Alfonse Sadallah broke for the plate on a wild pitch. There’s not a lot of free space around the Tottenville backstop. Anything less than a crazy bounce and it’s a risky play.
Sadallah, Wagner catcher Anthony Rupp all got to home plate in a bang-bang-bang sequence. Sadallah dove for the plate. O’Rourke dove for Sadallah.
He was safe, the first of four Pirate runs in the inning that carried No. 1 Tottenville to its 4-3 win and a trip in the PSAL semifinals. The best-of-three series begins Thursday at Tottenville at 4 p.m. Game 2 is Friday at No. 4 Madison at 4 p.m.
It’s a question if Sadallah will be on the field for either of those games. He was down on the field for a significant period of time after his headfirst dive for the plate before returning to the game. Doctors diagnosed a hyperextension of his left elbow, and his arm was in a sling at the Pirates’ Wednesday afternoon practice.
The junior first baseman insists he’s going to play on Thursday.
“If he doesn’t play, I’ve got a lot of thinking to do,” said coach Tom Tierney Jr.
Sadallah is as important to the Pirate offense as any player in the lineup, a dynamic leadoff man with a .451 batting average and an on-base percentage over .500. He’s scored 25 runs in 19 games.
If he’s out of the lineup, Tierney expects some shuffling. But the Pirates clearly have plenty of firepower.
Catcher Daniel DiGeorgio .304.
The Pirates faced Madison – which won the neighboring Southeastern Division with a 14-2 record – on May 6 and won 6-0. While Madison rolled out a rotation of pitchers in that game, Tottenville's John Donohue went the distance and allowed just two hits while striking out eight.
Donohue (6-0, 0.18 ERA) will start Game 1. Tierney expects to start Reyan Mustafoski (7-0, 0.47) in Game 2.
No. 2 Monroe and No. 3 George Washington are playing in the other semifinal. The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday, June 3 at Yankee Stadium.
Follow Tom Dowd on Twitter @TomDowd22
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