Our @DigmiNation Player of the Game is Anthony Papa who fired a 134-pitch complete game in St. Joseph’s 8-3 victory over Mount St. Mary’s to advance to the winner’s bracket in the Skyline Conference tournament pic.twitter.com/kAAXw1JJz8
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 4, 2018
Some pitchers get that look in their eye when they get close to the finish line.
St. Joseph’s Head Coach Rick Garrett knows Anthony Papa fits that mold. He fired a 134-pitch complete game with his last pitch registering as the same velocity as the first pitch (85 MPH).
Asked what gave him the confidence to stick with Papa despite the elevated pitch count and Garrett did not hesitate.
“He’s one of those Levittown kids,” said the fifth year skipper referring to his competitive edge. Papa was dominant in a game that they absolutely needed him to be. The No. 2 seed St. Joseph’s Golden Eagles entered the game with a 9-game win streak and had no intention of taking the long route to the championship on Sunday. They turned to the RHP that transferred to them after one year at LIU Post and another at Coastal Carolina.
In the biggest game of his young college career, he came up aces. Despite taking two years off to recover from Tommy John Surgery, Papa pitched like he did at Division HS, when he led them to a Long Island Championship three seasons ago. He allowed just six hits and three walks while striking out four for his fourth victory of the season.
Mount St. Mary’s took an early 1-0 lead on a solo HR in the second inning by Tom Huvane. The Golden Eagles responded quickly in their home half on an RBI single by Dan Campanelli.
They took the lead in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Lou Doria and on a wild pitch that scored the speedy Tyler Crafa.
Mount St. Mary’s did not wave the white flag, though, as they tied it up in sixth on a single, a triple by John Santana and a triple by Chris Introcaso. Just when it appeared the wheels could come off, Papa shut it down–with some good fortunes involved.
A curveball in the dirt bounced off Campanelli behind the plate and bounced back towards him on the mound. Introcaso attempted to advance to third, Papa spun and fired a strike to third to record a huge out. He wound up sitting down the next two batters.
That was crucial, as the Golden Eagles took the lead in the sixth inning. A triple by Anthony Raucci and an error by the second baseman allowed the go-ahead run to score. Tyler Crafa extended the lead on an RBI double to left-center field.
That was all the support Papa would need, as he really settled in after that. He retired the side in order in the seventh, eighth and worked around a walk in the ninth to finish it off.
With the victory, they have now won 10 consecutive games. They advance to the winner’s bracket where they will face No. 1 Farmingdale State. They were shut out by them twice three weeks ago. If they are able to defeat them, they will be one win away from returning back to the Skyline Conference championship game.
With Papa’s complete game, they still have Joseph Murphy, Nick Clemente, P.J. Martino and Nick Mannarino available the rest of the weekend.