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It took nearly three hours to crown this year’s Region Six baseball Catholic Youth Organization champ, but in the end, St. Richard defeated St. Monica 13-12. The victory completes a perfect 11-0 season.
"It was amazing," coach Anthony Imbesi said of the June 9 victory. "They had an undefeated season. They deserved it. To lose in [the championship] game would’ve been a heartbreak."
The win didn’t come easy, as St. Monica jumped out to a 7-0 advantage in the first. Imbesi had to get his squad to refocus on the championship task.
"I told them not to give up," the coach said. "We had our bad inning, and got our errors out of the way. Let’s just play team baseball from here on in."
Starting pitcher John Snyder returned to form, only giving up five runs the rest of the way.
In the eighth, St. Richard would tie the contest at 10. Shane Thomas, who reached base on a two-out walk, was knocked in by Joey Hatton. The drama would continue in the ninth as the champs found themselves trailing 12-10 in their final at-bat. Robert Burgese slammed the game-winning hit.
"It was an unbelievable game back and forth," the coach said.
Snyder, who was named team MVP, Burgese, Mark Gervese, Dave Cattai and Michael McCaney closed out their CYO careers with a title.
Nicky Nardini, Jimmy Kerrigan, Michael Cavallero and Thomas were all key contributors as seventh-graders. Richard Dinella and Jason Caferella helped out with the coaching duties.
This is the third CYO title for St. Richard, who also won in 2003 and 1997.
Imbesi noted the combination of Snyder, who just starting pitching last spring, and catcher Nardini were key to the team’s success.
"We had solid pitching and catching — that’s the whole game," Imbesi said. "We had a good bunch of kids."
Add solid teamwork and it equates to a perfect championship season.
"They played together all year long," the coach said.
