St. Peter’s quest to bring home Staten Island’s first-ever CHSAA state crown in baseball came to an end in the championship game Saturday afternoon at St. John’s University in Queens.
The Eagles, who finished with a 23-3 mark overall, fell to Archbishop Molloy, 8-0, in the title game. Molloy had beaten St. Anthony’s, 8-4, Friday night to advance to Saturday.
The New Brighton nine and Molloy had met in the best-of-three CHSAA Intersectional more than a week ago with the Eagles sweeping the Stanners to claim the “city” crown, the Island’s sixth such title, but this time the Stanners got the best of the Eagles. State play in the baseball was just introduced in 2021 so previous CHSAA Intersectional winners from the Island -- and city for that matter -- didn’t get the chance to compete for a state crown. Molloy put the finale away with a 35-minute third inning that saw the Bronx school score three times to take a 5-0 lead, chasing St.
Peter’s starter Chris Laieta. The senior southpaw had returned from a meniscus injury in mid-May. It looked the Eagles were out of gas in the nightcap from having played two games on the same day.
The semifinals were to be played Friday, but St. Peter’s held its commencement ceremony that same day, forcing Eagles head coach Bobby Glennerster to move the semifinal to Saturday morning, meaning the Eagles would have to play two games on the same day. The Eagles didn’t muster any offense in the nightcap off Molloy starter Ryan McMen.
