By DAN MARTIN
May 28, 2008
Dominique Parra, like the rest of his Gompers teammates, has saved his best for the postseason.
The hard-throwing lefty tossed his second straight no-hitter in the playoffs yesterday, this one a rain-shortened 5-0 win in six innings over fifth-seeded Norman Thomas in the PSAL quarters at George Washington.
"I knew I had another good game in me, but you don't think about throwing a no-hitter," said the junior, who tossed an 11-strikeout gem against New Utrecht in the first round.
The 13th-seeded Panthers then knocked off perennial power Monroe, the fourth seed in the second round. Their next opponent will be No. 1 Madison, after the Knights beat No. 8 Wagner, 4-2. The semis begin Friday at the College of Staten Island, with No. 18 Clinton facing No. 6 George Washington in the other bracket, after Clinton's 4-3 upset over No. 7 Telecommunications and No. 6 GW's 5-2 victory against No. 3 Lehman.
Gompers, a Bronx school, was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round each of the past two years. But Parra, who struck out eight, put an end to that and didn't slow down yesterday. To get past Madison in the best-of-three semifinals, the Panthers will need more than just Parra.
"We still have things to prove," said head coach Louis Figueroa, who also got a three-run double from Juan Hilario to break open the game in the fourth. "We're still not where Monroe and Lehman and the other teams in The Bronx that people talk about are. But we're playing with a lot of confidence."
The other surprise team of the postseason, Clinton, advanced in part because of a questionable late-inning call. With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the seventh, Telecom catcher Jason Galeano was called for obstructing a Clinton runner as he caught a ball from rightfielder Stan Simmons. Although Galeano made the tag, the run counted.
"The umps said it was a new rule," Telecom head coach Ed D'Alessio said. "I've never heard of anything like it." Despite his unhappiness with the call, D'Alessio opted not to protest.
