Title game will be Trojan war, GW says
GEORGE WASHINGTON baseball coach Steve Mandl wouldn’t take the bait.
Asked who had the superior lineup, his No. 4 Trojans — who romped to a 16-3 series-clinching win over No. 8 Telecomm in the PSAL Class A semifinals on Saturday — or Grand Street Campus, George Washingston’s opponent in Friday’s city title game, the usually talkative Mandl suddenly adopted a humdrum attitude.
“I haven’t seen them enough,” Mandl said of Grand Street, which will face the Trojans at MCU Park on Friday after completing a sweep of John Adams in Saturday’s earlier semifinal at the Lafayette Educational Complex.
George Washington and Grand Street battled to a 3-3 tie in a preseason scrimmage, the only time they faced each other this season.
“I know what I have,” Mandl said, “and I’m really confident in what I have.”
On a day when George Washington righthander Edwin Corniel carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, the senior pitcher was overshadowed by a Trojans’ offense that totaled 14 hits.
The explosion was punctuated by an Alexis Torres grand slam over the fence in right-center in the top of the seventh. Marvin Campos also added a homer for the Trojans, who forced Telecomm (16-4) to use five pitchers. Corniel went six innings, giving up two hits and three runs while striking out seven.
Mandl’s players were a little looser with their tongues in comparing themselves to No. 2 Grand Street. Torres, when prodded, admitted that he did think his team had the “better batters.”
“We have kids who are expected to go in the draft this year,” Torres said, referring to Nelson Rodriguez and Fernelys Sanchez. “The way we played today showed we’re hungry and ready for anybody.”
The Trojans boast a lineup that is so strong that a slugger like Sanchez is batting eighth. Torres admitted that when Sanchez returned from a leg injury for the first game of the playoffs on May 23, the team came together and has since been on a tear.
In the end, however, the Trojans conceded that they and Grand Street are a lot alike in that they both boast powerful lineups.
“It’s basically the same lineup,” Nelson Rodriguez said. “We’re both stacked.”
Mandl conceded that one difference between the teams may be in the area of experience. GW (18-3) won a city championship last season, while Grand Street is still searching for that elusive title.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with them,” said Mandl, who was suspended by the PSAL for all of last season because of recruiting violations. “They’ve never been there. They probably are going to be a little nervous. We won’t.”