Dustin Mones was distracted.

Our baseball coaches gathered in the Swanson Gymnasium conference room last week to strategize ahead of Monday’s game with Poly Prep, the preseason #1 team in New York. Despite the importance of the discussion, our Athletic Director could not pry his gaze away from an object in one of our trophy cases. It was a football, of all things, that arrested his attention, an 81-year-old pigskin with cracked white paint and a few dozen signatures of Brookers from ages past. Despite its age, bold black letters were still visible on its side that read:

OCT. 9, 1943
S.B. - 6   POLY - 0

The ball commemorates a significant victory for the Blue & White, who defeated Poly that October day for the first time in eight years. Caleb Sniffin’s one-yard touchdown run in the final period provided the winning margin for The Brook.

“That’s going to be the score,” Mones said.

His prediction was a bold one, considering the one-sided recent history on the diamond between Stony Brook and Poly Prep. The two schools were rivals for nearly three decades as two of the six founding members of the Ivy Preparatory School League in 1945. When Stony Brook left the Ivy League in 1973 for the NYSPHSAA, the rivalry faded until it was renewed 45 years later when the Bears joined the PSAA, a member league of NYSAIS along with the Ivy League.

Since returning to the private school ranks in 2018-19, the baseball team’s goal has been dethroning the Blue Devils, the undisputed champions of NYSAIS who own 12 state titles including 11 since 2007. Before Monday night’s match-up, the Bears battled Poly four times over the last six years, falling in each contest, including losses in the 2019 NYSAIS quarterfinals and the last two NYSAIS Championships. Their most recent loss came by a 4-3 margin on April 11.

Though Monday night’s rematch was only a non-league game, it had a State Championship air about it. First, it was held at Maimonides Park, home of the New York Mets’ minor league affiliate, Brooklyn Cyclones. Second, because Poly elected to leave NYSAIS for independence this season, the perennial powers of the NYSAIS Tournament would be noticeably absent this year. This was the Bears’ chance to take down the Devils on the way to a potential NYSAIS title.

As the sunlight inside Maimonides Park lengthened and shadows fell across the Coney Island landmarks beyond the outfield wall, the Bears gathered for a prayer before the most important non-playoff game in the team’s history.

The Bears came to bat in the top of the 1st inning, mustering only a walk, but Poly Prep’s Daniel Desmond needed 19 pitches to get through the inning. Jordan Serrano worked a 3-2 count before grounding out and Larry Hotaling III worked a walk, early indications of the poise and patience the Bears would show at the plate all night long.

In the bottom of the 1st, Leo Vitarelli struck out Poly’s leadoff batter before hitting the next batter to put a man on first with nobody out. Vitarelli then fell behind the next batter 3-0 as the Devil dugout voiced its approval. The Bears’ junior fireballer battled back to a 3-2 count when a huge early play unfolded. Poly’s baserunner bolted for second as Vitarelli struck out the batter. Catcher Anthony DeCesare then fired a bullet to shortstop Aiden Ruiz who tagged out the runner for a double play that sent the Bear dugout spilling out onto the field. The Battle for Brooklyn was on.

The Bears went down in order in the 2nd, bringing Poly back up to bat. Vitarelli induced a ground out before Poly registered the game’s first hit with a single to left field. Following a fly out for the second out, a balk allowed Poly’s runner to move up 90 feet. Incredibly, it would be the only time all night that a Blue Devil reached second base. Another fly out ended the inning.

The Bear offense lit up the scoreboard in the 3rd when Mateo Lopez singled on a flair to left field, moved to second on an Alex Baaden sacrifice bunt, dashed to third on a passed ball, and came home on a ground out by Jordan Serrano. The Bears didn’t score again in the frame but earned small victories when Hotaling III singled and Ruiz burned 11 pitches before grounding out.

