Iona’s Vincent Romano is met by his teammates after scoring the game’s lone run. (robert cole)
Tim McCarthy had an audition 10 days ago, coming out of the bullpen to shut down Fordham Prep as the Gaels won the Bronx/Westchester division title in a one-run game.
Back at Coffey Field yesterday afternoon, the lanky junior shut down the Rams again, this time pitching a complete-game, two-hitter as Iona Prep beat archrival Fordham Prep, 1-0, in its opener in the CHSAA Class AA championship tournament.
“I was just comfortable,” McCarthy said. “I got the first couple of outs and got into a groove on the mound.”
The third-seeded Gaels (16-5) advance to the winners bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will meet No. 2 Monsignor Farrell Thursday night at Fordham University. No. 6 Fordham Prep (14-8) meets seventh-seeded Xavier in an elimination game Thursday afternoon at St. John’s.
“It’s so important,” longtime Iona Prep coach Fred Gallo said of getting that opening win in the double-elimination tournament.
With a late-breaking curveball and a two-seam fastball that was cutting inside, McCarthy silenced a Fordham Prep attack that scored nine runs in two innings Tuesday in an 11-1 rout of Monsignor McClancy.
He gave up a one-out bloop single to center by Kevin Brady in the first and a two-out bunt single by Andrew Velazquez in the fifth. He struck out five and walked four, never letting a Fordham Prep runner reach third.
“What can you do? That’s a good baseball team, as are we,” Fordham Prep coach Pat Deane said. “Every game is like that. Their kid pitched well, but we just couldn’t get that big hit. We had a few sparks, but things just didn’t go our way.”
McCarthy’s season started out slowly, with tendonitis in his pitching shoulder sidelining him for three weeks, and there’s been a few rough outings since he’s been back. But he was spectacular in relief in the 1-0 win against Fordham Prep 10 days ago, solid out of the pen vs. Xaverian and brilliant yesterday.
“He pitched well again, super-duper dynamic,” Gallo said. “Gumby struck again.”
Gumby is Gallo’s nickname for the 6-foot-5 McCarthy. Every player on the roster, it seems, has a nickname from Lurch (Cristian Fiorito) to Cadillac (Justin Muratore).
Nick Salzano is no different.
“They call me Quick Nick,” the centerfielder said.
Salzano showed why in the sixth inning after Justin Palladino’s two-out single to right field. Vinny Romano came in as a courtesy runner for the catcher.
“Vinny’s a fast kid so I said I’ve got to get it in the gap, down the line, anywhere where it’s going to be a tough play,” Salzano said.
He did just that, using his quick hands to turn on Elio Fernandez’s first pitch and putting it down the left-field line. Romano scored from first for the game’s first, and only, run.
“It was just ridiculous, emotions going crazy,” Salzano said. “I knew we were winning after that.”
Gallo played a hunch and moved Salzano up from seventh to fifth in the order, a move that paid dividends in the sixth.
“Let’s just say Nicky rose to the occasion today,” Gallo said. “Coach put him in the fifth hole for the first time all season. You know why? Because the last game we played he hit two line drives.”
Fordham Prep wasted a great outing by Fernandez, who allowed one run on six hits, striking out three with one walk. But Deane promised the Rams would have their hitting shoes on with the season on the line Thursday.
“We’ve been down this road before,” Deane said, referring to winning the 2009 title by coming out of the losers bracket. “Our backs are against the wall and we’ll come out swinging tomorrow and get a lot of hits together and put some runs up. We won’t go down quietly, I can tell you that.”