Who starred in Prep's win? Let's go to the video

MARTIN Scorsese's son plays baseball for St. Joseph's Prep.

Who knew?!

Actually, that's a lie. But the father of second baseman Frank Santore can hardly ever be spotted without a video camera and, one of these days, the family's South Philly home might need an addition just to store all of his tapes and DVDs.

"He pretty much documents everything. I can see any moment in my life," Frank said, laughing. "Sports, family, friends. He always has the camera going."

Yesterday, Frank and his dad, Mark, were on the premises at chilly/windy/rainy La Salle University for a showdown between the final two teams - Archbishop Ryan and St. Joseph's Prep - with one loss apiece in the Catholic League's double-elimination tournament.

Frank limited his activities to playing. Well, except for the groundskeeping stints he served with other players (and coaches) at the start and finish of a 36-minute rain delay in the bottom of the fifth inning. Mark, meanwhile, sometimes under a large umbrella, kept shooting away from his perch atop the stands that serve the adjacent soccer field.

He didn't have to wait long to capture a cool family treasure.

Second inning. One away. Bases loaded, thanks to walks to Chris Martin and Tom Mullin and Pat O'Dell's infield single.

Up stepped the 5-8, 160-pound Frank, a lefty swinger in the No. 9 hole. Bing went a two-run single down the rightfield line, giving the Prep a 2-1 lead en route to an eight-run outburst that fueled a 10-3 win.

The championship game, matching the Hawks against La Salle, could be today, 1 p.m., at Widener University. If the Prep wins, the teams will go at it one more time Tuesday at 3:45, also at Widener.

As you read this, Mark Santore is buying more tape.

"He does everything on tape, then changes it into DVDs," Frank said. "He makes me watch everything. Ah, it's fun. Anything you can imagine, he has it. He does everything from bloopers to interviews . . . Except his interviews aren't serious.

"He'll also use the videos for [instruction] with me. If I have a tough game, we'll look at my swing and see what I was doing wrong. And sometimes he'll take me to Bat-A-Rama [in Westville, N.J.] to throw me some batting practice."

For a while, the treks were semi-frequent.

Though Santore began the season hitting second, a tough stretch brought about a drop to ninth 2-plus weeks ago.

"Originally, it hurt a little. I was kind of discouraged," he said. "But I realized it would help the team more if someone doing well was in that second spot. I figured I could still deliver down in the order, because we hit all the way through. There are always men on base.

"I took it as, 'This is my best way to help the team.' And it has worked since then."

Santore's hit came on a 2-2, middle-in fastball. That's the pitch he loves and now he sees it more often, because pitchers often seem to figure, "I can blow it past this dude. Hey, he's the No. 9 hitter."

In that inning, only the runs produced by Santore were earned. The Raiders killed themselves with three errors, though Shane Williams (one-run single) and Chase Standen (two-run triple; continued home on errant relay throw) did crunch hits for legit RBI.

Williams finished 2-for-3 with a double and sacrifice fly for two RBI. Standen added another ribbie on a groundout to shortstop Dan Stahl, who made a great, sprawling stop.

The Hawks' mound starter was soph righthander Colin Cunningham, who lasted six innings. He yielded five hits and three runs (all unearned). Classmate Dino Cattai, likewise a righty, worked an uneventful seventh.

In the sixth, Ryan had runners on second and third with one away when Justin Price, who appeared to check his swing, was called out by plate ump John Harrington. Soon, assistant Jerry Eck and two players, catcher Dylan Egan and first baseman Matt Graber, were ejected for expressing their displeasure.

Santore, who lives near 8th and Fitzwater, is part of a nuts-about-baseball family. His dad played at Central, while his uncles, Bob and Frank, earned All-Public honors there. Bob was a successful, well-respected coach at St. John Neumann in two stints through the 1980s and '90s.

While yesterday's big hit will likely be viewed multiple times by Frank Santore and his family, it has nooooo chance of dislodging the all-time best clip. And it has nothing to do with sports.

"On New Year's Eve, when I was 4 years old, I kept jumping off the couch," Frank said. "My dad kept telling me to stop - taping it the whole time - but I kept going.

"Then I tried it again and . . . I slammed my face right into the floor!"

Reason?

"My foot got stuck between the cushions."

"America's Funniest Home Videos" might wanna see it.