The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-24)

D6 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, MAY 24 , 2022

FROM STAFF REPORTS

St. Albans attackman James

DiOrio began playing lacrosse

about 12 years ago, but the

senior is undecided about com-

peting in college. If his final

game came in the D.C. State

Athletic Association champion-

ship matchup Sunday, he would

be content.

St. Albans defeated Sidwell

Friends, 17-4, at Catholic Univer-

sity to cap an up-and-down

season with its first champion-

ship since it won the Interstate

Athletic Conference in 2007.

“It’s great to go out on a high

note,” said DiOrio, who scored

four goals. “I couldn’t ask for

anything better with all the guys

that I love. It’s great going home

with a banner.”

St. Albans (14-9) began the

season with wins over DeMatha,

Churchill and Landon. After

several injuries, the Bulldogs

dropped four consecutive

games, including an IAC quar-

terfinal loss to Georgetown

Prep.

While other top private

schools skipped the inaugural

DCSAA tournament, St. Albans

was committed. The players’

final high school lacrosse mem-

ories will be of posing for photos

with a trophy and collecting

black championship sweatshirts

on a humid day.

“We had a tough ending in the

IAC, so this is really nice,” said

attackman Bob Gross, who

scored four goals and will play

for Amherst next year. “It was a

blast.”

— Kyle Melnick

Track and field

As event officials calculated

the final scores of Wednesday’s

D.C. Interscholastic Athletic As-

sociation track meet, McKinley

Tech gathered in relative silence.

After they put on a clinic

during the first day of the city

championship, then repeated

that success the following day, it

was all but certain the Trainers

would be hoisting their second

DCIAA trophy in three seasons.

Nevertheless, nervous energy

radiated from their makeshift

huddle until the event’s an-

nouncer read the final results.

“We’d performed really well

both days, but I think that the

nerves had more to do with

wanting to win for Coach Lam-

bert,” McKinley Tech Coach Na-

thaniel Metts said. “So until the

job was officially done, we were

all a bit tight.”

In April, Deborah Lambert,

one of Metts’s primary assistants,

died after a brief bout with

cancer. It came as a shock to the

program.

“It seemed like one day she

was fine and her usual happy

self, then the next she was being

diagnosed with cancer,” Metts

said. “Then a few months later,

she was gone. It was really tough

on our staff because we’re all

really close, but it was truly

traumatic for the kids.”

Following Lambert’s death,

the Trainers decided they would

honor her by winning the city

championship despite fielding a

team that lacked star power. As

the season progressed, McKinley

Tech’s strength-in-numbers ap-

proach proved capable of getting

the job done.

“It probably sounds weird to

say this, but Coach dying sort of

gave us a boost,” senior Andre

Samuel said. “We all loved her

and wanted to win for her, so we

just locked in and focused on

getting the title for her. We

weren’t worrying about what

other teams had. All we cared

about was getting better and

beating the man next to us at the

meet.”

Led by Samuel’s first-place

finish in the 800 meters and

freshman Alexander Williams

reaching the podium for the

discus and triple jump, the Train-

ers received contributions from

nearly everyone.

McKinley Tech effectively shut

the door on second-place Wilson

when its 4x400 relay team of

Samuel, Williams, Devin Monroe

and David Banu took home gold

after Wilson was disqualified.

“If you focus on just doing

your job and being sound in your

technique, you’re always going to

have a chance to beat the man

next to you,” Metts said. “Regard-

less of the times or distances

jumped by your opponents, the

mission is a go until it’s complet-

ed.”

— Tramel Raggs

Soccer

The postseason has begun in

Northern Virginia, meaning this

week is a fraught one for many

teams as the stakes are suddenly

raised. Park View Coach Arturo

Jimenez has been through this

plenty of times and often relies

on the same message as his team

begins the playoffs: Have fun.

“I preach it every year,” he

said. “I tell them this is just a

little thing that happens in life.

Big things are going to come, but

this is something to enjoy.”

He is especially adamant on

that message this season. After

22 seasons as the coach at Park

View, Jimenez plans to retire this

spring.

“It’s exciting and maybe a bit

sad,” he said. “It’s gratifying just

to be out here every day, watch-

ing these kids play at a high

level.”

The Patriots, who will face

Dominion on Tuesday in the

Dulles District semifinals, will

aim to give their coach an eighth

district title, a fourth region title

and maybe even a second state

championship. As they do so, he

simply asks that they enjoy it.

“That’s all I ever want,” Jime-

nez said. “Enjoy this moment.”

