St. Anthony's forces Game 3 against Holy Trinity

After Alex Robinson pitched No. 2 Holy Trinity to an 8-1 win in Game 1, St. Anthony's had 45 minutes to rebound and keep its season alive in Game 2 of the NSCHSAA best-of-three finals Monday. St. Anthony's got off to a good start with a run in the top of the first before Holy Trinity scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the first.

St. Anthony's starter John Sostarich didn't let it deter him one bit. After the second error of the first inning, Sostarich left a runner stranded at second and didn't allow a run the rest of the game for No. 1 St. Anthony's in a 6-2 win in Game 2 at Farmingdale State. Game 3 will be played at 3 p.m. Tuesday at St. John the Baptist.

Sostarich threw a five-hitter, walked two and struck out four and did it on short rest after pitching Thursday.

"My arm felt great," Sostarich said. "I just tried to pound the strike zone. I am not going to overpower anyone. I keep the ball low to get ground balls."

Sostarich got 10 groundouts.

"After you go through what we did with Robinson in Game 1, you come out and score a run and give two right back you start to think maybe there's a lot of holes in the boat," St. Anthony's coach John Phelan said. "The guys didn't back down. Sostarich just throws strikes. He lets the defense work for him. He keeps the ball down and gets a lot of ground balls."

Steve Giustino went 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs and Brian Tinney went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for St. Anthony's (17-9). Tinney's single scored Michael D'Acunti in the top of the fourth to tie the score at 2. Paul Britt's triple to score Giustino made it 3-2 in the fifth. Britt stole home on a double steal and Tinney added an RBI single for a 5-2 lead.

SEE PHOTOSHoly Trinity, St. Anthony's in NSCHSAA finals

In Game 1, Holy Trinity (17-9) scored two runs in the first inning and that's all Robinson needed. Robinson threw a two-hitter, walked two and struck out nine. Holy Trinity coach Bob Malandro wanted to take out Robinson after the sixth inning with the Maryland-bound lefthander at 85 pitches.

"Absolutely, I talked my way into finishing," said Robinson, who had his worst outing of the season against St. Anthony's and said it was on his mind. "This was going to be my last game pitching for Holy Trinity. I wasn't leaving in the sixth inning."

John Parenty led off the first with a single and stole second. Tyler Kapela singled up the middle and Parenty beat the throw to the plate to give the Titans a 1-0 lead. Anthony Rosati then put down a sacrifice bunt and Patrick Madigan lined a double to leftfield scoring Rosati for a 2-0 lead.

Kapela's two-run double highlighted a four-run second that gave the Titans a 6-0 lead. Parenty went 3-for-3 with a walk, three runs and an RBI, and Kapela and Patrick Madigan each went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

"[Sostarich] showed a lot of character and I think the whole team did after that first game," Giustino said. "We did a much better job the second game putting the bat on the ball."