Baseball Catholic League Playoff Recaps (Non-Title Games)

Recaps of Catholic League Playoff Baseball Games, Through 1980
(Title Games Not Included)

1959
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
La Salle 3, Neumann 2
    Jack Corra and Howie Guarini had RBI triples in the seventh to win it for the Explorers. La Salle's Dick Tragemann and Neumann's Earl Geissler homered.
Dougherty 4, Bonner 0
    Jack Shepper pitched a no-hitter with seven strikeouts and six walks, Bob Fiore had a solo homer and Charlie Harris delivered a bad-hop, two-run single.

1963
At West Catholic
SOUTH PLAYOFF
St. James 12, Bonner 2
    The Bulldogs stroked 13 hits. Frank Ryan and Jim Mewha had triples and Bernie Sullivan allowed six hits while cracking three of his own. SJ created the tie for first by beating Neumann, 2-0, on the last day thanks to Mike Flanagan's 11-strikeout no-hitter (one walk).

1965
SOUTH PLAYOFF
At League Island Park
St. James 4, Roman 2
    Tom Brooks allowed three hits and two runs in the first inning, then was stingy thereafter while giving SJ its fifth consecutive division championship. He struck out 10. Jim Johnson's RBI single and John O'Donnell's RBI double broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth. Art Gorga notched an inside-the-park homer. Roman's Joe McDermott allowed six hits. The Bulldogs created the first-place tie by edging Roman, 3-2, on the last day of the regular season.

1967
SOUTH PLAYOFF
Neumann 3, St. James 1 (8 inn.)
    Mike Morrisey and Mike Brennan slammed back-to-back solo homers in the visiting eighth.

1973
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
Judge 4, Egan 1
    Ken Keser, who had pitched a perfect game vs. North during the regular season, twirled a four-hitter and Mike Stutz had an RBI single to get the offense started.
Carroll 6, St. James 2
    In the home sixth, the Patriots scored four times on two walks, three sacrifice bunts (two misplayed) and Howard Friel's RBI single.

1974
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
Ryan 4, North 0
    Tom Filer allowed two hits, walked none and struck out seven. The Falcons hit just one flyball. Rey Panettieri had two doubles; one was good for two runs. Filer went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Bonner 1, Neumann 0
    John Jones allowed two hits and fanned seven. Dave Beanon had an RBI single in the fourth.

1975
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
North 5, Judge 4 (11 inn.)
    Mike Schoen went 10 innings and won the game for himself in the visiting 11th when he lifted a sacrifice fly to score Don Speechley. For Judge, Paul "Hap" Gallagher pitched 10 innings and Kevin Waninger slapped an RBI single in the home eighth to keep the game going.
O'Hara 7, St. James 0
    The Lions scored seven runs in the first two innings and Jim Wilks pitched his fourth consecutive shutout. The big blows were provided by Tom Harrison (three-run triple), Paul Signora (two-run double) and Wilks (two-run single).

1976
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
Judge 4, North 2
    Shawn O'Neill pitched a four-hitter and allowed no earned runs. Nick DiLaurentis had one RBI on a single and another, providing a 3-2 lead in the sixth, on a sacrifice fly. North's Ken Herman had two hits.
O'Hara 4, St. James 1
    Tom Harrison struck out 11 and allowed one hit, Steve Warrington's single to start the game, and had a two-run triple. Fred Cardone added two hits, two RBI.

1977
NORTH PREPLAYOFF
At Gtn. Academy
North 4, Kenrick 3
    After throwing 46 pitches total in appearances the two days before, Jeff Etsell worked four scoreless innings in relief and singled home the winning run in the visiting seventh. Larry Murtagh had a two-run single. Kenrick's Phil Leggieri had a two-run homer.
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
North 15, Judge 3
    Bill Bogucki went 3-for-5 with a double, triple and homer for four RBI while Ray Carr went 3-for-5 with a triple and four RBI. Leon Rysak and Art Cauto also had three hits, two RBI. Jeff Etsell fanned 10. Judge's Chuck Bushbeck had three RBI.
Bonner 7, Carroll 1
    Tom Stauffer fanned 10 in a three-hitter while Mike Baselice (two RBI) and Bob Ruff (400-foot, ground-rule double) had the big hits in a seven-run second.

1978
FIRST ROUND
At Dougherty
Egan 8, Dougherty 2
    Joe Lynch pitched five innings and went 3-for-4 with a triple, three RBI and three runs scored. Brian Brown added two RBI. Both Dougherty runs scored on groundouts.
At O'Hara
O'Hara 3, Carroll 1
    Dom Lamberto pitched a four-hitter and the Lions broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth on RBI by Vince DeSanctis (sacrifice fly) and Mike McCarry (single).
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
Egan 5, Judge 3
    Brian Brown went the distance and Joe Lynch went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and solo homer. Skip Baldino added two RBI.
Roman 2, O'Hara 1 (8 inn.)
    Craig Houck allowed six hits in going the distance and Roman won it with one apiece in the seventh and eighth on RBI singles by John Stoffere and Vince Stankiewicz. O'Hara's Ken Litzenberg had two hits, one RBI.

1979
FIRST ROUND
At Phila. Textile
Judge 4, North 3
    In the visiting seventh, Mario Buonanace wriggled free from a one-out, second-and-third jam to save Joe Healy's win. Dave Gallo had two hits and one RBI as did North's Tom Frisco.
At Bonner
Roman 4, Bonner 2
    Maurice "Mo" Cranney went 3-for-4 with a double and triple and scored two runs while Rich Zaborowski had two hits, two RBI and a save for Craig Houck. John DeStefano and John Rutecki had Bonner's RBI.
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Temple's Erny Field
Judge 2, Ryan 1
    Judge's Joe Healy and Ryan's Ed Hughes pitched matching three-hitters and pinch-runner Cosmo Losco, in for Dave Gallo (leadoff single), scored the decisive run in the visiting seventh on an infield error.
West 4, Roman 2
    The Burrs won their first South title since 1966 as Bill Mendek pitched a four-hitter. He then suffered a six-stitch gash above his left eye in the postgame celebration. West scored four in the second on a wild pitch, a walk to Ralph Marchetti and Pat Kane's two-run single. Roman's Len Bisignaro had two hits, one RBI.

1980
FIRST ROUND
At La Salle College
La Salle 4, Judge 1
    In its first postseason appearance since 1959, La Salle received a complete game from Dave Powell and a three-run homer from Jeff Reimel, the No. 7 hitter. For Judge, Mike Dolan and Pat Waninger split four singles.
At Swarthmore College
O'Hara 3, West 0
    Matt Mullen pitched a three-hit shutout and John Vasturia had a two-run triple in a three-run sixth. Losing pitcher Bill Mendek allowed four hits.
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at Phila. Textile
Ryan 8, La Salle 0
    Ryan became the first North champ in eight years of scheduled division finals to avoid the jinx and advance to the championship game. Dan Cataline had three doubles, two RBI, and hit a barely foul home run over a 70-foot tree. Joe Cohill pitched a four-hitter.
Carroll 7, O'Hara 4
    Pete Savini's two-run triple and Gerard Phelan's three-run triple sparked the Patriots' six-run second. Reliever Ed "Bull" Lisinski and Mike Sohmer combined on a five-hitter. O'Hara's Wayne Hight had two hits, one RBI.