Staten Island staves off New Jersey to reach Little League World Series

Revenge is best served rainy, apparently.

After losing to Morristown, N.J. on Monday, the Staten Island South Shore prevailed in Friday’s rematch in the Metro Regional final, 5-0, to reach the Little League World Series.

“I told them it’s a different game today, backs are against the wall. One game, take all — and we’ll be fine,” Bob Laterza told The Post of rebounding and taking the regional title.

“We were here to win, not just win a game or two.”

Peter Giaccio proved a hero for Staten Island, scoring the game’s first run on a double steal before drilling an opposite-field two-run triple in the top of the sixth inning.

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Starting pitcher Stephen Grippo was stellar, racking up seven strikeouts across five shutout, two-hit innings.

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The southpaw, who battled an injury to his throwing hand, pleaded his way to stay in the game before stranding runners on the corners in the fifth inning to keep Morristown off the board.

Laterza said he wanted to take Grippo out, but a chat over a minor finger injury and some potential fatigue was a short one.

“He said ‘I’m not coming out’ — there was no conversation,” Laterza said. “[With] him, I’m a little more lenient, especially since he got us through all those innings.”

Tenacity proved to be the theme for Grippo, who remained on the hill despite an initial rain delay of nearly 90 minutes.

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Action from the Giamatti Little League Center in Bristol, Conn. was postponed repeatedly, with the game starting 80 minutes late and featuring a second pause of nearly an hour.

Altogether, the Metro Region title game took nearly four hours to complete, but the longer timeframe didn’t faze Staten Island.

Lefty Jake Romero — a relative of MLB brothers Richie and Joshua Palacios — notched the final three outs for Staten Island, which is the first team from the borough to reach Williamsport, Pa. for the first time since Mid-Island did in 2018.

“I can’t say enough about Jake Romero, the boy’s 11 years old, came into that spot and threw the last inning for me,” the manager said.

Representing both New York and the Metro region, the Staten Island squad will kick off action on Aug. 14 in pursuit of a Little League World Series title.

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