Baseball City Title Recaps

Recaps of City Title Baseball Games
(Series started in 1945, ended in 1979)
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1945
At Shibe Park
North Catholic 1, Southern 0
    Don Geehring (2-for-3) smashed a single to drive home Bill Shields in the second inning and pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts. With one out and a man on third in the fourth, Geehring registered a strikeout and groundout.

1946
At Shibe Park
La Salle 3, Northeast 2
    Jim Covello, a 15-year-old soph, allowed four hits and got the win when his teammates scored two in the home sixth to erase a 2-1 deficit. Catcher Bill Pfaff had the decisive RBI and gunned down two basestealers in the late innings. Northeast's Dick Adair, who'd pitched two no-hitters during the PL season, allowed six hits.

1947
At Shibe Park
Southern 5, North Catholic 4
    With City Title rules changed to extend the game to nine innings, the Rams avenged their 1945 setback to North before 6,044 rooters. Sebastian "Ben" Barretta brought home a run with a successful squeeze in a two-run seventh, which provided a 5-3 lead. Joe Brancato had two hits. Harry DiNardo allowed four hits in seven innings. North's Bill Lewison had two hits.

1948
At Shibe Park
Southern 4, St. James 0
    Greg Tornatore permitted six hits and struck out the side in the ninth, lifting his total to 12. Ralph Manfredi had two hits and two RBI while Dewey DeCarlo went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

1949
At Shibe Park
Southern 5, North Catholic 2
    Tito Fioravanti scattered seven hits, Al Stango stroked three hits and notched the game's only stolen base and Ralph Manfredi had two hits, including a double. North's best showing came from reliever Frank Hagan, who pitched no-hit ball with seven whiffs over four innings.

1950
At Shibe Park
North Catholic 4, Overbrook 3
    Bob Eichhorn mowed down seven and allowed just one hit -- a strange three-run homer by Fred Hunter. With two runners on in the fourth, Hunter hit a ball over the head of centerfielder Bob Reitz. He stopped at third but was waved home by the umpires, who ruled that Hunter's progress near first base had been hindered by Jules Skodzinski. North's big hit was Hal Thorne's double to the leftfield warning track.

1951
At Shibe Park
Olney 6, La Salle 4
    Don "Moose" Berger pitched a seven-hitter with 10 strikeouts and the Trojans scored three each in the third and fourth. Hank DeVincent and Adolph Huber had RBI singles in the third. Al Spangler's 400-foot RBI triple highlighted the fourth. La Salle's Don O'Connor went 3-for-5.

1952
At Shibe Park
South Catholic 4, Frankford 3
    Jack Catanio pitched a seven-hitter while Howie Cooper had two RBI and scored two runs. Charley Muzio started a three-run visiting fifth with a triple off the leftfield wall. The winning run scored in the eighth on a passed ball. Frankford's Frank Russo had a 380-foot double to left-center.

1953
At Connie Mack Stadium
South Catholic 5, Central 2
    The Pirates scored three in the eighth and one in the ninth to win it. Charley Muzio tripled to start the eighth and scored on Frank Rodano's single. Pinch-hitter Ray Norton later got two runs home on a single compounded by an error. Tony Catanio allowed six hits, all singles. Central's Irv "Itz" Lipoff went 2-for-4, with a steal and one RBI.

1954
At Connie Mack Stadium
Southern 4, North Catholic 1
    First baseman Dave Racher had an RBI single and served as the middleman on a second inning tripleplay. Second baseman Marty Weinberg caught Mike Krupa's liner, fired to Racher and Racher in turn threw to shortstop Jim Muldoon. John McFadden allowed six hits and lost his shutout in the ninth on a triple by Frank Walls (his third hit). North's Mike Marks struck out a record 15 batters and yielded four hits.

1955
At Connie Mack Stadium
La Salle 2, Olney 1
    The Explorers scored two in the first without the benefit of a hit and, indeed, collected only one hit all game (by leadoff man Joe Malizia). The runs scored on a bases-loaded walk to Johnny Herrera and John Reardon's fielder's choice. Nelson Phillips got three of the seven hits, with a double and triple among them, against Ed O'Mara. Olney reliever John Kafel pitched 5 1/3 innings of shutout ball.

1956
At Connie Mack Stadium
North Catholic 7, Central 1
    Blessed with two quality pitchers, the Rev. Thomas Rush, North's coach, used a coin flip to determine his starter. Joe Laurinaitis got the win, allowing one hit and no walks in five innings. Don Flynn pitched shutout ball over the final four. Al Merando had a two-run double and Jim Padova scored three runs. Central's Bruce Rubin went 2-for-3.

