Tottenville Pirates earn redemption with comprehensive 7-0 victory over Newtown

After a surprising second-round loss to No. 17 Gregorio Luperon HS as the top seed in the 2024 PSAL 3A playoffs

The No. 2 seed Tottenville Pirates earned a measure of revenge for last year’s surprising second-round loss with a comprehensive 7-0 victory over No. 18 seed Newtown at their home field Friday evening in the second round of the 2024 PSAL 3A playoffs.

After losing to No. 17 Gregorio Luperon HS as the top seed, the Pirates (11-5) will now host either No. 7 seed Monroe or No. 10 seed JFK Campus in next week’s quarterfinals.

At the same stage last year, the Pirates lost to Luperon 7-4 in an unpredictable contest that saw the lower seed rally from a three-run deficit in the seventh inning.

This year, however, Tottenville were in control throughout as they cruised to victory over the winless Pioneers (0-16).

Pirates head coach Michael Grippo made sure his team learned from last year’s early exit, reminding his players that regardless of Newtown’s low placement, “anybody can beat anybody.”

“If any of their guys has a good start and yours doesn’t, it can be a coin flip at the point. But our team has been playing better every week for the last couple of weeks, there’s no doubt about that. They really are playing impressive baseball,” he shared.

Calling Jason Bassett’s outing vs. Newtown a “good start” would be an understatement as the senior delivered six shutout innings of two-hit ball, keeping the Pioneers’ bats quiet and setting the tone for Tottenville’s dominant performance. He also struck out 11.

Bassett also pointed to last year’s result as a motivator heading into the matchup.

“Last year we lost in the second round, so we knew it was a big game coming in. We haven't played them this year so we didn't really know what they had, but we had good energy and my defense was good behind me. No errors and no walks either; definitely a good game,” Bassett shared.

While Bassett set the tone on the mound from the first pitch, the Pirates took advantage of run-scoring opportunities that didn't require a swing, plating two of their first three runs on a bases-loaded walk in the second inning and a passed ball in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead before their bats came to life.

Grippo emphasized how important it was to get runs on the board by any means necessary in the postseason, speaking on the importance of “manufacturing runs in all different ways.”

“You can't always rely on the sticks. You have to rely a little bit on the base running, a little bit on hitting, a little bit on bunting and taking the extra base, depending on the game, depending on what type of game it is. There's a different formula for every game, but you need offense from all different types of sources,” Grippo analyzed.

But sure enough, the Pirates strung together their best piece of hitting in the bottom of the fourth, as James Anderson whammed an RBI double, Nicholas DeAngelis ripped a two-RBI single and Darren Miller hit another RBI single to make it 7-0 Tottenville — which was more than enough to secure the win.

DeAngelis described Tottenville's hitting as "contagious" as the game went on.

"Once one guy gets going, the whole team gets going," he said of the Pirates' improved bats.

With the offense breaking through in the fourth, Bassett continued to mow down hitters, blanking the Pioneers in the fifth and sixth innings before earning a well-deserved rest.

Bassett's performance prompted his manager to call him "one of the best arms around"—a well-deserved assessment following his near-perfect start.

"Jay's a grinder. There's nothing better than when you have a kid that can go out there and compete. You know what you're going to get out of him most days, and even though he's considered a power pitcher, he can still drop in different off-speed stuff too," Grippo said.

Reliever Nicholas Chirelli picked up seamlessly where Bassett left off in the seventh inning, quickly dispatching the Pioneers to preserve the shutout and secure the win for the Pirates.

With one piece of redemption now in the bank, Grippo is confident that as long as Tottenville can "continue doing what we're doing," the Pirates will have a real shot at a city title.

"I think they're realizing that at this point in the season, there's not much they need to do differently. They need to just keep on playing at a good speed, both mentally and physically. They're playing a good brand of baseball. They know what they're doing and they're all locked in together,"