After taking a 1-0 lead, Vitarelli tossed a key shutdown inning by sitting the Devils down in order on 13 pitches to move the game to the 4th. The Bears did not score in the top half of the inning but forced Desmond to throw 24 pitches. A DeCesare single and walks to Seth Laureano and Lopez loaded the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the threat. As the Devils ran back to the dugout, emotions were high after escaping the jam. A refrain of, “This is the inning!” could be heard from the group.

The only problem was that Vitarelli was still waiting for them.

The junior needed just two pitches to record the first two outs of the inning on a fly out and ground out, then struck out Duke University-bound Justice de Jong in a full count to record his second straight 1-2-3 inning.

Ruiz singled with two outs in the 5th and stole second one pitch later, but the Bears couldn’t bring him in and still clung to a 1-0 lead as the game moved to the bottom of the 5th. A leadoff single ended Vitarelli’s run of seven straight batters retired, but he was overpowering for the remainder of the inning with a four-pitch strikeout, a ground out, and another strikeout that charged up the Blue & White.

In the 6th, a fly out and ground out gave the Bears two quick outs, bringing Travis Stroud II to the plate. In big moments of big games, teams look to their seniors to lead the way, and Stroud II came through with a double to left-center that chased Desmond from the game and gave the Bears new life with two outs. Lopez earned a trip to first when he was hit by a pitch, and Baaden worked a walk to load the bases. Serrano stepped in and quickly fell behind 0-2 but battled back, laying off several close pitches, to earn a run-scoring walk and double the Bears’ lead to 2-0. That brought up Hotaling III, who also fell behind 1-2, before sending a ball to center that off the bat looked destined for an outfielder’s glove. However, the liner died in the cool night air and fell just in front of the center fielder to plate two runs, send another Devil pitcher back to the dugout, and double the Bear lead again to 4-0.

After sitting for a long offensive inning, there was an open question as to whether it would affect Vitarelli’s sharpness, a query he emphatically answered with his third 1-2-3 inning. The junior needed just 12 pitches to get through the 9, 1, and 2 hitters, including a tone-setting full-count strikeout vs. the leadoff batter.

With a victory within reach, the Bears looked to finish the job in the 7th. Laureano had his senior moment when he led off with a single on a 3-2 count before the Bears’ youth movement manufactured a run. 8th-grader Juju Martinez doubled to put both runners in scoring position with no outs, then freshman Shea Corona walked to load the bases. Freshman Lopez followed with a full-count walk to push home a 5-0 lead. A strikeout followed, but Serrano, who was the epitome of “do a job” on Monday night, sent a sacrifice fly to right, giving him 3 RBIs on the night without a hit.

6-0.

Vitarelli came out to nail down the victory and induced a fly out before de Jong sent a 1-0 pitch every bit of 390 feet. The ball disappeared into the Brooklyn sky as everyone’s gaze turned to center fielder Alex Baaden, who ran the ball down on the warning track for a loud second out. Another senior stepping up in a key moment and all but signaling the end for Poly. John Calabrese followed with his third single–the Devils’ only three hits on the night–before a ground out to Hotaling III sent the Bears streaming out of the dugout in a wild celebration. It wasn’t the State Championship, but it sure felt like it as the boys emptied water bottles into the air and piled onto each other to celebrate a victory over the former kings of New York private school baseball.

Heroes abounded for The Brook as Serrano (3 RBIs, 1 BB), Hotaling III (2 H, 2 RBI, 1 BB), and Lopez (2 R, 1 H, 1 RBI, 2 BB) set the tone for the offense, but none shone brighter than Vitarelli. The junior overpowered one of the best offensive teams in the northeast, allowing 0 runs and 0 walks while scattering 3 singles and ringing up 7 strikeouts. He was brilliant, and the Bears fed off of his confidence and poise all night.

With one goal complete, the top-seeded Bears now set their sights on a NYSAIS Championship. They take their first step on Friday @ 3:30pm when they take on #8 Trinity on Jeff Adams Field.

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