Holy Trinity knew it had special season in store
Holy Trinity celebrates CHSAA state championship tournament finals where Holy Trinity defeated St. Francis HS from Buffalo at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York on June 10, 2023 Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Holy Trinity baseball coach Dan Luisi was nearly overcome with emotion watching from the third base dugout as his players raced to a spot behind the mound in celebration at St. John’s Jack Kaiser Stadium.
The sight was precisely what he’d envisioned three seasons earlier when he made the bold move of elevating a group of sophomores and freshmen to the varsity team: the Titans celebrating a CHSAA state Class AA championship.
“It was based on the type of players we had in the program at the time: advanced for their ages, team players [and] confident in themselves,” Luisi said. “There was a collection of talent there capable of winning a championship but if it was going to happen before they were done with high school, it was going to be important for them to be around me every day so I could challenge them.”
They were challenged, all right.
The promoted players had a tough 2021 campaign, finishing 2-13 in a pandemic-shortened season. However, last season the Titans turned it around by winning nine of their last 13 games before falling in the NSCHSAA quarterfinals.
“Playing in their age group those [younger] players had a lot of success,” Liusi said of the 2021 season. “The hardest part was keeping them motivated and believing in themselves about becoming a championship team when we were struggling because of our youth. They needed to know there was a plan and we needed to stick to it.”
Holy Trinity (21-8) got a little momentum with splits in early season series against defending champion Chaminade and St. Anthony’s, but it ended up with the No. 5 seeding in a tough conference where the top six teams were separated by two games in the standings. Still, by then a team personality had developed, one in which the Titans’ tough lineup wouldn’t succumb until an opponent earned that final out.
The Titans won twice against top-seeded St. Anthony’s to reach an NSCHSAA Championship Series meeting with Chaminade. Holy Trinity trailed by two runs in the seventh but grabbed a Game 1 win with a seven-run seventh inning and scored six times early in Game 3 to win it.
It was more comebacks in the state tournament.
After falling into a tie against Archdiocese of New York champ St. Peter’s, Holy Trinity scored four runs in the sixth to win. And Andrew Heppner’s flare single in the top of the seventh proved the difference in a 3-2 title game win over Buffalo Diocese champ St. Francis. Heppner’s big hit was apropos, as he went 8-for-13 in the NSCHSAA championship series and state tournament.
Tyler Cook batted .413 with 31 RBIs on the season, Heppner batted .354 with 21 RBIs and Nick DelVelcchio hit .308 with 29 runs scored. Sebastian Velasquez went 9-2 with a 1.71 ERA and Cook was 2-0 with five saves and a 1.46 ERA to anchor the pitching staff.
Players had different takes on when they recognized they were on a special team having a special season. Velasquez suggested he saw it coming in teammates' faces after the final loss in 2022. Cook thought he saw something when they arrived for first practice. Sean Atkinson said it was after a season-opening win against Chaminade. For Heppner, it was after they posted regular-season wins against both Chaminade and St. Anthony’s “because we knew then we could play with anybody.”
Regardless of when it happened, they all finally realized it and came together to see it through.
Just like Luisi envisioned.
TITANS' ROAD TO STATE TITLE
NSCHSAA Quarterfinal: Def. St. Anthony’s, 1-0
NSCHSAA Semifinal Round: Lost to Chaminade, 18-7
NSCHSAA Semifinal Round Elimination Game: Def. St. Anthony’s, 13-5
NSCHSAA Championship Series (Won 2-1)
Game 1: Def. Chaminade, 8-3
Game 2: Lost to Chaminade, 9-4
Game 3: Def. Chaminade, 6-0
CHSAA State Semifinal: Def. St. Peter’s (Archdiocese of NY), 5-1
CHSAA State Championship: Def. St. Francis (Diocese of Buffalo), 3-2.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
