Velasquez, Cook lead No. 5 Holy Trinity to CHSAA playoff win over No. 1 St. Anthony's
Tyler Cook of Holy Trinity watches his one run single drop into center field during a CHSAA baseball playoff game on Sunday, May 21, 2023 in Farmingdale. Credit: Dawn McCormick
The No. 5 Holy Trinity baseball team proved a few things on Sunday afternoon.
Titans’ players and coaches said they showed their resilience, toughness and fight in a 1-0 win over No. 1 St. Anthony’s in the CHSAA playoffs at Farmingdale State College.
But to Tyler Cook, who drove in the winning run in the sixth inning and secured the final out on the mound, Sunday’s upset proved something else.
“We’re coming,” Cook said. “It feels great to win today, and hopefully, a win tomorrow would put us in a good position to win the whole thing.”
Sebastian Velasquez allowed one hit and struck out seven over 6 2/3 innings for the Titans (16-6) before Cook secured the final out on a ground ball to second base. The Friars are 13-5.
The Titans will play the winner of No. 2 Chaminade and No. 3 St. Dominic at Farmingdale State College in a CHSAA semifinal at 4 p.m. Monday.
St. Anthony’s will host an elimination game on Tuesday.
“I was finding my fastball. I felt like my breaking ball was really good, just trying to keep the batters off balance,” Velasquez said. “They are a tough lineup, they fight, but I felt like I had the edge over them today.”
Holy Trinity took the lead in the top of the sixth. Nick DelVecchio singled to left-center with one out then stole second. The throw trickled into center and DelVecchio broke for third.
The throw beat DelVecchio to third base, but the Titans’ shortstop faked with his left hand on a head-first slide and swam safely around the tag with his right arm.
“That was natural instincts almost,” DelVecchio said. “I never slide like that, never practiced it. I just felt I needed to do it in that moment.”
DelVecchio scored on Cook's single to center for the 1-0 lead.
St. Anthony’s ace Jason DeCaro, committed to North Carolina, struck out five batters in a complete game.
But Velasquez, a Rhode Island commit, earned the win for Holy Trinity. Velasquez escaped a jam with runners on first and third base in the fourth and runners on first and second in the sixth.
“It was incredible,” Holy Trinity coach Dan Luisi said. “When he’s able to spin the ball like he does, on his slider and when he’s working his two-seam, he’s really hard to hit.”
