Stepinac 3, Iona Prep 0 (UPDATED)
-
- May
- 14
Postgame — So I’ve put my story on the game to bed and it was all about the efforts of two guys, Eric Cuadrado and Anthony Muccio, who teamed to down Iona Prep and Alex Adami today. They helped Stepinac get in position to earn a share of the division title and one of the four coveted top seeds in the city championship tourney.
I was positioned behind the Iona bench so I had a great look at both pitchers. Cuadrado was very sharp, throwing all his pitches for strikes and doing so early in the count. He attacked the Gaels all game, as evident by an inning like the first when he threw just six pitches to record three outs.
Cuadrado mostly kept it up and finished with a four-hitter. He walked two and hit two. There were three times where he faced jams with two runners on and each time he escaped unscathed.
The most impressive was the fourth when Iona Prep had the bases loaded with no outs. As I detailed in the live updates, Cuadrado retired the side without allowing a run, basically erasing any momentum built by the Gaels.
The other key player was Muccio. He had one opportunity — as he told me later, that’s all you’re gonna get vs. Adami — and he took advantage, ripping a three-run double off the CF wall that may have given the Crusaders a share of the division title. Afterward, I stopped Muccio while he was raking the dirt around second base. He told me he looked for a fastball after Adami made him look foolish in the first, and that’s exactly what he received. Big, big hit.
As for Adami, it wasn’t his best. He wasn’t popping it the same as normal, but that pop came back in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Still, his performance should’ve been enough. He and his teammates just couldn’t rally against Cuadrado.
Overall, it’ll still come down to Friday’s game between Stepinac and Mount St. Michael. I expect Iona to beat Salesian in its regular-season finale, so the Crusaders must beat Mount. If they don’t Iona wins the division and gets the top seed. (That outcome would surely drive Stepinac and coach Pat Duffy crazy after completing the sweep today.)
An interesting note: Stepinac had the chance to win it today had it not lost 3-1 to Xavier on Tuesday. What happened was scheduled starter Eddie Byrne was sick, missed school and couldn’t pitch. If he pitched, Stepinac may have already clinched the top seed with today’s win. Instead, it’s not quite over.
Ballgame — Stepinac wins 3-0. Eric Cuadrado threw a four hitter, walking just two. Iona out two on in the seventh but stranded two for the third time in the game.
The Crusaders now are tied with Iona but have the tie breaker after earning the season sweep. Only caveat: They still must beat Mount in the finale to clinch the top seed from the division. More later…
Middle of the sixth — Stepinac still up 3-0. Iona went down in order in the top of the inning against Cuadrado, who is in the midst of twirling a two hitter.
Unless something changes, the division will be tied but Stepinac will have the turneraker.
End of the fourth — Boy, what a major disappointment for Iona, which squandered a bases-loaded situation with no outs. Eric Helmrich had loaded them on a broken bat single threw the hole at third. However, Helmrich was then doubled off first when Colin Moran hit a line drive to Muccio, who, from second, caught it and turned two. George Williams the pinch hit for Tyler Donovan, but Williams popped out to SS with runners on second and third to end the threat.
It’s still 3-0 Stepinac.
Middle of the third — It’s a rematch of Alex Adami and Eric Cuadrado and so far Cuadrado has gotten the better of it. He has thrown three scoreless innings and Stepinac has a 3-0 lead.
The Crusaders loaded the bases in the second on a great bunt by Greg Caruso. On the first pitch Anthony Muccio followed with a three-run 2B to deep CF. There were two outs, so that hit was big.
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on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 4:44 pm by Josh Thomson.
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in
March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of
2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has
since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting,
Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his
fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning
fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and
insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh
graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University,
where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in
history. 
Jake Thomases has covered baseball, hockey, girls basketball, and girls soccer for the Journal News since arriving in 2003. He previously interned at The Poughkeepsie Journal while attending Vassar College. He is socking money away under his mattress to buy the Knicks, at which time he will trade Jerome James to Cleveland for a ham sandwich.
This division race is over mount has no chance to beat us on friday we beat them the first time and we will beat them again. They can throw whoever they want and they won't stop us.
