Lehman’s Tyler Gurman will try to pitch his team to the PSAL city final Sunday. (Damion Reid)
Adam Droz was starting to wave Jhosse Estrella home as Felix Fernandez’s single fell into left field with two outs in the seventh inning. The junior, representing the tying run, would’ve completed a wild, two-out comeback. But at the last moment, Droz held him up as James Madison’s John Yuksekol got to the ball quickly in shallow left field.
“I was thinking about sending him, but I saw he was right there, an easy throw-out,” Droz said. “What I was thinking was at that moment was, ‘Hey we had another batter up.’ With another batter you have an opportunity to tie or possibly win.”
The Lions wouldn’t get that chance.
Julio Velazquez didn’t pick up the stop sign, came flying around second base, and was caught in a rundown. It forced Estrella to head home, where he was tagged out.
No. 8 Lehman fell short,13-12, against fourth-seeded Madison in Game 2 of the PSAL Class A baseball semifinals Saturday at the College of Staten Island. The teams will meet in a decisive Game 3 tomorrow at 2 p.m.
“The kid probably thought something different,” Droz said. “That’s baseball. Whatever any player does wrong I take full responsibly.”
Any hope for a comeback looked bleak when Madison reliever Mike Fitzpatrick picked up the second out in the seventh by getting Tyler Gurman to pop up to first with a runner on. But the sophomore was removed from the game in favor of lefty Zach Pollack and then Joseph Abadia after an Andy Ramos single. Pena walked and Estrella reached on an error after a wild pitch. Velazquez drove in the last of his three RBIs with a single to make it 13-12. Fernandez followed with the single to left before the base running mistake.
“Once we got two outs everyone knew we had to get our hits,” said Ramos, who scored three times. “We got to get on base anyway possible. ”
Lehman (17-5) held a 9-6 lead after five innings. The advantage came mostly thanks to a five-run third inning that knocked out Madison ace Eddie Lenahan. Fernandez had an RBI double and starting pitcher Lawrence Marsach added a two-run triple. The senior was strong until the fifth when the Knights scored twice and he was replaced by Estrella. That was the start of the rally. Madison (20-1) scored seven times on four hits in a disastrous sixth inning to grab a 13-9 lead.
“That is a usual thing for Lehman we are down and we fight back,” Ramos said. “This has happened many times in the past before and we showed today we can do it.”
Now the Lions will have to get it down or their season will come to an end. One advantage: Lehman will have Gurman, their ace, on the mound, while Madison has used its best arms the last two days.
“I got full confidence in Gurman,” Droz said, “that he can do out there and pitch well.”
