It's the most basic path to success in the game of baseball: Throw strikes. When you do, good things usually happen. When you don't, problems multiply quickly.

On Saturday, Canisius threw strikes and St. Joe's didn't. As a result, the Georgetown Cup playoffs for the Monsignor Martin championship will go to a third and deciding game.

The Crusaders defeated the Marauders, 12-5, in a game played at Canisius College's Koessler Athletic Center. The teams will return to that field at noon Sunday to settle the matter of who's better, as St. Joe's had won Friday's opener, 4-3.

"I thought we played well (Friday)," Crusaders coach Justin Santonocito said. "We had some opportunities. We left seven or eight guys on base. So I wasn't upset with how we played. We carried it over to today. We swung it pretty well."

Canisius was quick to capitalize on St. Joe's inability to keep the ball in the strike zone. In the case of starter Max Stanger, the control problems were understandable.

"He's got a break in his leg," St. Joe's coach Paul Nasca said. "He went out and gutted it out, but it was time to make the move (of replacing him) because he was struggling a bit. … I'm very appreciative of his efforts."

Victor Mazzara led off the game with a walk, Drew Podlas was hit by a pitch, and Tommy Lynch plated both of them on a single and an error. Stanger wriggled out of that inning with no further damage, but the problems mounted in the second. Jack Stravino walked, Mazzara was hit by a pitch, and Charlie Gill tripled to left to drive in a pair. That was it for Stanger. After the game, he already was wearing a walking boot, having given everything he had and then some for the team.

Matt Halsdorfer came on in relief, and gave up a bases-loaded walk later in the inning. With a 5-0 lead, Canisius must have sensed the season would not be ending on this particular day.

The margin was 6-0 when the Marauders' offense finally came to life. Nate Casarsa singled and Josh Eagle doubled to lead off the fifth inning. Joey Haymes doubled them both home to cut into the lead. Canisius got one of those runs back immediately. A throwing error at the back end of an attempt at an inning-ending double play resulted in the seventh Crusaders' run. Then in the bottom of the sixth, Canisius capped its day with a five-run outburst. The big hit was a two-run double by Gill, giving him four RBIs.

Mazzara set the tone for the Crusaders at the top of the lineup. He reached base in all five plate appearances with a walk, hit batsman, three singles and three runs scored.

"When you get that sort of production out of your leadoff, it's going to be a good day," Santonocito said. "He's an athlete. Obviously he started at center this year, and we moved him to shortstop. He can play multiple positions, and he's a gamer – lot of high energy."

Lynch duplicated Mazzara's feat of reaching base five times. To show the balance of the Canisius offense, consider that eight players scored runs in the game, and seven drove in runs.

Some other numbers told the story for St. Joe's. The Marauders walked eight, hit two batsmen and had four errors. One Canisius batter even reached first on a strikeout, as Mikey Doctor scampered to first when the ball got away from the catcher after a swinging strike three.

"This game doesn't owe you anything," Nasca said. "It comes up and bites you a lot. We tell the kids that the beauty is we come back tomorrow and get right back at it."

On the other side, Justin Ball did exactly what was needed on the mound for the Crusaders. He was tough when necessary in the first six innings when his team built up a big lead. One key statistic: St. Joe's was 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position in the first six innings.

"I wasn't going for strikeouts, I was just going for strikes," Ball said. "When you have that many runs, there's no pressure. Let my teammates make the plays."

"Looking at his stats for the year, the league hit .140 or something off him," Santonocito said. "When the breaking ball is on, he can be pretty effective. I was proud of him. That was a big step for him."

Ball, however, was more excited about another statistic: no walks in the complete-game win.  

Both teams will try to turn the page on this one quickly. They'll have less than 24 hours to forget the details and worry about the championship game. Could we have expected anything less in a best-of-three series between the two rivals?

Canisius will start William Enright on the mound Sunday. St. Joe's hasn't decided on a starter yet, but Nasca said he has four of five arms available.

"It's a three-game series, and we have to win two," he said. "They didn't tell us which two, and it doesn't matter."

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Article Source:
Canisius beats St. Joe's to force decisive Game 3 in Georgetown Cup finals
By: Budd Bailey, Special to the Buffalo News
4 June 2022
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