1957
At Connie Mack Stadium
Lincoln 14, Judge 4
    Eric Faddis stirred a crowd of 4,013 by smacking a 350-foot homer into the upper deck in dead leftfield. In all, he went 4-for-5 with four RBI. Joe Fabrizio also went 4-for-5, and scored three runs. Bob Ferguson pitched an eight-hitter with 10 strikeouts. Judge coach Charles "Gabbo" Gaffney used six pitchers and 23 players total.

1958
At Connie Mack Stadium
Neumann 6, Lincoln 5
    The Pirates overcame a 5-0 lead and received a strong, two-pronged performance from Al Famiglietti. He gave up 10 hits and walked five and his mates made seven errors, but he fanned 10 to force Lincoln into stranding 15 runners. Famiglietti also drove in the winning run in the 10th and started a three-run rally in the seventh that featured Tom Daley's two-run, inside-the-park homer. Lincoln's Bruce Baron went 2-for-5 with two RBI.

1959
At Connie Mack Stadium
Southern 6, La Salle 5
    In the home ninth, a squeeze bunt by Al Lalli resulted in two runs and capped a thrilling three-run rally. With the bases loaded, Lalli bunted toward pitcher Steve Kearney, who bobbled the ball. Pinch-runner John McCullough scored easily and after a moment's hesitation, Frank Schiavo (seven-hitter, nine strikeouts) did a head-first slide to score the game-winner. La Salle's John Corra went 3-for-4 with an RBI while Howie Guarini had two hits and scored two runs.

1960
At Connie Mack Stadium
Bartram 5, Neumann 1
    An RBI single by Vern Stamm and a two-run throwing error gave the Braves three runs in the visiting sixth. Bob Thornton went 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Al Goldis pitched a five-hitter with 10 whiffs. Neumann's Earl Geissler went 3-for-4.

1961
At Connie Mack Stadium
Bartram 12, St. James 2
    Tom Edwards allowed one hit in six-plus innings and Sam Zarett gave up two in his three innings. Bill Spencer had three of the Braves' 16 hits and added two RBI. Ron Deitch (2-for-4, three RBI), Rich Wagner (3-for-4, two) and Bob Lohse (two triples, first RBI of game) also starred. Ted Baynes had a two-run single for St. James.

1962
At Connie Mack Stadium
St. James 2, Lincoln 1
    Soph Mike Flanagan fanned a game-record 15 batters in a six-hitter. Ed Miazza and Flanagan had RBI singles. Flanagan's RBI broke a 1-1 tie in the home fourth and plated Jack Giampalmi (triple). Lincoln's Joe Hindelang pitched an eight-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

1963
At Connie Mack Stadium
Bartram 4, St. James 3
    Mike Flanagan again was outstanding, striking out 14 in a four-hitter over eight innings, but the Braves broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth on Ron Deitch's leadoff double and a series of errors. Deitch went 2-for-4. Chris Kefalos pitched a five-hitter with five whiffs.

1964
At Connie Mack Stadium
Judge 3, Frankford 2
    The Crusaders scored two in the home ninth on singles by Ed Gable and Frank Lupo, a run-scoring error on a bunt and a fielder's choice on John Robinson's infield nubber. Ken Rudzinski allowed five hits and fanned 10. Bob Peffle's double started Frankford's two-run eighth, in which Ernie Wright and Ernie Curcurto had RBI singles. Jim Mucerino went the route for Frankford.

1965
At Connie Mack Stadium
Lincoln 2, St. James 1
    In the home ninth, Lincoln scored two tainted runs to make Tom Brooks (five-hitter, 14 strikeouts) a hard-luck loser. The first run scored on Dave Leporati's scratch single off second baseman John Flynn's glove. With runners on first and second, rightfielder John Dougherty failed to make a shoestring catch of Rich Orr's blooper and the relay throw wound up in the dugout. Lincoln's Bill Langdon yielded seven hits, fanned seven. For St. James, Dennis Malseed went 3-for-4 with an RBI double.

1966
At Connie Mack Stadium
Southern 2, West Catholic 0
    Joe Scarpa (six innings) and Mike Berry combined on a one-hitter, Greg Sanginiti's sixth inning single, while John Angelo went 2-for-4 and scored both runs, one in the seventh and another in the ninth on singles by reserves Ed Burke and Bill Loeb, respectively. The shutout was the first in a City Title game since 1948.

1967
At Temple's Erny Field
Judge 3, Roxborough 0
    With the length of the game reduced to seven innings, Dennis Twers pitched a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. Bruce Glatthorn had an RBI single to provide a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Dropped fly balls, caused by a blinding sun, led to runs in the third and seventh. Roxborough's Tom Hartman allowed six hits.

