NYC baseball rankings

Neither school had its prom Saturday night, but Tottenville and St. Joseph by the Sea were undoubtedly in party mode. The Pirates won their 11th PSAL Class A city title Friday night while the Vikings claimed their first CHSAA Class A intersectional crown on Saturday.

Yes, Huguenot is the center of the New York City high-school baseball world right now. It was a memorable final days to the baseball season as Tottenville needed 10 innings to get by Lehman and Sea was pushed to the brink by Xavier. We have it all here in our final top 10 of the season.

1. Tottenville (23-1) (Last week: 2)

Jon Silva’s gutsy 10-inning, 141-pitch gem will go down in the Tottenville record books as one of the greatest pitching performances in the Huguenot school’s revered history. It wasn’t necessarily the crispest effort – the hard-throwing Pace University-bound southpaw did issue eight free passes – but Silva was at his best with his back against the wall, stranding eight runners in all.

Next: Season over

2. St. Joseph by the Sea (19-3) (1)

The Vikings made history Sunday, becoming only the second team from Staten Island, joining two-time winner Moore Catholic, to win the CHSAA Class A intersectional title. Frank Stavola pitched the game of his life, tossing a complete-game four-hitter in a 3-1 win against Xavier at St. John’s. Stavola and fellow senior starters Nick Pavia, Joe Stabach, Chris Ramanauskas, Matt Cangro and Nick Galli will go down in history as the first to ever win the title at Sea.

Next: Season over

3. Lehman (18-5) (2)

Jhosse Estrella’s season-saving play with the bases loaded in the eighth inning Friday night will be remembered much like Endy Chavez’s home run-robbing catch in the 2006 NLCS for the New York Mets. It was a memorable, clutch play that ultimately won’t be glorified nearly as much had the player’s team found a way to win. The shortstop’s sliding stop of the ball hit up the middle by Kevin Krause and flip to second was, in its own right, spectacular.

Next: Season over

4. Xavier (18-8) (8)

It was a magical run for the Knights, who fell one win shy of winning their first CHSAA Class A title on Sunday. Four seniors, ace Rob Maguire, catcher Brian McKenna, shortstop Stephen Vorvolakos and center fielder Dom Gatta, will leave, but everyone else, including junior leader James McCool and sophomore sensation Nick DiLeo, is back.

Next: Season over

5. James Monroe (18-1) (3)

What a drought. Monroe has now gone four full seasons – four! – without adding hardware to its trophy case. In all seriousness, it just shows how difficult it is to win it all. The Eagles seemed to have all the ingredients – two aces at the top of the rotation, a potent lineup, and solid defensive club – to at least get to MCU Park.

Next: Season over

6. St. Raymond (17-8) (3)

Tuesday night marked an end of an era in The Bronx as Ron Patnosh stepped down after 45 years as head coach. He started the baseball program at St. Ray’s and while someone else will be coaching the Ravens next year, no one will be able to fill his shoes. He finishes up with 1,080 career wins, only one of three coaches in New York City with more than 1,000, and a pair of CHSAA titles.

Next: Season over

7. James Madison (20-2) (4)

The Knights are still looking for that elusive city title after another successful, if not quite satisfying, season. Madison went undefeated in Brooklyn A West for the second time in three season and reached the semifinals for the third straight spring. Vinny Caiazza doesn’t get enough credit for the job he does year in and year out.

Next: Season over

8. George Washington (19-2) (5)

George Washington fell short of the city title – its ultimate goal – but the Trojans enjoyed yet another watershed season. Steve Mandl picked up his 900th victory as coach of the powerhouse program and Mike Antonio was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the third round last week, the Washington Heights school’s highest pick since Manny Ramirez went 13th overall to the Cleveland Indians in 1991.

Next: Season over

9. Xaverian (19-3) (9)

St. Joe’s brings back several starters from the CHSAA championship squad and brings up a few from the JV champs, Xavier returns all but four players and should also be in the conversation for next year. But do not rule out Xaverian, which brings back its entire infield from a team that had a pair of one-run losses and won the Brooklyn/Queens division title.

Next: Season over

10. Morris (16-3) (6)

After this season’s second-place finish in Bronx A East, the best division in the city, and quarterfinal berth, Morris should be included among the PSAL’s handful of elite programs. Rich Corbo has done wonders in a short period of time at The Bronx school, leading it to the ‘B’ title two years ago, the second round of the ‘A’ last season, and final eight this spring.