The top-seeded Poly Prep baseball team is back in the NYSAISAA championship game. It has J.J. Franco, the son of former New York Mets closer John Franco, to thank.
The junior right-hander tossed a complete-game two-hitter, struck out 10 and walked one in a 1-0 shutout of fifth-seeded Rye Country Day School in the semifinals Sunday morning in Bay Ridge.
The two-time defending NYSAISAA champion struggled offensively, stranding runners on base all afternoon. The only run scored in the fourth inning when junior Richie Carbone walked, stole third base and scored on a wild throw.
Franco, who also bats leadoff and plays shortstop when he is not pitching, made up for the slow day offensively, tossing just 73 pitches – barely more than 10 per inning – to gain his eighth victory.
“He was on; he was throwing his fastball, his changeup and curveball effectively for strikes at any point in the count,” Poly Prep coach Matt Roventini said. “They were off balanced from the first inning on.”
Poly Prep (16-0), which has won 49 consecutive games against Ivy League competition, has enjoyed plenty of success recently. It has won consecutive NYSAISAA titles and three Ivy League regular-season crowns in a row.
Next up for the Blue Devils is No. 2 Berkeley Carroll, a 15-2 winner over No. 6 Collegiate. The two teams met on April 14 at KeySpan Park in Coney Island. The game was even at 2 entering the fourth inning but it was cut short by rain.
“They play very hard, they’re a talented group of kids,” Roventini said of the Park Slope squad. “They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t good. There’s no accident they’re in the finals. It’s gonna be a really good game.”
Poly Prep girls advance to NYSAISAA semifinals: No. 1 Poly Prep trounced No. 8 Packer, 17-0, in the NYSAISAA quarterfinals. Shortstop Stephanie Caso went 3-for-3 and Erica Sollazzo tossed five shutout innings and also homered. The Blue Devils (17-2) will meet the winner of tomorrow’s No. 4 Hackley-No. 5 Horace-Mann quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon.
