By JOSEPH STASZEWSKI
St. Francis Prep was thinking of one more season-saving comeback.
Earlier in the postseason, the Terriers rallied from a seven-run deficit in the fifth inning to beat Moore Catholic and eventually take the deciding third game of the third-round qualifying series.
Against All Hallows, with its year three outs from completion, SFP had the tying run at the plate with no outs in the top of the seventh and Navy-bound catcher Chris Cannon a base runner away from getting one last crack at the plate.
“We were hoping for something,” Cannon said. “We didn’t wake up until the last inning. With the little energy that we had, we were hoping.”
No. 8 St. Francis Prep would get just a run on a wild pitch after Danny Finn walked and Gabriel Gonzalez singled. Cannon was left in the on deck circle once John Mendez struck out and Tom McKenna flied to center as the Terriers fell to the fourth-seeded Gaels 3-1 Friday in the losers bracket of the CHSAA Class AA baseball championship tournament at St. John’s University’s Jack Kaiser Stadium.
“Unfortunately, we just had two hits,” starter Sam Gaitan said. “You can’t win with two hits.”
St. Francis Prep (12-11) left five runners in scoring position over five different innings and Cannon’s postseason struggles continued with an 0-for-3 day with men on base. All Hallows starter Jayson Reyes walked four and struck out six.
“You have to hit as a team,” Terriers Coach Brother Robert Kent said. “We didn’t hit as a team. You can’t rely on one guy. Everyone has to do it.”
The lack of offensive wasted a superb performance from Gaitan. He allowed six hits, walked five and struck out six. Three of those hits came in a row in the third when All Hallows (14-7) got a run on a Stephan Alemais single and another on a sac fly from Juliane Mateo to take a 2-0 lead.
“Everything was on,” Gaitan said. “My two-seam was there, my curveball was there, just one bad inning.”
All Hallows added an insurance run in the sixth when Luigi Batista drove a ball into the gap in right center. Kent argued that the ball went through the open door of the Prep bullpen and should have been a ground-rule double. It would have likely kept the run off the board.
“I said even if we did leave it open, it’s still a ground-rule double,” said Kent.
The only thing grounded was the Terriers’ chance to continue its playoff run.
“It just wasn’t happening today,” Cannon said. “We were struggling with the bats.”
