Long before Nick DiLeo’s first pitch last night, Xaverian coach Lou Piccola was concerned.
The Clippers cruised to the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens division title and claimed the top seed in the Class A intersectional tournament. But Xaverian never faced a left-handed starter this season.
The Clippers first experience wasn’t a very positive one. Xavier’s sophomore southpaw stymied Xaverian’s powerful lineup en route to a shocking 4-3 upset at Kaiser Stadium on the campus of St. John’s University in the opening game of the CHSAA Class A intersectional tournament.
“Lefties will probably give us a bit of trouble because we haven’t faced a lefty starter, we have three lefties in our lineup,” Piccola said. “We are who we are. We needed a couple of righty hitters, but the kid pitched a hell of a game. That’s the bottom line.”
DiLeo allowed just four hits, two coming in the Clippers’ three-run sixth inning. Utilizing an effective change-up and spotting his fastball, DiLeo got even stronger in the seventh, retiring the Clippers in order.
“You can’t take anything for granted and we never did,” Piccola said. “We came in here really in a good frame of mind and the kid took us out early. He had us off balance, we were popping up. I tip my hat, give them today and hopefully we see them again somewhere.”
Xaverian starter Frank Catalano pitched well, but one of his few mistakes was a two-out walk to DiLeo in the top of the sixth to load the bases. He then grazed Matt Drucker with a curveball to break the scoreless tie and Xavier catcher Brian McKenna followed with a two-run single to left.
Catalano struck out James McCool, but the pitch got away from Xaverian catcher Elvin Soto. The star junior bounced up, grabbed the ball and appeared ready to make a routine throw to first. Instead, Soto charged up the line before overthrowing Ortiz at first. With no one covering the plate, and no one at second, Drucker scored and McCool ended up at second.
It was a rare blunder from a Xaverian squad that has forged a reputation as solid defensively.
“I told you, it’s baseball,” Piccola said. “That’s the way it is.”
While No. 8 Xavier (15-6) advances to the winner’s bracket to meet fourth-seeded Stepinac today at Fordham University, top-seeded Xaverian (18-2) faces an elimination game against division rival Bishop Ford at Kaiser Stadium.
With senior Eric Wlasiuk on the mound, Piccola is confident his team will respond.
“I really believe if there’s any team that can come out of [the loser’s bracket] and win the whole thing, we can,” Piccola said. “We saw everybody. We’ll take one game at a time and we’ll see.”