Baseball: With city championship at stake, Iona Prep comes through in its last at-bat

NEW YORK - To Luke Nascimento, it was something of a team motto: "We got this."

The Iona Prep senior told himself that again Friday night as the Gaels took their last at-bat with a city championship at stake.

"We got this," Nascimento repeated, although that hardly seemed true at the time.

Iona Prep was down to its final three outs, hadn't scored all game, and hadn't done much of anything offensively against Monsignor Farrell ace Kasey Gilman. To that moment, the right-hander had pitched 13 innings strong innings against them over the last week.

That all changed during a three-run rally to remember. The Gaels loaded the bases, then tied it on Zach Levinson's two-run double and won it 3-2 on a walk-off single by Nascimento with one out in the seventh.

"This team never quit all year," said Levinson, who pulled his tying hit just inside the third base bag. "We've come back numerous times. I don't know what it was, but something just clicked in that seventh inning."

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The heroes were many, starting with senior Cristian Rodriguez, who ended the top of the seventh when he cut down a tagging runner at second after a fly ball to right field. Senior Joseph Fama led off the bottom half with a surprise bunt, then moved to second on pinch-hitter Kyle Bailey's clean single.

Rodriguez batted next. He first fell behind 0-and-2 before drawing a nine-pitch walk that chased Gilman. Levinson then pulled the first offering from Farrell reliever Alex Lombardo inches foul, but tied the game later in the same at-bat on a hit that was just fair.

"He's been our catalyst all year," Iona Prep coach Ryan Mahoney said of Levinson, who has only been able to hit in the playoffs due to a torn elbow ligament.

The winning run was set up when Ryan Bailey was hit by a pitch to load the bases again. Senior Peter Fasciglione — who received the Jack Curran Award as playoff MVP — nearly won it when he pulled a breaking ball into the hole, but Farrell first baseman Tim Manuelian dived to catch the line drive for the first out.

"The kid made a great play at first," said Fasciglione, who pitched a three-hit shutout Tuesday and drove in three runs Wednesday to help extend the season. "I'm just happy that Luke got it done after me."

And it was the Gaels' pitching that gave them the chance. They allowed just three runs in the three games this week. After Fasciglione's shutout, sophomore Marcel Kulik allowed one run in a complete game Wednesday. Junior Vito Giordano and Bailey, a sophomore, teamed up Friday.

Bailey pitched four innings in relief to earn the victory. He allowed one run on four hits, but his effort won't be forgotten. The West Point commit, who entered the season as the team's ace, rebounded from last week's loss to Farrell and from a growth-plate injury that sidelined him earlier this season.

"We know Ryan is the best pitcher in our league and definitely the best pitcher on this roster," Nascimento said. "He didn't have his best outing last time against Farrell. We said he was going to get the ball again. He got the ball again and look what he did tonight.

What it means

Iona Prep won its first city championship since 2016. The Gaels had been the runner-up the following two seasons (2017-18), the first of which was a loss to Farrell.

Player of the game

Luke Nascimento, Iona Prep. The walkoff hit was far from the senior's only contribution. He reached base all four times, going 2 for 2 with two walks and the winning RBI. He also caught all 21 innings this week for a pitching staff that allowed just three runs in three games.

By the numbers

Iona Prep — Giordano started and allowed one run through three-plus innings. ... Rodriguez went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored the winning run. He reached base on a walk to conclude a nine-pitch at-bat.

Monsignor Farrell — Gilman, who beat Iona Prep 6-2 last week to send Farrell to the final, pitched six scoreless innings before loading the bases in the seventh. He was charged with three runs on seven hits and struck out seven. ... Manuelian went 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored. Angelo Indellicati had an RBI double.

Quotable

"It's hard. No one has repeated in 40 years. To just have the opportunity is special," Mahoney said. "Then to win in walk-off fashion just speaks to the character of these kids. They've worked hard for 15 weeks, through COVID, last year with the shortened tournament. So this means a lot for the kids — and it means a lot for the alums who were here tonight who didn't have that chance."

Josh Thomson is the Sports Editor for The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Baseball: Iona Prep rallied to beat Farrell in CHSAA city championship