South wins third consecutive Mayor’s Cup

The fifth annual Mayor’s Cup game between South and Central high schools was a pitchers’ duel through five innings until the Falcons plated five runners in the sixth to edge past the Eagles, 8-3, on May 15 at Firemen’s Field.

South sophomore Tyler Gil was lights out on the mound, allowing two hits in seven dominating innings of work. He struck out nine hitters on the day, including the only three batters to come to bat for Central in the sixth inning.

The win marked South’s fourth Mayor’s Cup victory in five years since the event came to be in 2009. Mayor Ed Fare was on hand to watch the two schools square off and said it’s an event he looks forward to each year.

“It’s a nice concept,” he said of the Mayor’s Cup. “I look at it as a good hometown Valley Stream baseball game.” Fare, who is a graduate of Central and a teacher at South, said he wasn’t rooting for one particular team; he just wanted to see a good game. With Gil’s efforts on the mound, that’s exactly what Fare and the dozens of spectators got.

South started off the scoring in the top of the first inning when senior Andrew Castano singled home senior Andrew Hess with two outs. Central quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning after a leadoff double by sophomore Joe Picillo in the left-center field gap. He scored three batters later after a fielding error.

Junior Kevin Goldman threw the first five innings for Central and matched Gil pitch-for-pitch, striking out four batters. He sat the Falcons down in order in the fourth inning and worked out of trouble in the fifth by inducing a two-out groundout with the bases loaded.

In the bottom half of the fifth inning, Central plated two runs to take a 3-1 lead. After a one-out walk, freshman Thomas Logan laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first base. Picillo then came to bat, hit the ball on the ground and an ensuing error scored two runs. Gil settled down and got the next two batters to pop up on the infield.

“His upside is tremendous,” South coach Ken Ward said of Gil. Ward added that with Gil or junior Andrew Labeck pitching, he likes his chances. “With those two pitchers on the mound I think we can beat anybody,” Ward said. Labeck finished 5-1 this season.