Carroll routs La Salle for title

By TED SILARY

  Mike Costanzo played for the Phillies last weekend.

  More accurate, he played in front of Phillies' scouts at Veterans Stadium as part of an invitation-only, predraft workout.

  "It was fun. I think I played pretty well," Costanzo said. "I fielded, threw . . . I think they were really impressed with my arm. "

  Fine, but let's get to the important stuff. Any homers?

  "Close. Very close," he said, smiling. "I hit one to the warning track in right-center. I wish I'd hit this one down there. "

  This one was the bomb Costanzo launched yesterday at La Salle University while leading Archbishop Carroll High past La Salle, 16-0, yes, 16-0, for its second consecutive Catholic League baseball championship, as well as its third in four years and fifth in seven.

  The homer wasn't needed, seeing as how it didn't come until the second inning, when the Patriots were well on their frolicking way, thanks to a five-run first. But, man, was it ever majestic.

  The two-run shot, which provided a 7-0 lead, had the trademark look of a major-league Big Fly. The ball sailed high and deep and had no trouble clearing the 10-foot fence at the right edge of centerfield.

  And it wasn't Costanzo's only plate statement. In all, the senior third baseman, a lefthanded hitter bound for Coastal Carolina, went 4-for-4 with a walk, two doubles, the homer and five RBI.

  The CL record for RBI in a title game is six by St. James' Art Gorga in 1965. The Bulldogs needed every one, too, as they edged Father Judge, 12-11. The winning-margin record was doubled from eight; Archbishop Ryan beat Carroll, 12-4, in '80, and Bishop Neumann beat Judge, 10-2, in '60. (In the final of a three-game series for the title in 1969, Cardinal Dougherty beat St. James, 15-1. ) The record for victory margin in a shutout was more than doubled; Judge beat Cardinal O'Hara, 7-0, in '76.

  Somehow, we think Costanzo shed no tears about not being drafted. Also, it's not hard to imagine it'll happen down the line.

  "This is unbelievable," he gushed. "There's nothing like winning a championship. We're always confident in championship games, since we're 5-0 [since '96]. We take no prisoners at championship time. Carroll's a dynasty. It's an unbelievable program. We're like the Yankees, everybody says. "

  Actually, the Patriots' title-game streak is six. They also won in '91 after falling in their first four attempts ('90, '82, '80 and '73).

  Fran Murphy, Carroll's fourth-year boss and an assistant before that, called Costanzo the best hitter he has coached at Carroll.

  "And I've coached some good ones, including our first-base coach, Mike Fuchs [a two-time Daily News co-Player of the Year as a slugging catcher]," Murphy said. "His numbers are eye-popping. He broke all the single-season records held by [Fuchs] and he's up there for some career records, too. "

  Costanzo finished the season with 54 RBI in 28 games. He hit .529 (46-for-87) with 10 doubles, two triples and 14 homers. He was 6-for-7 in Carroll's two playoff games with three doubles and a homer.

  La Salle - and there's no other way to put it - offered one of the all-time stinkers. Counting two actual errors, a fly ball that should have been caught and a sinking liner that hit an outfielder's glove and went for a double, the Explorers gave Carroll seven first-inning outs.

  The first error came with two outs and no runs in.

  "When a team messes up," Costanzo said, "we try to jump on them the very next play. "

  "We make that play and everything's different," La Salle coach Joe Parisi said.

  In all, the Explorers committed five errors and several more times were guilty of mental/physical mistakes.

  "I'm not angry. I'm disappointed," Parisi said. "The kids worked so hard to get here . . . If you get beat when you play well, you can walk away with your head high. I'm disappointed that we didn't give Carroll a better game, and that our kids will have to have this as a memory for the championship game. "

  Joining Costanzo as hitting heroes were John Gardner (3-for-4, two doubles, homer, two RBI), Chris Cashman (two-run double), Dave Omlor (two-run double, three RBI) and pitcher Frank Gailey (3-for-5 with a double).

  On the mound, Gailey posted a three-hitter with one walk and six strikeouts. The junior lefty faced just 24 batters.

  "Coach Murphy hinted I'd pitch this one," said Gailey, who went the distance in the semifinal win over Ryan on Saturday. "He didn't tell me for sure until practice [Tuesday]. I wanted to start. And once I got out there, I did not want to come out. That's why I kept my concentration. I didn't want to give him any reason to come get me.

  "I kept telling myself, 'It's baseball. Anything can happen. ' "

  Said Costanzo: "I wanted the ball today, but I understood. I'm just so glad Frank Gailey's on our team. "

  While Murphy declined to compare and contrast his three title teams, he was obviously feeling ecstatic about what they had accomplished.

  "The one thing all three did, I feel, was play their best game of the season in the championship game," he said. The '99 Patriots blanked St. Joseph's Prep, 3-0. Last year's squad trimmed Kennedy-Kenrick, 8-2. "That says a lot. When your team does that, it makes you feel really good as a coach."