By Patrick McCormack
Everything Beach Channel had worked for all year appeared ready to fall out of reach in a heartbreaking defeat, but a game-saving throw by centerfielder Antonio Moccia gave senior Kely Aponte a second chance to fulfill the promise he made to his team.
Aponte went on to spark a ninth-inning rally to lead the 10th-seeded Dolphins to a 7-5 victory over No. 5 Bronx Science and earn the school its first PSAL Class B championship at Yankee Stadium June 12. Aponte had two RBIs and pitched six and two thirds innings. He had wanted to do whatever he could to complete the program’s four-year rebuilding process.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Aponte said. “From the beginning of the season, I promised them I was going to take them to the championship, and take it all the way. That’s what I did.”
None of that would have been possible without Moccia’s heroics in the seventh. They came after Bronx Science (17-4) rallied from two runs down to tie the score at 5-5 after a retreating Moccia had a drive by Bronx Science’s Daniel Bonfiglio bounce off his glove.
Wolverine third baseman Alex Grun tested Moccia again with the bases loaded when he lifted a ball to shallow center. But Moccia caught the ball and gunned down Bronx Science’s Ben Kravitz at the plate.
“I saw the ball in the air. I got behind it,” Moccia said. “I said, ‘I have to get this kid out to save the game,’ and I just threw it.”
Beach Channel Coach John Mangieri has seen big plays all season from Moccia, who also made two diving catches in the championship contest.
“He is a tremendous centerfielder. He has done it all year long, but I was at the top of my step and I was definitely sweating it out,” he said.
Beach Channel (17-2) scored two runs in the top of the ninth to secure the win. Aponte, who reached on a throwing error, came home on a bases-loaded walk to Sergio Galdamez, and the go-ahead run and an RBI double by David Polanco put the Dolphins up 7-5.
Sophomore Marvin Hernandez, who relieved Aponte for the final two outs of the seventh, shut Bronx Science down in the two extra frames to secure the nine-inning championship.
It appeared earlier in the game that Beach Channel was about to celebrate after it scored four times in the fourth inning off Bronx Science starter Glen Price. Two bases-loaded walks, a two-run single by Aponte and a Moccia sac fly gave the Dolphins a 5-3 lead in the sixth.
The road to the title certainly hasn’t been an easy one for Beach Channel. The Dolphins were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs during the last three seasons and struggled after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Rockaway Peninsula, where the school is located and many of the players live, in 2012. Beach Channel was also doubted because of the size of the team roster. It was hard for even Dolphins players to imagine winning the city title.
“I dreamed of it,” Moccia said. “And it happened.”