— Michael Errigo

Baseball

The St. Anselm’s Abbey roster

is made up of a collection of

athletes, many of whom consider

baseball their second or third

sport.

So sometimes it takes a while

for the team to reach its peak. By

the time the Panthers (10-8)

defended their Potomac Valley

Athletic Conference tournament

title, though, the group was

thriving.

A 4-1 win over Washington

Waldorf last week secured a

fourth consecutive PVAC cham-

pionship for the Panthers.

“They came together as a team

all year,” Coach Paul Wofsy said.

“They’re good athletes, they did

their best, and they got better.

They worked very hard, and

that’s what I will remember from

this team.”

As a freshman, Max Breton

moved between the junior varsi-

ty and varsity, and then the

pandemic shortened or altered

his next two years. With 2022

being his first chance to play a

full season, Breton was the Pan-

thers’ ace. He pitched six strong

innings in the title game before

hurting his knee running the

bases. Niko Miranda came in to

handle the final inning.

— Jacob Richman

Tennis

Northern Virginia schools

faced stiff competition at the

Virginia Independent Schools

Athletic Association tournament

last week.

In the Division I quarterfinals

Tuesday, Episcopal fell, 5-0, to

St. Christopher’s, the eventual

state champion. And Bishop

O’Connell couldn’t slow No. 2

seed Collegiate in a 5-0 loss.

Fresh off a loss in the Mid-At-

lantic Athletic Conference cham-

pionship, the Potomac boys chal-

lenged Trinity Episcopal, but a

last-minute coronavirus expo-

sure caused complications in the

lineup, leading to a loss.

Paul VI was closest to victory

in the quarterfinals, playing a

tug-of-war match with Norfolk

Academy. After their third-place

finish at the Washington Catho-

lic Athletic Conference tourna-

ment this month, the Panthers

relied on a strong doubles team,

Nico Diaz and Luke Saylor, as

well as a deep singles lineup, but

fell, 5-4.

The VISAA tournament is the

end of the season for private

schools in the state. Public

school teams are gearing up for

the Virginia High School League

championships next month.

— Aaron Credeur

BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL NOTES

St. Albans lacrosse puts a happy capper on s eason

BY CHELSEA JANES

new york — The Yadier Molina-
Albert Pujols farewell tour recent-
ly rumbled to Citi Field as the St.
Louis Cardinals made their final
regular season trip to New York
with both soon-to-be-retirees on
their roster.
In many ways, including their
presence, this is a classic Cardi-
nals season, one played under
immense local expectations and
in a relatively weak division re-
sulting in a winning record (so
far). In other ways, this is the most
emotional St. Louis season in
quite some time, the one Cardi-
nals faithful refer to as “One Last
Ride” around Busch Stadium be-
cause it is the last time this great
core of Molina, Pujols and pitcher
Adam Wainwright will play to-
gether.
But steering the Cardinals
through that last ride is a man
navigating his first, a man young-
er than Molina, Pujols and Wain-
wright — rookie manager Oliver
Marmol. At 35, Marmol has inher-
ited the complicated task of lead-
ing three beloved stars, and this
era of franchise history, into the
sunset.
“He’s a guy who has a lot of
wisdom. He knows the game.
Knows the game more than what
you think,” said Pujols, 42. “It
hasn’t impressed me because I’ve
known him for a long time, talked
to him, and the way that he talks
about it. That’s something I ap-
preciate the most about him.”
Marmol’s bench coach, Skip
Schumaker, served under two
rookie managers in San Diego. He
played for another with the Cardi-
nals in Mike Matheny. He spent
the first seven seasons of his ca-
reer playing for a Hall of Famer,
Tony La Russa. He knows what it
looks like when a manager is
ready for the title.
Schumaker did not know much
about the young manager before
Marmol called him to gauge his
interest in joining the St. Louis
coaching staff. But he, like his
former Cardinals teammates,
knows what it looks like when a
manager is ready.
“If you have turbulence and
you look in and they’re putting
the life jacket on, you’re like, ‘Oh,
my God, what’s going on?’ ” Schu-
maker said. “But if it’s bumpy and
you look and the guy is just drink-
ing a Starbucks, you’re like, ‘Okay,
I can chill out and keep reading
my book.’ That’s what I take from
him: In big leverage situations,
he’s calm and stoic.”

