By Dylan Butler
Christ the King shortstop Rafael Castillo knew a few things heading into Tuesday's game against defending CHSAA champion Xaverian at Juniper Park.
In order to defeat a powerhouse like the Clippers with its dominant pitching, the Royals would have to manufacture runs and keep mistakes to a minimum.
And for four innings, Christ the King did just that, as aggressive base running put the Royals in front, 2-0.
But all it took to erase that lead was one dropped ball in left-center field in the top of the fifth as Xaverian scored five runs in the frame to take a 5-2 lead.
The game was halted at the end of six innings because the game extended past Christ the King's permit time, which expired at 6 p.m. Instead of making the Ridgewood-Glendale-Middle Village-Maspeth Little Leaguers wait, the coaches decided to suspend the game and resume it at a later date.
“One mistake, that’s all it came down to and that’s where experience comes in,” said Castillo, who along with Abel Sanchez are the only two seniors on the Christ the King team. “Next time we play them, we’ll learn from that.”
Ironically, Sanchez was part of the botched play with one out in the top of the fifth inning. After starter Jose Duverge, who allowed just one hit in the first four innings with a steady diet of effective breaking balls, walked Pedro Beato and Daniel Lora to lead off the inning, Cambria Heights resident Daniel DeSouza advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt.
Keith Gebert sent a high fly ball to left center field that appeared deep enough to score Thomas Larkin, who pinch ran for Beato. Leftfielder Joseph Amato looked to have a beat on it, but was called off by Sanchez. The ball bounced between the two, allowing both runners to score and tie the game at 2.
“This is a tremendous team and you can’t give them too many breaks,” Christ the King coach Walter Tuthill said of Xaverian, now 10-5, 3-1. “I’m not too disappointed though, we still have one more inning to play.”
Xaverian, which hit the ball hard early, but struggled at the plate thanks to a stiff wind blowing in and the unlimited outfield at Juniper Park, went ahead 4-2 on Thomas Arpino’s two-run triple to right-center off reliever Robert Boland. Michael Perez added an RBI-single to center to cap the Clippers’ scoring.
Despite giving up just one hit in five innings, Xaverian senior Chris Garcia, whose fastball was clocked at 90-mph by a slew of major league scouts behind home plate, still trailed 2-0 after three innings because of some gutsy Christ the King base running.
The Royals took a 1-0 in the bottom of the first when, with Amato at third, Mike Schaetzle wisely tried to get caught in a rundown off of first. Garcia bit and chased the junior catcher back to first as Amato broke for the plate, beating the throw home.
Castillo, who reached on a fielder's choice in the third inning, stole second and was on his way to nabbing third when Amato grounded the ball weakly through the right side of the infield. Garcia picked up the ball and tossed to first, but didn’t see Castillo, who motored home to put Christ the King (12-2, 1-2) ahead, 2-0.
Archbishop Molloy 10, St. Edmund Prep 0. Mike Montali struck out five while tossing the shutout. Anthony Vernaci provided the offense, going 3-for-4 with an RBI for Molloy, now 4-1 in league play and 7-2 overall.
Monsignor McClancy 3, Xaverian 1. Matt Gelormino hit a two-out double, breaking a scoreless tie in the seventh, driving in two, as McClancy pulled the massive upset Friday evening. Jon Russnak got the win on the mound as the Crusaders improved to 2-4 in league play.
Archbishop Molloy 10, Christ the King 8. Nick Derba blasted a grand slam, while Matt Rizzotti added two hits for the Stanners.
Bishop Ford 14, St. John’s Prep 1. The Red Storm managed just two hits off Ford starter Matt Biondo. Donnie Mannino had two RBIs and a home run for the victors.
Xaverian 12, St. Francis Prep 7. Dan DeSouza had three hits and three RBIs for the Clippers.
Monsignor McClancy 6, St. Edmund Prep 2. Kevin Conlin allowed just three hits and struck out six as McClancy picked up its first league win of the season.
St. Francis Prep 9, Monsignor McClancy 5. Joey Ivazes smacked three hits, including two doubles, and drove home two, while Brian Forman added a home run, double and five RBIs.
St. Edmund Prep 6, Holy Cross 1. Peter Orsi gave up just three hits to the Knights, as St. Edmund picked up its first league win. Vinny Miller had two RBIs in the victory.
Grover Cleveland 3, Bayside 0. Mike Boothby tossed a shutout, striking out five and Jesus Varela belted a two-run home run to lead Cleveland (4-4 Queens A West). Anthony McCarrty was 2-for-2 for Bayside, which falls to 4-4 in Queens East A.
Bryant 12, Queens Vocational 4. Almir Pupovic went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored and Danny Hagenlocher was 3-for-5 to lead Bryant (4-1 Queens North B). David Robles was 1-for-2 with two runs for Queens Voc (3-2 Queens North B).
John Adams 12, Van Buren 6. Adams (18-5-1, 6-0 Queens A West) was led by Carlos Guzman, who went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Alex Cordero, who was 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Brian Berg was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored and Jason Pizzotti was 3-for-3 with two RBIs for Van Buren (0-8 Queens East A).
Francis Lewis 6, Long Island City 6. LIC jumped ahead 5-1 on Wilson Villada’s three-run triple in the fourth inning but led by Kyle Jamison, who was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two stolen bases, Francis Lewis (4-1 Queens East A) answered back with five runs in the top of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. Luis Herrera’s two-out double in the bottom of the fifth tied the game for LIC (2-5 Queens West A) before it was called because of rain and lightning.
Forest Hills 24, Robert F. Wagner 2. Nison Aronov was 2-for-3 with four RBIs, Adam Smilowitz was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored and Matt Soblick added two RBIs for the Rangers (10-8, 3-1 Queens North B). Robert F. Wagner falls to 0-4 in Queens North B.
Edison 17, Van Buren 4. Miguel Espinal went 4-for-4 with three runs and an RBI while twin brother Angel Espinal went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for Edison (2-2 Queens A East).
Aviation 9, Long Island City 3. Estevban Nunez was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, Ronny Vargas was 3-for-3 with two runs and Jose Hernandez was 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Aviation (2-5 Queens A West).
Adams 9, Cleveland 3. Daniel Cabrera fanned four and had five hits and Jose Soriano was 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Spartans.
— Anthony Bosco contributed to this story
