Just before Pacelli's Chris Leak took the traditional drenching given to the winning coach, he recalled his first encounter with freshman Matthew Rossi back in January.
On the first day of baseball practice, Leak held an informal team scrimmage and Rossi hit a home run.
Leak left practice impressed with Rossi's ability. Saturday, Rossi left a lasting impression at War Eagle Stadium in the deciding game of the Class A championship best-of-three series. Rossi hit three home runs to help lead the Vikings to their first state baseball championship with a 10-5 win over Landmark Christian.
"How about that for a freshman in a state championship game?"
Leak said. "He is a great, great talent. He loves baseball."
With Rossi supplying the offensive firepower, his brother Charles, gave a stellar performance on the mound for the second straight day. Charles Rossi picked up the save after relieving Stuart Wilkinson, who finished the season with a 6-0 record. Wilkinson pitched 4 1/3 innings, giving up two hits and four runs while striking out 11.
Charles Rossi gave up two hits with three strikeouts and yielded only one run. Pacelli had forced Game 3 on his standout pitching effort in the nightcap Friday after Landmark Christian won the opener.
"Our pitching came through for us,"
Pacelli senior David Miller said. "It has been an amazing four years. I guess the first three years of my career didn't matter because I got that state championship now."
With the win, Pacelli closed the season with a 31-4 record and its first championship in a boys sport since the 1991 cross country team won the title. Landmark ended the season at 27-7, and dropped two consecutive games for the first time this season.
"That first guy [Wilkinson] was really tough,"
Landmark coach Phil Williams said. "We only have two seniors on this team, and we have something to build on."
Saturday's championship game by Matthew Rossi atoned for a bad first two games in the series, when he went 1-for-7 at the plate. He said some extra batting practice and a talk with his father proved to be the best solution.
"This was amazing,"
said Matthew Rossi, who also had a single. "This is the best feeling in the world. I made some adjustments and I started seeing the ball better today. I love baseball. I'm really happy that Charles was able to come in there and shut the door."
