Rye's Tripodi Hits Iona Prep JV Baseball to Title

The 2011 Catholic High Schools Association Class AA Junior Varsity championship game had two opponents who were quite familiar with each other.

Iona Prep made its third straight appearance and met St. Joseph by the for the second consecutive year in the title game. The previous two meetings ended with Iona Prep finishing second.

However, right-hander Vinny Martin made sure it did not happen again. Martin went the distance, surrendering two runs in the first inning and finishing with a three-hitter as Iona Prep defeated St. Joseph by the Sea, 8-2, recently at St. John’s.

 It was Iona Prep’s and Salerno’s first JV title in 14 years. During his tenure, the Gaels have played in four finals and eight semifinals.

Danny Ormond, Adam Tracey and Martin each had multiple-hit games. Ormond’s two-out, two-run single in the second inning, scoring Mario Biaggi and Tracey, evened the score at 2-2. It gave Iona Prep a confidence boost.

“We went down easy in the first inning, but after Ormond’s two-run single tied the game, we knew we were cooking,” Salerno said. “We were hitting in all situations with confidence.”

Iona Prep took the lead for good in the third. Brendan Tripodi, a Rye resident, ripped a bases-loaded double, scoring Pat DeCea, Ryan Crowley and Tracey. Tripodi would score the fourth run of the inning on an Ormond single. Given a four-run lead, Martin continued to stifle St. Joe’s.

“Vinny is a right-handed power pitcher with great control,” Salerno said. “He had a dominating performance. He hit his spots constantly. He had his curveball early, then we had him hitting the corners with his off-speed stuff to keep hitters from diving into pitches.”

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