By Joseph Staszewski
Keith Rogers has lived and thrived in the big moment all season.
The Benjamin Cardozo ace had pitched his team to the semifinals by tossing a one-hitter against Telecommunications in the quarterfinals. Navigating through a potent George Washington lineup with the season on the line proved more difficult, but Rogers again proved up to the task.
The senior allowed just one run on four hits over six innings of work. Rogers got out of a bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth to help preserve a 3-1 victory for the No. 6-seeded Judges over No. 2 George Washington in the decisive Game 3 of the PSAL Class A baseball semifinals Monday at the College of Staten Island.
He even got George Washington’s best hitter, Wesley Rodriguez, to ground out to end the fifth. Rogers, who has 10 PSAL wins this season, took it to heart that the Trojans didn’t think he was strong enough to get the job done.
“It’s not as much pressure as everyone thinks,” he said. “From the dugout, I hear them screaming, ‘He’s tired. He’s tired.’ That just motivates me more. It doesn’t bother me whatsoever. I live for moments like that.”
Cardozo (20-2) will gets another big moment when it takes on No. 4 Tottenville at 7 p.m. next Thursday at Yankees Stadium with the city title on the line. It is the school’s first championship game appearance in more than two decades, according to Coach Ron Gorecki.
His team earned it by rallying from a game down in the best of three semifinal series. The Trojans came back from a three-run deficit to win Game 1 by a score of 7-3 Saturday, and Dozo bounced back by holding on for a 3-1 win in Game 2 the next day behind starter Demitri Sanchez and a big hit from Christopher Campbell.
The Judges think they had to earn people’s respect.
“Since we are from Queens, right there we are underestimated because we are from Queens,” said sophomore Aldwin Corona, who scored on an error in the first inning of Game 3. “It feels good to make it here.”
George Washington (19-3) tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the first, thanks to an RBI single from Enrique Cardoza. The Judges received a clutch hit in the top of the fifth when Aldwin Corona singled to right to score Campbell, who led off the frame with a triple. A throwing error by the right fielder on the play also plated Sanchez to make it 3-1.
“I was just trying to read the seams on the ball and put the ball in play and hit it up the middle,” said Corona, who also tossed a scoreless ninth inning in Game 3. “I didn’t try to do too much.”
The clutch hit was similar to the way Campbell delivered in Game 2. His two-run double in the sixth put the Judges up for good at 2-1. It was one of just two hits against Rodriguez, the GW ace. Cardozo freshman pitcher Isaiah Mirabel later got out of a bases loaded, two-out jam in the sixth to close things out.
“All game he was throwing me outside fastballs, outside fastballs,” Campbell said. “I changed my approach. I saw the ball and put a pretty good swing on it.”
The victory allowed Rogers to get the ball in Game 3 with a chance to pitch Cardozo to Yankee Stadium. His teammates knew they were in good hands, and Rogers delivered.
“We want Keith on the mound,” senior Kevin Bongiovanni said. “I know Keith and us seniors definitely want to win the chip. We want to play at Yankee Stadium.”
