St. Joseph by the Sea ace Brian Russell gave up no runs on six hits with seven strikeouts against St. Raymond. (Lauren Marsh)
Brian Russell has been one of the best pitchers in New York City this year, a 17-strikeout performance against Cardinal Spellman the most notable performance of a fantastic senior campaign.
The St. Joseph by the Sea ace, though, has yet to earn a signature postseason gem. Until now.
With his team facing elimination, the 6-foot-4 right-hander tossed a six-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to lead No. 5 St. Joseph by the Sea to a 6-0 win over second-seeded St. Raymond in a CHSAA Class AA baseball championship round elimination game Friday afternoon at Salesian HS in White Plains.
“That was his biggest win,” coach Gordon Rugg said. “They have a very good lineup.”
Russell, who has interest from St. John’s, Manhattan, Rhode Island and Fairleigh Dickinson, said he actually didn’t have his best stuff on three days rest and when two runners got on quickly in the first inning he thought it could be a long night.
“My velocity was down a lot today,” Russell said. “I just concentrated on hitting my spots.”
He did just that against St. Raymond (14-7), which has been one of the best offensive teams in the CHSAA all year. Sea (16-5) will now meet No. 7 Archbishop Molloy in another elimination game 2:30 p.m. Sunday at St. John’s University. There are just four CHSAA teams still alive.
Vincent Yodice had a two-run double and both Nick Gonchar and Lou Mandia had two hits apiece. Sea scored one run apiece in the second and third innings and then two more in the fourth against St. Raymond sophomore starter Adam De La Cruz.
“It took some stress off me,” Russell said. “Once we got that lead, I knew I could just cruise.”
After beating rival Monsignor Farrell in a best-of-three series on Tuesday, Sea dropped the first game of the championship round Wednesday to Fordham Prep in extra innings. The Vikings have battled back now to beat All Hallows and St. Raymond in consecutive days.
“We were all kind of down a little bit after losing to Fordham,” Russell said. “The coaches got us all together and we said, we started off the year winning 10 games, now we have to win six to win it all. We thought we could do that, too.”
And their pitching is set up, too, with No. 2 Chris Falcone, who was brilliant Tuesday against Farrell, going Sunday against Molloy. Russell would be available Tuesday with a championship berth on the line if the Vikings beat the Stanners.
“We’re just getting the breaks now,” Rugg said. “We’re having fun.”
CHSAA CLASS AA JV CITY CHAMPIONSHIP
Archbishop Molloy 7, Iona Prep 4: Chris McGee had three RBIs and Denes Kostel and Virgilio Jimenez each scored twice as Molloy won its second JV title in four years at St. John’s following the varsity’s big elimination game win over Xaverian. Iona was trying to win its second straight JV title.
Anthony Catinella gave up three runs on four hits with six strikeouts in five innings and Mike Young picked up the savet, giving up one run on one hit with four strikeouts in two innings of relief. Young struck out the side in the sixth to the delight of the large Stanners contingent on hand.
Molloy, coached by Chris DeSarno, got on the board early with three runs in the first, the big blow being McGee’s booming two-run double. Kostel, the son of legendary Molloy boys soccer coach Andy Kostel, had an RBI single and later scored in the sixth inning for an important insurance run that made it 6-3.
Nate Estes had an RBI single in the seventh for Iona Prep and the tying run came to the plate in the seventh. But Young struck out Pierce Noonan and Christian Pimental flied out to end the championship game, igniting a wild celebration featuring a Molloy dog pile on top of Young.
