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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Grand Street rode its 1–2 pitching combination of Alex Cuas and Emanuel Castellano to the semifinals, but couldn’t go any further.
The lineup and the defense didn’t help Cuas in the ninth-seed Wolves’ 3–2 Game 1 loss to No. 4 Tottenville last Friday, and Castellano couldn’t stop a 15–0 season-ending defeat the next day in the second game of the Public School Athletic League baseball semifinals at the College of Staten Island. The effects of the first loss clearly carried over into the next game.
“The energy today wasn’t very high,” Castellano said after the Game 2 loss. “It dragged on from yesterday. We didn’t get the job done today.”
It was an emotional day for Grand Street as former coach Melvin Martinez, who led the Wolves to the 2012 city title, was in uniform in the dugout after taking a medical leave this year. His brother Steve Martinez took over the team this season, but Melvin Martinez plans on being back next spring. His players wished they could have put on a better performance.
“When he’s in the dugout it is always positive energy,” Castellano said. “He’s always telling us to keep our head high.”
Things fell apart for Grand Street (16–5) in the fourth as Tottenville (22–1) plated six runs. Two walks and a single by Joseph Sadallah loaded the bases for the top of the Pirates’ order. Robert Dadona delivered a RBI single to make it 5–0 and an intentional walk to No. 2 hitter Christopher Deddo again loaded the bases.
Stephen Edelstein broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple to right field. Vincent Burrafato singled to increase the Pirates’ lead to 9–0 to chase out Castellano, who struggled to throw his off-speed pitches for strikes. Tottenville, which had 15 hits in the game, scored four more runs in the fifth.
“He tried his best,” Steve Martinez said of Castellano. “It’s hard given that pressure, with the amount of errors we’ve been making per game, it forces pitchers to have to make a perfect pitch every single time, and that’s hard.”
The Wolves, who managed just a double from Marcus Chavez and eight walks, had chances to keep it a game in the early innings against Tottenville starter Thomas Musso. They loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the first, and with the Pirates only up 3–0, had runners on first and second with a two way in the second and third. Each time the big hit eluded them.
Grand Street fell behind 3–0 after four innings in Game 1, but was able to battle back that time. It scored twice in the fifth, but it could have scored more had Tyquwan Morales not been thrown out trying to steal home as Roberto Valdez attempted to steal second. Marcus Chavez delivered an RBI single to make it 3–1, but he was later thrown out trying to steal second. Ruben Vazquez drove in the final Grand Street run in the sixth. He was stranded on third with no outs to end the frame by Tottenville reliever Mark Birkbeck.
“The kids knew that we gave that one away yesterday,” Steve Martinez said. “Even with all those mistakes, we still had an opportunity to tie the game and even take the lead.”
The series loss brings to an end a roller-coaster season for Grand Street that started with Melvin Martinez stepping down and a rocky close to the regular season that dropped them to second in the division. The Wolves responded by beating division rival Midwood and top-seeded Monroe in the playoffs en route to the semifinals.
“We kept moving forward the best we could,” Steve Martinez said.