Staten Island is two games away from getting a team into the Little League World Series.
After knocking off Pennsylvania 7-0 Monday afternoon in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, Staten Island is so close it can taste it. Pitching ace Greg Bruno struck out 11 batters and allowed just two hits in five innings to advance the team to the winners’ bracket final.
Led by Bruno, who boasts a mid-70s fastball, and shortstop Steven Martinez, Staten Island is near the culmination of a journey that started three years ago, when the current group of players was 10.
That year, the squad didn’t make it out of Staten Island in a tournament setting. Last year, it won the state title. This year, who knows?
“Early on, our first year, we had a lot of good players that they really — more ‘me’ guys, I think, than team guys,” coach Joe Calabrese said in a phone interview. “And the more we’ve been doing this, they’ve really grown, come together as a team. More of a family atmosphere. These kids love each other. They’re with each other all the time — even on their off days, they’re hanging out, doing things, going to the beach, whatever they do. Not that they get many off days, but when they do. So that’s the biggest thing. I think they worry more about the team and what’s gonna happen to them as a whole as opposed to individually.”
Calabrese has a long history with Staten Island baseball, but this is the first time he’s taken a team this far while in the dugout. Despite registering just four hits Monday, his team strolled to a comfortable win. He’s confident it can now go further. Staten Island will face either New Jersey or Maryland in their winners’ bracket final, which is scheduled to take place Wednesday.
“I’ve seen what’s out here, and I know what we got,” he said. “And I don’t care who we play, where we play — when we do what we have to do, we’re extremely tough to beat. That I know.”
— additional reporting by Jake Nisse