Stepinac 2008 Division Champs
where are all the iona "we will win the rematch people"...this is the year of stepinac. stepinac "sweeps" iona prep", after last year's split. if iona wants another crack at step, they better do some winning in the chsaa outbracket…........i hope i'm not speaking too soon because mount st michael is always a tough out….but it looks like:
1st place-Stepinac
2nd place- Iona Prep
very nice to have a two round bye in the chsaa tournament
Great win for Stepinac!!! Cuadrado has shown every body that he is one of the best pitchers in Westchester! great clutch hitting by MUCCIO!! he's been doin that all year!! one more game to go on friday VS. Mt. St. Michael. GOOD LUCK to the crusaders!!! YOU GUYS DESERVE IT!!!!!
Wally Will dominate stepinac on friday giving the gaels the title mark my words
hey it was a good game but we had to know that stepinac would be so fast to run their mouths..a loss late in the season to xavier? that will be one regrettable loss..lets not forget near losses to their under .500 division rivals in games that should be blow outs…mind you these are games when you didnt throw any of your best pitchers so i ask you stepinac, who are you going to throw against mount on friday and will he be able to handle mount's solid offense? If you win, congrats..but lets wait to see what goes down on the 16th before we crown the CO-CHAMPIONS of the division. im sure you'd be thrilled to cling to the second of two fraudulent banners hanging on your fence.
hey it was a good game but we had to know that stepinac would be so fast to run their mouths..a loss late in the season to xavier? that will be one regrettable loss..lets not forget near losses to their under .500 division rivals in games that should be blow outs…mind you these are games when you didnt throw any of your best pitchers so i ask you stepinac, who are you going to throw against mount on friday and will he be able to handle mount's solid offense? If you win, congrats..but lets wait to see what goes down on the 16th before we crown the CO-CHAMPIONS of the division. im sure you'd be thrilled to cling to the second of two fraudulent banners hanging on your fence at your field.
ok wally world (aka iona fan)....pray for a mt st michael win after you got swept by stepinac and could not help yourself.. 4300 murdock ave friday, bronx ny…...you will be there biting your nails in a last ditch effort rooting for mount to get for you what you could not get on your own..
stepinac now has eclipsed iona as the chsaa baseball power in westchester…....i hope this blog's moderator will acknowledge the same after predicting an iona win today
let's back in…For the year? Yes. Stepinac has done a great job and has had the better season for sure. But you can't claim superiority over a five or ten-year span. Iona won the division the last two years, and has either won or shared it almost every year since Gallo took over.
lets back in
Until Stepinac wins a CHSAA City Championship like IONA HAS and collects the amount of league banners that Iona has then just savor your win yesterday. Iona has won or shared 13 out of the last 15 division titles something that Stepinac has never done and will never do in your lifetime. I guess when a program finally has some success people talk nonsense. After Iona has taken care of Stepinac in Football (At least it was not the typical Iona 4 TD win) Basketball and Hockey (That brings back memories) Stepinac needed to beat Iona in something.
IONA POWER THIS IS HIGH SCHOOL YOU DONT ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT TEAM YOU HAVE YOUR UPS AND DOWNS AND STOP MAKING EXCUSES YOU GUYS GOT SWEPT, STOP BITCHING AND THIS IS A BASEBALL BLOG NOT A FOOTBALL OR HOCKEY ONE SO STOP TALKING ABOUT IONA BEATING STEPINAC IN OTHER SPORTS. YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DIDNT BEAT STEPINAC IN BASEBALL THATS FOR SURE.LETS GO CRUSADERS!!!!!!!!
i agree with the last one… anybody who is an iona fan, everyone understands that iona was good or has been for the last 10 years or so, but theres nothing about that that has to do with this years teams and josh the letsget back in said nothing about the last ten years or since gallo has taken over, so that is completely irrelevant, the fact is that step won, and i think they have a bright future
Iona Power
You must be a Yankee fan, when you get swept just shut up and take it like a man rather than break out the 26 titles. Its just dumb this is a post about this year and yesterdays game.
Cuadrado pitched one hell of a game, Iona could not touch him he absoultly dominated their hitters. Great game Step bright future for you guys.
i tried posting this a number of times so if it repeats on the blog i apologize…
hey it was a good game but we had to know that stepinac would be so fast to run their mouths..a loss late in the season to xavier? that will be one regrettable loss..lets not forget near losses to their under .500 division rivals in games that should be blow outs…mind you these are games when you didnt throw any of your best pitchers so i ask you stepinac, who are you going to throw against mount on friday and will he be able to handle mount's solid offense? If you win, congrats..but lets wait to see what goes down on the 16th before we crown the CO-CHAMPIONS of the division. im sure you'd be thrilled to cling to the second of two fraudulent banners hanging on the fence at your field.
