By Joseph Staszewski
Chants of “MVP” rang out through Yankee Stadium as Cardozo star Keith Rogers stood at the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to win his team a title.
Comfortable in the clutch moment, the senior proved every one of the hundreds of screaming Judges’ fans correct at the PSAL Class A baseball final. He lined an RBI single to left field to bring home Noah Cabrera for what proved to be the winning run in the top of the seventh inning.
Rogers. who is the team’s quiet leader, stayed calm and didn’t overthink the moment, even after making outs in his previous two at-bats.
“I was just happy to be clutch,” he said.
His composure and his performance were no different from what he’s done throughout the sixth-seeded Judges’ unexpected city title run, which culminated in a 3-1 victory over No. 4 Tottenville in the city championship in the Bronx June 12. Rogers, who was 11-0 on the mound this year, allowed just one run on two hits and struck out seven in six innings of work.
“He’s the true MVP,” fellow senior Jun Young Lim said.
Rogers, along with plenty of help from his teammates, powered the Judges to their first crown since 1988. They did so by beating No. 3 Telecommunications in the quarterfinals and coming back from a game down to best No. 2 George Washington in the semifinals. The title comes in the same year the school’s basketball team won a city championship.
“Now I’m speechless and the feeling is unreal,” senior centerfielder Chris Campbell said. “Our whole team worked hard for this. We said at the beginning of the year we were going to fight. We came through as the underdogs.”
Cardozo (21-2) added an insurance run after Rogers’ big hit, thanks to a throwing error by Tottenville catcher James Wise, to make it 3-1. Lim relieved Rogers for the bottom of the frame and didn’t mess around. He struck out the side to end the game, then threw his glove high in the air in celebration.
“It’s the best moment of my life,” he said.
The Judges set a good tone early on in the game. Campbell delivered an RBI double over the head of Joseph Sadallah in right to give his team a 1-0 lead in the first inning. That held up until the sixth as Rogers allowed just three base runners over the first five frames. The Pirates (22-2) evened the score at 1-1 on a bloop single to left by Wise with two outs. Rogers forced a batter to pop up to left to avoid further damage.
The Judges then proceeded to load the bases with no outs against Tottenville starter Thomas Musso. Cardozo’s Cabrera, who scored twice, and Jonathan Lane both walked and Robert Garcia got on base on an error. Campbell popped up for the first out, but Rogers came through with the big hit in the big moment.
“This is an incredible athlete, and you’d never know he’s even on the team, that’s how quiet he is,” Cardozo Coach Ron Gorecki said.
His team, which had freshmen and sophomores playing major roles, made you take notice with what it accomplished on the field on the other hand. As others doubted if Cardozo had enough to beat some of the city’s best programs, the Judges kept winning until there was nothing left to prove.
“No one really expected us to make it this far,” Rogers said. “I think it’s unreal to be called the underdogs and then finally win a city championship after 26 years.”
