It’s been 17 years since Monsignor Scanlan has played for the CHSAA Class B intersectional title so there was some understandable jitters coming from the Crusaders as they played under the lights at Kaiser Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University last night.
But then Usiel Reyes walked out onto the mound and the nerves subsided.
“We have a lot of confidence in Reyes,” Scanlan third baseman Julian Prieto said. “Every time he comes on the mound, we know he gives 110 percent. All we can do is back him up and have good defense for him.”
Reyes wasn’t his best last night, but he was good enough to lead the Crusaders to a 7-5 victory against St. John’s Prep in the CHSAA Class B championship round, forcing a decisive title game Sunday back at St. John’s.
“He battled all day,” Scanlan coach Kevin Del Valle said. “He didn’t have his curveball or his slider. He did a fantastic job hitting his spots, a real gutsy performance.”
Reyes, who pitched two innings Wednesday against Rice before its semifinal game was suspended due to inclement weather, gave up one more run last night than he did all of the regular season. But he shook off his own nerves, gained confidence from a boisterous cheering section and got stronger as the game went on, allowing just one hit in the final four innings.
“What we have here is not a team,” Reyes said. “We have a big family and we have each other’s backs.”
Reyes got into trouble in the seventh as Paul Perez singled and scored on a wild pitch, Will Quinonez reached on an error, Joe McDonald walked and both players stole a base. Cleanup hitter Alex Gounaris stepped to the plate with a chance to tie the game with a single.
Del Valle walked out to the mound, contemplating pulling his ace.
“When I went out to talk to him he said ‘I want it,’” Del Valle said. “I’m not going to pull anyone who wants the game.”
Reyes fanned Gounaris and Gabe Gonnel then got Jose Vidal to ground out to shortstop to end the game and set off a wild celebration on the field and in the stands. Monsignor Scanlan (13-3) fended off elimination for a third consecutive playoff game.
Del Valle said he has seen a tremendous turnaround from the team that lost to St. John’s Prep, 6-1, in the regular season.
“Same players, way different attitude,” he said. “We’ve matured by leaps and bounds. Defense is real solid. We’re hitting the ball hard on the ground, which is turning to line drives and we’re running the bases well.”
With the game tied at 4, Scanlan scored twice in the bottom of the third on Ben Franqui’s RBI double to center and a run-scoring single up the middle by Prieto, who was 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.
“We have to keep moving,” Prieto said. “Even though this is a good one, we still have one more on Sunday. We need that win.”
Del Valle said he isn’t sure who he’ll throw Sunday, while St. John’s Prep coach Jason Bigeni will give the ball to Matt Mullin, the Red Storm’s emotional senior leader. St. John’s Prep (11-4) is seeking its third consecutive Class B title, but will need to be much tighter defensively than its five-error performance last night.
“In all three [regular season] losses this is how we played,” Bigeni said. “It’s giving teams extra outs, turning singles into triples, turning walks into triples. You can’t give a good team like Scanlan extra outs.”
