By Anthony Bosco
The ball sailed high off the bat of Moore Catholic’s Matt McNichol and went down the right field line, tailing away toward the line. But Archbishop Molloy’s Mike Shea had plenty of time, gliding to his left and camping under the shot, which came to rest in his mitt.
And with that, Archbishop Molloy wrapped up a 5-2 victory over the Staten Island club in the Catholic High School Athletic Association city championship game played Monday morning at Shea Stadium.
Starting pitcher Matt Fealey paced the Stanners, giving up just two runs and five hits while striking out four en route to the complete-game victory against the Cinderella team of the CHSAA.
It was Moore Catholic (23-11) that ousted the pre-season favorite Xaverian Clippers — a team that took three games from Molloy during the regular season — to make it to the championship. But a shaky first two innings for Mavericks’ starter Joe Rizzo was all Molloy needed offensively to cement the win.
“That was great,” Curran said of his team’s fast start. “We jumped all over him. He’s a fastball pitcher and we hit him pretty good. They’ve hit fastballs well all year.”
Rich Romeo led off the top of the first for Molloy by working Rizzo into a full count and drawing a walk. Keith Hahn followed with a single to right, advancing Romeo to third on the play. Mike Baxter then stepped up and hit a long fly ball to left, which brought home the first run.
A bizarre play followed, with Hahn on first and designated hitter Bill Miller at the plate. Miller grounded to third baseman Brian Wohlfit, who fired to first baseman Vinny Arrangio for the out. Hahn, who was running on the play, tried to make it to third, but looked like he would be out on Arrangio’s throw to first.
The throw, however, got away from Wohlfit, who tumbled onto the sliding Hahn and seemed to purposely lay on top of the runner as the ball skipped toward the stands. Hahn was allowed to score on a ruling by third base umpire Paul Gilvary, making the score 2-0 in the first.
McNichol led off the first, reaching on an error by Romeo, but Fealey struck out John Tingos and educed Rizzo to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play to end the home half of the first without incident, even though he was not throwing well.
“I know I didn’t have my best stuff today,” said the lanky senior who will pitch for Yale next year. “I missed my spots a little bit and my curveball wasn’t where I wanted it. I have to trust [Molloy catcher Nick] Derba behind the plate. I know he’s going to call a great game and I think I settled down a little bit. It turned out for the better.”
Fealey found out he was getting the start just the day before. Teammate Matt Bunyan was to get the start Thursday, when the game was originally scheduled, but rainouts on successive days pushed the game to Monday, allowing Curran to go with his ace.
Fealey already had recorded two shutouts in the post-season, including an impressive 3-0 decision win over the Iona Prep Gaels. Three more runs by the Stanners in the top of the second helped the pitcher settle into a groove that kept the Moore Catholic batters off balance the rest of the way.
“Matt didn’t have his good stuff today,” Curran said. “What he is is a great competitor. He never walks people. He throws strikes.”
“He didn’t have his best curveball today,” Derba said of Fealey. “In the first two innings he was a little shaky with it. But he had confidence in it and he just threw it. When he finally started throwing it he had the hitters off balance.”
Derba led off the second with a double to left which landed on the warning track and bounced off the wall. After Matt Rizzotti popped out to third, Shea singled to left to put runners on the corners. Anthony Vernaci then stepped up and blasted a shot to right-center which went all the way to the wall, scoring both Derba and Shea to put Molloy in front, 4-0.
Romeo then singled to left to score Vernaci and make the lead 5-0. Moore Catholic head coach Nick Doscher then pulled Rizzo for McNichol, who retired Hahn and Baxter to end the inning.
Moore got one back in the bottom of the second on two singles by John DeFrancesco and Joe Cordero and an error by first baseman John Shipman at first off the bat of Joe Perrotto.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that Moore added another run, as Wohlfit was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and McNichol bounced into a force play. McNichol then stole second and came around to score when Rizzo singled to right.
But that was all the offense the Mavericks could muster. Fealey bore down in the sixth and seventh innings, retiring Moore Catholic 1-2-3 in each stanza.
“I’ve never pitched like this in my life,” Fealey said. “I’ll never forget it. It’s unbelievable. What a way to end senior year.
“I knew we were good enough to win it,” the pitcher added. “I knew if we played our game there was no way we should have lost. It was a great season all around.”
Reach Sports Editor Anthony Bosco by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 130.
