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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: Grand Street outlasts Monroe in nine innings for quarterfinal victory

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See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.

By Joseph Staszewski

Brooklyn Daily

The whimper with which Grand Street Campus entered the playoffs is long forgotten. The Wolves righted things and is roaring in the semifinals.

No. 9-seeded Grand Street gutted out two extra-inning postseason wins, including a 7–3 triumph over No. 1 James Monroe in the Public School Athletic League baseball quarterfinals on Tuesday at John Adams. The victory followed a 6–5 win in 13 innings against No. 8 and division champion Midwood.

Grand Street will make its fourth-straight appearance in the best-of-three series semifinals against No. 4 Tottenville this weekend at a site and time to be determined. Grand Street’s coach knows his players are eager, not tired.

“Twenty-one innings in two games — [they’re] relentless, determined, hungry,” said Wolves coach Steve Martinez. “They believe in each other and it showed the last couple of games.”

Senior ace Alex Cuas, who allowed just one run in three innings of relief, said the team began to lose confidence in itself after dropping two of its final three regular season games and placing second in the division. He and his team saw the playoffs as a chance for redemption and a fresh start.

“Our season was up and down, but we collected ourselves,” Cuas said.

Grand Street, which left 16 runners on base and drew 13 walks, finally busted out with a five-run top of the ninth inning to grab a 7–2 advantage. It started with a bases-loaded walk by Mateo Gil to put the Wolves up for good at 3–2. Then Roberto Valdez and Brandon Sinche each delivered RBI singles. Marcos Chavez, who was two-for-four with two walks, broke the game open with a two-run double.

“We were overdue,” Martinez said.

The coach got a stellar outing from starter Emanuel Castellano. The senior surrendered just one earned run on two hits while striking out eight over six innings. He stranded runners on second and third with no outs in the second, and first and second with one out in the third. Monroe used seven different pitchers, including ace and starter Dariel Checo.

“We have the best pitchers in the PSAL,” Chavez said of Castellano and Cuas. “Our 1–2 combo, I don’t think anyone can beat them when they are at their best.”

The Wolves (17–3) took a 2–1 lead in the fifth when Chavez drove in a run with a single and Vasquez forced a run in with a bases-loaded walk. Monroe (18–1) evened things up at 2–2 with the help of three Grand Street errors in the sixth.

Grand Street fought and persevered through all of it. The poor regular season finish is long forgotten and morale after beating Monroe is certainly high moving forward.

“They’re the No. 1 seed,” Cuas said. “We beat supposedly the best team in the tournament. Motivation is high. Confidence is high going into the next round.”

Reach reporter Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@cnglocal.com. Follow him on twitter @cng_staszewski.

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