PSAL (NYC) AA, AAA Championships: Game Recaps

June 4, 2015

Jared Carrier
Special Assistant, New York

PSAL AA

Eastside Community 7 - HS for American Studies 0

The matinee matchup on Wednesday afternoon feature the AA Championship matchup between HS of American Studies vs. East Side Community. 2015 RHP Sid Levy Fastook had a rocky start for HS of American Studies as he left the game in the first inning after surrendering a 2 walks and a single. 2016 LHP Jack Buckley then entered, striking out two to strand the bases loaded. Buckley would end up throwing 4+ innings of relief before being removed in the 5th. Starting pitcher for Eastside, 2016 RHP Timonthy Lopez was able to work around some middle inning defensive miscues and settle in for the Tigers as he went the distance in the 7-0 Eastside Community victory. Lopez struck out six, allowing only one hit (a short flyball to RF), while walking only one.

Offensively for Eastside, Lopez helped his own cause by going 3-for-4 with a 2B, BB and 3 RBIs. 2015 LHH Outfielder Jacob Pena and 2015 RHH Hassane Azar both went 2-for-4, Azar with a 2 run single in the 5th to break the game open. For highlights of Lopez's game ending strike out, please visit PBR_NY on Instagram.

PSAL AAA

George Washington 1 - Tottenville 0

The marquee matchup lived up to all the hype featuring a pitching duel, clutch hitting and outstanding defensive play. As always in a NYC high school baseball game, there is no shortage of energy as the atmosphere at Yankee Stadium was electric with and estimated 5,000-7,000 fans in attendance.

The story early on was the matchup of No. 1 seed Tottenville's ace 2015 LHP John Donohue vs. No. 3 seed George Washington's 2017 RHP Yanmanuel Infante. Both pitchers were impressive and dominant even though velocity was not a factor in the equation. The story here was about "pitchability" as both players were able to work in and out and throw their secondary stuff in tight spots to get big outs. Donohue, going to his big sweeping breaking ball to the backside of the plate against RH hitters and Infante using his change up against the Tottenville lefties. Donohue showed the senior experience as he was never rattled throughout, Infante had a case of the nerves in the first as he loaded the bases with a hit and 2 walks, only to strike out the next two hitters after a visit to the mound. Rarely is a first inning mound visit the turning point of the game, in this case it was the soothing that Infante needed as he gave the Trojans 5 1/3 innings before giving way to 2016 RHP/1B Kelvin Tapia in the 6th.

The lone run came across in the 4th when with one out 2015 3B/RHP Wesley Rodriguez smoked a double to LF that just skirted under a diving Tottenville player. Tapia followed with an intentional walk. Donohue was able to strike out Jordy Abreu but in the process Rodriguez and Tapia were able to execute a double steal. This set the stage for 2015 Leandy Castro's hard hit single through the middle that scored Rodriguez. Tottenville's center-fielder, 2016 Brandon Seltzer, unleashed a textbook throw to the plate that was handled cleanly by 2015 C James Wise (Wagner Commit) who applied the tag on Tapia to end the inning.

Tapia, who worked out of a jam in relief of Infante in the 6th ran into some trouble in the 7th as 2015 OF Nicholas Sanacore reached on an infield single. After a strikeout, 2015 OF Joseph Sadallah lined his second basehit of the day into leftfield setting the stage for most of what NYC and the 10+ MLB scouts in attendance wanted to see...a Wesley Rodriguez matchup with the game on the line. A couple of great defensive efforts almost got the Trojans and Rodriguez out of the jam. 2016 DH/C Vincent Timpanelli hit a ground ball deep to shortstop where 2015 Jose DeLaCuz laid out and made a snap throw to 3B for the force but the ball trickled away. With the bases loaded Rodriguez got a comebacker where he spun and got the lead out at the plate, the relay to 1B just barely pulled Tapia off the bag. With 2 outs, the bases loaded and the PSAL AAA Championship on the line, Rodriguez was able to dot the inner black at 90MPH to strike out the final hitter of the game. Rodriguez, who was down velocity wise (67 pitches on Saturday) was able to muster one last heater after using mostly his breaking ball to navigate through the final two outs to pick up the save.

Both teams finish outstanding seasons and battled through a tough postseason that featured many capable teams such as James Monroe, James Madison and Cardoza, all who could have made an appearance in the final game. Congratulations to all the players involved as this will be a memory they will never forget. For more video clips and pictures from this game, please visit PBR_NY on instagram.