pirates have scored 27 runs in its last three playoff wins, more than enough support for their lockdown pitching staff. His magic touch isn’t limited to the lineup card; Tierney’s decision to start closer Vin Aiello in Game 1 against Grand Street worked out perfectly as the junior delivered 6-2/3 brilliant innings.