Both games that Iona-Stepinac played were great, the biggest difference was Stepinac's ability to get the big hit with RISP, Iona was unable to get the clutch hits in both games, bases loaded with no outs and no runs scored in both games. Pitching was great from both teams, Adami had one bad inning or you might even say one bad pitch, he could have won both games if there was run support. Cuadrado had a great game yesterday and deserves a lot of credit for pitching out of a tight situation in the 4th inning. My congrats to both teams, hoping that you both prevail in the playoffs!
Stepinac beat Iona fair and square yesterday, and yea they have had a better season but until they put up banners consitantly year after year the way Iona has, it is unfair to say that have eclipsed Iona as the power program in Westchester. I hope that these two teams meet again.
CONGRATS TO STEPINAC ON THEIR WIN. BOTH TEAMS ARE SOLID AND BOTH HAVE HAD GREAT SEASONS – GOOD LUCK IN
THE PLAY-OFFS.
IONAPOWER:
TYPICAL COMMENTS, YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL AND SAY " Stepinac has never done and will never do in your lifetime. I guess when a program finally has some success people talk nonsense." YOU TALK MORE ARROGANT THEN YOUR NAME "IONAPOWER" YOU CAN TALK ABOUT BANNERS AND STEPINAC CAN TALK ABOUT HOW MANY MORE ATHLETES THEY HAVE HAD GO BIG-TIME D-1 AND PROFESSIONALLY: BASEBALL / FOOTBALL /
B-BALL…SO GET OVER YOURSELF AND IONA PREP – IT IS JUST HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS.
Gael Dude WERE NOT LIVING IN THE PAST, AS OF RIGHT NOW STEPINAC IS THE POWER HOUSE OF WESTCHESTER/BRONX SO STOP REMINISCING ABOUT THE PAST AND LIVE IN REALITY YOU GOT SWEPT AND DEAL WITH IT LIKE A MAN.
IF YOU ARE A MOUNT FAN MOUNT HAS DONE NOTHING THE WHOLE YEAR BUT YOUR PROBABLY AN IONA FAN LOL
Looks like Iona will not be backing in this year….Boy, if you read the paper today you would have thought that Stepinac had a must win game Friday vs Mt St Michael or Iona would be the champs….Iona losing today to Salesian should remind everyone to never look beyond your next opponent.
It's Over! Congratulations!
Stepinac is the 2008 CHSAA Westchester/Bronx Division Champions…
Now Stepinac will enjoy well earned byes into the quaretrfinal round of the City Tournament/
Iona lost 6-2 to Salesian. It's over for my Gaels. Probably a number 6 or 7 seed for the tourney.
wow thats pretty sad i guess the loss to stepinac must of really rattled iona, to lose to salesian. wheres all the iona fans commenting now.
Don't get too excited crusader fans. You will never get to the Championship Game. It will be an EARLY EXIT!!!!!!!!
CONSISTENCY, thats what stepinac is about this year!! they have 4 strong pitchers that put them in the final 5 last year! pitching is what gets you past these playoffs! 3 of the 4 pitchers have playoff experience from last year. they have all pitched well this year! i believe that they will go deep into the playoffs. GOOD LUCK CRUSADERS!!!
Oh my goodness. Iona can't root for Mount tomorrow, to help their cause, so they take the next most honorable approach. Rooting for an early exit for Stepinac…..Let me remind you that Iona made an earlier exit than Stepinac last year and will undoubtedly make a much earlier exit than Stepinac this year….Anyone want to take a wager ?
Maybe they should play in Section One next year and play the schedule JJCR has. "AA" team with a "C" schedule. They can always add stepinac on the side.
I hope they are finally out of your top 10 now Josh. Not theat they belonged in there after losing the first one to Stepinac and then Kennedy. They are a one player team.
Today, by proclamation, I declare the Salesian High School baseball team to be the best Catholic High School baseball team in the City of New Rochelle in the year of our Lord 2008.. Can I have a motion to approve?.. Resolution passes unanimously…...Let it be published and noted in the Journal News that this resolution was approved..
mayor of new rochelle…that could be the dumbest statement ever made.