Marmol placed his coffee cup

on the bench in the visitors’ dug-

out at Citi Field before his team’s

doubleheader with the Mets on

Tuesday. He sat on top of the

bench as a group of reporters

three times the size of the normal

Cardinals media contingent el-

bowed for space around him,

joked that his mild-mannered

starter Steven Matz was a “pain in

the a--” and explained matter-of-

factly that the only thing that

really has felt new to him this

season has been talking to report-

ers every day.

Marmol was involved in many

of the conversations his predeces-

sor and mentor, Mike Shildt, had

with players or the front office,

anyway. He is the youngest major

league manager since Cleveland

was led by 35-year-old Eric Wedge

in 2003, but he had already been

coaching 11 years by the time he

was hired. In fact, if there was

anything Marmol had to worry

about in taking over as the Cardi-

nals’ manager, it wasn’t as much

proving himself to the players but

the fact that they had gotten to

know him in a very different role

as bench coach — a job that offers

more familiarity to players, that

doesn’t include owning tough de-

cisions.

“I think it was important for me

to come in with no expectations,”

center fielder Harrison Bader

said. “I’ve had a lot of experiences

with him in the past, but a lot of

those experiences are because of

the position he was in and the

manager he managed under. He

had to balance multiple things.

“Now he’s been given essential-

ly the rope to do it his own way

and see where it takes him. And

he’s really himself.”

The Cardinals pride them-

selves on stability. That’s why Pu-

jols returning to St. Louis for his

final season was a given instead of

a pipe dream. Cardinals come

home. Their president, John Mo-

zeliak, has been running baseball

operations in St. Louis for a dec-

ade and a half. Marmol is the

team’s fourth manager since 1996.

One of them is La Russa. The

other three are homegrown Car-

dinals.

That stability is why the front

office’s decision to part ways with

Shildt in October stunned the

baseball world. Shildt had grown

up in the Cardinals’ system, over-

seen their transformation into

one of baseball’s best defensive

units and most aggressive base

runners. As he helped forge the

Cardinals’ identity, Marmol was

his bench coach. Everyone fig-

ured he would manage someday.

At Marmol’s introductory news

conference, even Mozeliak noted

that no one expected him to man-

age this soon.

And while his proximity to

Shildt and familiarity with the

Cardinals’ system do maintain

that coveted continuity, Marmol

was not exactly inheriting the

kind of young, malleable roster on

which he could make his mark.

“It could be my son managing

this game. You still have to respect

that he has the authority,” said

Pujols, who signed a one-year deal

with St. Louis in March. “That’s

why I have the locker room and he

has the office.”

Schumaker, who won 2006 and

2011 World Series titles with Pu-

jols, Wainwright and Molina, calls

those three some of his closest

friends. To the extent that Mar-

mol’s regime needs credibility —

and, given his history in the or-

ganization, no one suggests that it

does — Schumaker offers it with

the veterans who may not know

him quite as well.

The influence of those three

stars — combined with the experi-

ence of Paul Goldschmidt and

Nolan Arenado — means Marmol

inherited a clubhouse that

doesn’t need to be taught as much

as guided, running a team with

incentive to win and the expecta-

tions that it can do so. That, he

said, is exactly the kind of role he

wants to fill.

“I’m more passionate about sit-

ting down with a player and talk-

ing through the mental side of the

game and the difficulties of pres-

sure and failure and how to han-

dle success and sustain success

rather than how to field a back-

hand,” Marmol said.

When Tyler O’Neill struggled

mightily in the first few weeks of

May, it was Marmol who decided

to hold him out of the lineup for

two days and the hitting coaches

who oversaw his adjustments.

More importantly, it was Marmol

who explained the plan to O’Neill,

who hit 34 homers with a .912

on-base-plus-slugging percent-

age in a 2021 season that cement-

ed his place in the heart of the

Cardinals’ order.

“That’s what you can’t get

wrong,” Marmol said. “There are

27 different mentalities. If you try

to approach two guys the same

way, that’s where it never works.

It’s hard to be intentional with

each one and know what they

need, even at times what they

don’t want to hear and need to

hear.”

The Cardinals have a winning

record, but not every message

Marmol has had to deliver this

year has been positive. St. Louis

had to send former all-star short-

stop Paul DeJong to Class AAA

when his offensive struggles be-

came too much for the lineup to

absorb, though decisions such as

that are not in the hands of a

manager. But Marmol has estab-

lished himself as a straight talker

with everyone from players to

reporters. He admits when the

team needs more from a player.

He does not tiptoe around any-

one.

