Poly Heads into Championship Game Wednesday

For the Poly Prep Blue Devils, who ended their season with an overall 18-2 record and a 14-0 Ivy League record claiming the number one seed in the NYSAISAA Tournament, their first playoff game was in the quarterfinals against Columbia Prep on Saturday, May 16. Freshman Matt Caposio took the mound against a tough Lion team, which they beat, 6-4. “We didn’t play our best game of the year, but we got the job done.” said junior first baseman/left-handed pitcher Richie Carbone. The win enabled Poly to take on Rye Country Day in Sunday’s semi-final game. “Now,” exclaimed Carbone, “this one was a thriller.” Taking the hill for Poly on this oh so important contest, was none other than the junior shortstop/right-handed pitching phenom, J. J. Franco. “This kid pitched a gem,” said senior starting leftfielder, Max Warner, “he was unstoppable today.” This was a classic pitching duel, where it all came down to base running. Franco pitched a two-hit complete game shutout striking out nine, and won 1-0 thanks to the deft base running of first baseman Carbone. “A lot of things needed to fall into place,” said Warner, “the best thing about our season so far has been the way we as a team have stepped up.” This 22-player squad, to a man, has played a part in the success of this baseball season. Starters, like senior catcher Francis Torres, one of the team leaders along with Warner, lead by example, day in and day out. Players, like fellow seniors Tom Laurendi and Pete Sciolto, are taking advantage of their opportunities and stepping up. Juniors Zack Marciano and Chesley Ratliff and sophomores Marley Randazzo and Joe Calabrese are more examples. These kids just play hard, and never seem to “push the panic button” too early. Warner told me once, after a particular come-from-behind victory, “No reason to panic, we’ve been down before. We had one bad inning that we needed to get out of our system.” So they did. They now find themselves back where they belong, in another championship game. The team will play Berkely Carroll in the championship game on Wednesday at Columbia University with Richie Carbone scheduled to pitch.