1968
At Connie Mack Stadium
Egan 1, Southern 0 (11 inn.)
    A pair of lefties, Egan's Dennis Yesenosky and Southern's Willie Jones, were masterful in this marathon. Yesenosky allowed two hits and three walks and set strikeout records for seven innings (12), nine innings (17) and overall (20). Jones allowed eight hits and fanned 16. In the home 11th, singles by Tony Varacallo, Dan Connors and Jim Colella loaded the bases. Jim Carpenter sent a sinking liner to right and Vince DeMeis made the catch. With all three runners moving a doubleplay was possible, but DeMeis's throw to first was off-line. Jones then walked Phil Scalzone on four pitches to end it. In the sixth, Southern had runners thrown out at second and the plate.

1969
At Connie Mack Stadium
Dougherty 10, Olney 0
    With Leo Woehlcke being disciplined for missing a practice, junior Paul Tucker got the call from coach Ray Merkle and pitched no-hit ball until Charles Sumter singled with two out in the sixth. Woehlcke went the rest of the way. Ray Devlin went 3-for-3 with three RBI while Stan Krzyston had two doubles, two RBI. Greg McCorry had a two-run double.

1970
At Temple's Erny Field
Bonner 4, Lincoln 0
    Bob Johnson had the big blow, getting a three-run, inside-the-park homer to left-center in the third inning. Mike Stevens posted his fourth consecutive shutout while allowing four hits and fanning six.

1971
At Temple's Erny Field
St. James 5, Roxborough 1
    Tony Kozak pitched a five-hitter and Brian Sullivan went 2-for-2 with two RBI. All five Jimmie runs were unearned.

1972
At Temple's Erny Field
Frankford 6, St. James 5
    Andy Turiano's RBI double provided a 6-3 lead in the visiting seventh and the run became very much appreciated when St. James responded with two in the bottom half. Pat Whalen relieved winner Mark Brenfleck with one out and the bases loaded. A wild pitch and Larry File's sacrifice fly brought in two runs. A hard grounder to shortstop Steve Ebbecke ended it.

1973
At Veterans Stadium
Judge 3, Frankford 2
    Ken Keser pitched a six-hitter and the Crusaders broke a scoreless tie in the visiting seventh as Jim Edwards doubled, Mike Stutz and Keser walked to load the bases, Jamie Glatthorn stroked a two-run single and later came around on an error. Jimmy Brown's 380-foot triple and Albert Mendez's infield single drove in runs in the bottom half, but Keser recorded a strikeout to end it. Keser had pitched a perfect game and a no-hitter in back-to-back games during CL play.

1974
At Temple's Erny Field
Southern 5, Ryan 0
    George Riley, a fourth-round draft choice by the Cubs, twirled a four-hitter with 15 strikeouts and had a no-hitter going until Rey Panettieri slapped a single to center with one out in the fourth. Buddy Bonetti went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Bob Romano had the game's first RBI on a single.

1975
At Temple's Erny Field
Southern 7, O'Hara 1
    Working on eight days' rest -- the game was postponed twice by rain -- Jack Manfredi hurled the first no-hitter in City Title history as Southern coasted. He struck out nine, walked five. Al Puggi, Scott Nash and Andy Vanore had RBI singles in a six-run fourth. John Creighton scored O'Hara's run on a passed ball.

1976
At Temple's Erny Field
Judge 14, Central 13
    Ten of the game's 28 hits went for extra bases, Judge overcame a 7-0 deficit after 2 1/2 innings and Central created a 13-13 tie with seven in the visiting fifth. Jim Hockel tripled and scored in the bottom half to win it. George Turano won with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Mike Goida went 5-for-5 and scored twice. For Central, Matt Melone homered and Bob Santore went 3-for-5 with two triples and three RBI.

1977
At Temple's Erny Field
North Catholic 13, Northeast 2
    Art Cauto went 3-for-4 with a double and six RBI in the No. 6 hole and Jeff Etsell pitched a three-hitter with six strikeouts. Leon Rysak went 3-for-4, stole two bases and scored three runs and Gary Wilson went 3-for-4 with a double and triple. In 21 postseason innings, Etsell allowed 17 hits and fanned 27. John Getz had two hits for Northeast.

1978
At Temple's Erny Field
Roman 10, Washington 3
    An overflow crowd of 3,197 saw Roman score five runs in the second inning and coast from there. Bert Leahy (double, 390-foot homer) and Paul Zehren (double, triple) had identical 3-for-4, three-RBI performances and Kevin Devlin won in relief. For Washington, Roger Price had two RBI.

1979
At Temple's Erny Field
West Catholic 6, Mastbaum 2
    Junior lefty Bill Mendek surrendered just one hit, Bill Onslager's fifth-inning, line-drive single over the head of second baseman Joe Bertoline as the Catholic League representative won for the 10th time in 13 years. Mendek struck out 10 while raising his season's record to 13-1. In 21 playoff innings, he allowed 11 hits and four earned runs and fanned 19. The Burrs reached Dave Scott for five hits (Mendek had two), but had no RBI and only one of their runs was earned. Mastbaum was playing its second title game in three days.