“The decisions he makes and

the way he goes about it, he

doesn’t really incorporate the

emotions or the feelings of the

players. And that’s not to say he

doesn’t care about how we feel.

He just understands there is a

bigger picture involved here,”

Bader said. “That’s good because

when decisions are made, it’s very

matter-of-fact. It takes the emo-

tion out of it. There’s not a lot of

BS. It’s just, ‘Here’s where we are,

here’s where we’re trying to go,

and here’s how I think we’re going

to get there.’ ”

Taking the emotion out of this

Cardinals season will not be easy.

Injuries have perforated their

promising pitching staff. DeJong,

O’Neill and others have not pro-

duced as they did in recent years.

The Cardinals trailed the Milwau-

kee Brewers by three games in the

National League Central entering

Monday, though, of course, it’s too

early for that to matter much. But

as time passes and the farewell

tour chugs slowly toward the fall,

the pressure will build, creating a

fascinating test for a man charged

with shepherding a franchise

through one last ride even as he

takes his first.

A young manager steers the last ride of Cardinals legends

As M olina and Pujols prepare to call it a career, the 35-year-old Marmol brings a measured approach to his first campaign in charge of the St. Louis dugout

TONY AVELAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Oliver Marmol, the Cardinals’ rookie manager, greeted Juan Yepez at the dugout after the first baseman’s home run earlier this month.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Andrei Vasilevskiy had 49
saves and the Tampa Bay Light-
ning completed a four-game
sweep of the Florida Panthers
with a 2-0 victory Monday night
in Tampa that sent the two-time
defending Stanley Cup champi-
ons back to the Eastern Confer-
ence finals for the sixth time in
eight years.
Pat Maroon snapped a score-
less tie a little over six minutes
into the third period, batting
Zach Bogosian’s shot down be-
hind Panthers goaltender Sergei
Bobrovsky before the puck trick-
led into the net. Ondrej Palat
added an empty-net goal with 22
seconds left.
Vasilevskiy won his sixth
straight game, a streak that be-
gan with the Lightning facing a
3-2 series deficit in the opening
round. It was his sixth shutout in
his past seven series-clinching
wins.
The reigning Conn Smythe
Trophy winner limited the high-
scoring Panthers, who averaged
an NHL-best 4.11 goals while
compiling the league’s best rec-
ord during the regular season, to
three goals in four games.
The Lightning joined the New
York Islanders and Montreal Ca-
nadiens as the only franchises to
win at least 10 consecutive play-
off series. Their bid to become
the first team in 40 years to
capture three straight Stanley
Cup titles will continue in the
East final against the Carolina
Hurricanes or New York Rangers.
The defending champs perse-
vered Monday night despite hav-
ing goals by Alex Killorn and
Nikita Kucherov waved off with-
in a 48-second span of the second
period — the first after Florida
interim coach Andrew Brunette
challenged and a lengthy replay

review determined Palat lifted

the puck out of play along the

boards before Mikhail Sergachev

fired a shot that Killorn tipped

past Bobrovsky.

Less than a minute later, Tam-

pa Bay appeared to take the lead

again, only to have replay con-

firm Anthony Cirelli won a face-

off in the left circle with a hand

pass that Kucherov rifled

through B obrovsky.

The Panthers became the first

Presidents’ Trophy winners to be

swept by a defending Stanley

Cup champion in the playoffs

since Edmonton breezed past

Calgary on its way to another

title in 1988.

Vasilevskiy, who entered Mon-

day night having given up one

goal in each of his previous four

games, has allowed one goal total

in his past seven series-clinching

wins.

The Panthers outshot the

Lightning 17-3 in the first period

and 34-15 through the second.

Center Brayden Point (lower

body) remained sidelined for the

Lightning. He has not played

since being injured during the

Lightning’s Game 7 victory over

Toronto.

K adri is subject of threats

The NHL said St. Louis police

are investigating threats made

toward Colorado Avalanche for-

ward Nazem Kadri, who has been

the subject of racist social media

posts since he was involved in a

collision that knocked Blues

goaltender Jordan Binnington

out for the rest of their series.

Deputy Commissioner Bill

Daly said the league and police

are looking into the situation.

The team said Sunday night it

was aware of threats against

Kadri and was working with local

law enforcement to investigate.

Kadri collided with Binnington

during Game 3 of their second-

round series Saturday night;

Kadri said a Blues player threw a

water bottle at him during a

postgame interview.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

Tampa Bay sweeps past

Florida into East finals

LIGHTNING 2,

PANTHERS 0