James Madison saw its dream of playing for a city title at Yankee Stadium cut short on Saturday when Tottenville’s Brandon Seltzer looped a walk-off single over Madison’s drawn-in infield in the bottom of the eighth inning.
That gave top-seeded Tottenville a 3–2 victory in the decisive Game 3 of the Public School Athletic League Class AAA baseball semifinal series on May 30 in Huguenot. Madison was kept off the scoreboard after the second inning.
“You’re talking about good pitching,” said Madison coach Vincent Caiazza. “Good pitching stops good hitting.”
Caiazza sent Robert Howe to the mound for the first time this season. The first four Pirates got on, with two scoring, but Howe settled down and retired the next 12 batters he faced.
“The first inning was a little rough, I was trying to find myself,” Howe said. “I couldn’t throw strikes, I started throwing strikes, things started happening.”
Jordan Wilson’s two-run double off Reyan Mustafoski tied the score at 2–2 for Madison in the second inning. The Golden Knights left nine men on base.
Howe had a chance to put the Knights ahead in the seventh with two on and one out, but he could not deliver. Tottenville reliever Ryan Bartley came on and got him to bounce into a double play.
The game almost ended in the bottom of the seventh. Joseph Sadallah drilled a liner to left with the potential winning run on third with two outs. Madison’s Joseph Toldeo made a diving catch to take away a hit and kept Madison’s hopes alive.
“He’s been doing that all year,” Caiazza said. “He comes up clutch. As I told them, ‘Two clutch plays. The kid hit a line drive in the clutch, and he made the catch in the clutch.’ ”
Madison (18–4) put runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth, but Bartley got Charles Prevete to ground out to second. Howe returned to pitch the eighth inning with Caiazza not thinking twice about pulling him before the start of the inning.
After a leadoff single and a walk, Caiazza went to Anthony Mascolo. Tottenville’s Everett Rodriguez, who was attempting to move the runners over, bunted for a single to load the bases with no outs.
Caiazza had no choice but to bring the infield in, but Brandon Seltzer hit a looper over the shortstop, landing in shallow left to provide a tough ending.
“You came this far, fall with a bloop single,” Howe said.
Madison forced the final game behind a dominant pitching performance from Shawn James and the speed of centerfielder Jordan Wilson in a 5–1 Game 2 victory the day before in Brooklyn.
James showed his ability to work in and out of trouble. He loaded the bases in the fourth and sixth innings. He got a strike out of Daniel Digeorgio to end the fourth. Tottenville (18–1) won the series’ first game 4–1.
Madison’s defense saved the day in the sixth when Wilson made a game-saving diving catch in centerfield and proceeded to double off Nicholas Manzella at third base.
James scattered seven hits over six innings of work and struck out three.
“He gutted it out,” Caiazza said.
Wilson also changed the game with his bat and speed. He reached base in all three of his plate appearances by walking twice and singling. Wilson also stole four bases and scored three of Madison’s five runs.
“As a leadoff hitter, you got to get on base and you got to steal,” Wilson said. “My dad has always told me that as a leadoff hitter you got to control the game.”
Madison didn’t win the series, but it dropped Tottenville from the ranks of the unbeaten in league play, and proved it belongs among the city’s top teams.
“Before the season started, we weren’t even mentioned in the top ten in the rankings,” James said. “To come here and be ranked fourth in the city, and then to give Tottenville their first loss it feels really good.”
