By Anthony Bosco
The St. Francis Prep varsity baseball team defeated the Monsignor McClancy Crusaders, 10-5, Monday afternoon at Cunningham Park, putting the Terriers in position to lock up second place in the Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan standings with one more win.
Prep, one game ahead of the Xaverian Clippers in the loss column, needed to defeat crosstown rivals Holy Cross Tuesday or Christ the King Wednesday. St. Francis holds the tie-breaker over Xaverian if the two teams finish the regular season with identical records.
“We haven't got into any prolonged losing streaks,” said St. Francis head coach Bro. Robert Kent. “After we lost we've come right back.”
Prep showed no ill effects against McClancy after dropping a crucial league game Friday to first-place Archbishop Molloy, 6-0. The Terriers hit the ball hard and got just enough starting pitching from hurler Mark Foris to outlast a determined Crusaders club.
The Terriers got on the board first in the bottom of the second when a two-out single by Pete Mazzurco coupled with three McClancy errors in the inning plated two runs.
McClancy rightfielder Chris Cesario's sacrifice fly in the top of the third scored the Crusaders' first run to cut the deficit in half, but two more Prep runs in the inning on a Mark Burik home run to left-center made the score 4-1.
Steve Kroski's two-out single in the fourth scored Kevin Conlin and Ed Gonzalez to pull McClancy within one again, 4-3. But Prep bounced right back, exploding for six runs in the bottom of the inning, including two more RBIs by Burik, making the score 10-3.
Vinny Johnson bounced out to second, scoring David Copello in the fifth. Copello scored again in the seventh when Cesario reached on a throwing error by Foris.
Prep improved to 11-5 in league play, while McClancy dropped to 7-9 in CHSAA action.
Xaverian 13, Christ the King 1. Robert Yodice had two hits and drove in three, while Pedro Beato went the distance, striking out 10 for the Clippers Monday.
St. Edmund Prep 10-4, Holy Cross 6-3. The Knights dropped two games Monday to Brooklyn's St. Edmund Prep, falling to 2-13 on the league season.
Archbishop Molloy 4, Monsignor McClancy 2. James Lally gave up four hits, struck out seven and gave up two unearned runs, which was good enough for the win. Jovan Santos' RBI-single in the sixth gave the Stanners the lead for good. Senior catcher Nick Derba provided the rest of the offense, smacking a home run and driving in two as Molloy improved to 18-2 overall and 13-2 in league play.
Archbishop Molloy 6, St. Francis Prep 0. In Friday's marquee match-up, Stanners' starter Brian Honeyman was the difference, allowing five hits with five strikeouts to keep Molloy alone in first place. Derba and Santos each had a home run and two RBIs in the win.
Monsignor McClancy 8, Christ the King 4. The Crusaders were led by starter Kevin Conlin, who struck out 12 in the win last week.
Christ the King 7, Holy Cross 1. Royals starter Robert Boland shut down the Knights, allowing only three hits. The offense was provided by Marcos Vazquez, who belted a home run and drove in three.
St. Francis Prep 6, Xaverian 1. Danny Weinman's three-hitter kept the Terriers one step ahead of the Clippers in the race for second place, while P.J. Gorynski drove in two on four hits.
Archbishop Molloy 18, St. Edmund Prep 0. Eric Hand went the distance, striking out four and allowing just four hits, and Nick Nalalis belted a three-run homer as the Stanners stormed St. Edmund with a 10-run second.
St. John's Prep 6, Bishop Ford 4. Greg Jones picked up the win while striking out 10, and Carl Garcia's double in the seventh brought home two to seal the win for the Red Storm, which improved to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Richmond Hill 11, Van Buren 1. Steven Torbino went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs scored, Armando Wellington went 1-for-2 with two runs scored, and Ted Riofrio struck out eight and allowed two hits in five innings for Richmond Hill (5-5 Queens East A).
Cardozo 14, Francis Lewis 3. Danny Rosenbluth struck out 12 and Bernie Estevez and Constantine Benetis each homered for Cardozo (17-7, 10-2 Queens East A) in a mercy-rule shortened five innings.
John Bowne 4, Bayside 2. Jonathan Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored, and Joel Valerio and Enrique Zenteno each went 2-for-3 while Anthony Brisita scattered three hits while striking out 10 and walking one for Bowne (5-5 Queens East A).
Newtown 7, Aviation 6. Junior Ramirez went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh and struck out eight for Newtown (5-6 Queens West A).
John Adams 4, Grover Cleveland 1. Johnny Lluberes tossed a no-hitter, striking out 11, while Pedro Sanchez and Alex Cordero each went 2-for-3 for John Adams (30-2-2, 12-0 Queens West A).
Jamaica 9, Robert F. Wagner 7. Jonathan Ganesh went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four stolen bases, Alexis Villamar went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Kevin Mongru tripled and drove in two runs for Jamaica (4-6 Queens Central B). Rafael Guzman went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Esteban Ortiz, who struck out and allowed four earned runs, had a double and two RBIs for Wagner (0-11 Queens North B).
Grover Cleveland 7, Van Buren 1. Bobby Manzolillo went 2-for-2 with a triple and three RBIs, James DeBernardo went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, and John Dobkowski allowed two hits while striking out 12 with two walks for Cleveland (7-3 Queens West A).
Aviation 10, John Bowne 0. Ronny Vargas tossed a two-hit complete-game shutout, striking out 15, while Daniel Marte and Michael Heilbron each drove in three runs for Aviation (4-9 Queens West A).
Cardozo 9, Bushwick 6. Bernie Estevez went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored, and Danny Rosenbluth, who picked up the win in relief, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for the Judges, who trailed 5-0 heading into the sixth inning.
John Adams 13, Thomas Edison 0. Lluberes and Louie Gioppo each went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, Carlos Guzman homered and drove in two runs, and Papo Cabrera made his return to the mound, striking out eight and allowing just one hit in five innings for John Adams (11-0 Queens West A).
Arts and Business 8, Renaissance 0. Kevin Vilches went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs scored, and Joshua Mensche went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Arts and Business (3-6 Queens Central B).
Beach Channel 16, Hillcrest 2. Andrew Chaluisant went 3-for-4 with two doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored, and Emmanuel Fuentes, Kenneth Magnussen, Carlton Abrams and Rubi Ramos each drove in two runs for Beach Channel (9-3 Queens South B).
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
