MARCH 21
2004 McDevitt Preview
   I said before that I was going to do a PCL North preview but because of my inability to locate other teams rosters I'm just going to preview the Lancers. After two years of missing the playoffs by one game the Lancers are poised and commited to making sure we get in this year. We have seniors who are willing to do whatever they need to do to help the team. We have left the goofing around/obnoxious title behind us and are ready to win. Now we'll go through the line-up and find the reason why were going to the playoffs. At catcher we have Sr. Cpt. Jim Romano. Romano transferred from CHA because of .... um, reasons. Jim is a big guy who can hit the ball a mile, and has a cannon hanging off his right shoulder. At 1B is Sr. Cpt. Greg Golding. Greg is solid up at the plate and has a great glove. At 2B is Soph. Brian "Little" Mitros. Brian is returning to the line-up after starting as a freshman. Brian has great range and always finds a way to get on base. 3B is manned by Sr. Chuck McLaughlin. Chuck has been on varsity since his sophmore year. He's in charge of keeping the hot corner under control and is being counted to hit the hell out of the ball, again. Sr. Cpt. Sean Cahill is taking over responsiblity for SS. Cahill always gives 110% and will never give up on a ball. He will also continue his hard hitting from last year. Soph. Steve Wilson is starting in LF. Wilson is starting to get used to the increased talent at the Varsity level. He was a solid outfielder for JV last year and will be depended on to make some plays this year. CF is under the control of transfer Arthur Chapman or "Chip". Chip transferred from Central this year and will be asked to do a lot. Chip has a strong arm and will be stealing as many bags as he can this year. RF will be played by myself. All I can promise is that I'll never give up and will always go 110%. The pitching is the biggest ? this year. Myself, Cahill, Chuck, Chip, and Sr. Ricky Sheehan will be the most prevalent starters. Others could be Sr. Alec Serowatka, Jr. Dan Fannon and Little Mitros. I'm not so worried about the pitchers as I am about the holes they're leaving. Most pitchers are starters and many of the bench players are inexpreienced, hopefully they will be able to step it up and come through. Those reserves are Sr. Scott Chillman, an outfielder who may see time when one of the starters is pitching. Sr. Joe Ring, whose main responsiblity will be the book, but he may see time. Look at it this way -- Sean Woods got time and he threw like a girl, laugh. Jr. Bradley Watters will be waiting behind C Romano for his chance. Jr. Brian Angiolillo is another OF reserve. Jr. Mike Coyle is a solid IF and could find a spot before the season is over. Sr. Tyrone Robinson and Jr. Jesse Alderfer are both OF's but will probably see most of their time stealing bags for fellow teamates. We also have 2 Freshman to carry the bags, ha. Steve Hansberry and Joey Mitros are two very talented freshmen who could find themselves filling in for Chuck or Cahill when those two have to pitch. Overall I am pretty confident that we will make the playoffs but there is no doubt that we will have to work hard for every run.

MARCH 15
NON-LEAGUE
Roman Catholic 11, McDevitt 10
(Called after 6 2/3 innings)
   Spring was in the air and everybody was anxious for McDevitt's first pre-season game. We arrived at the field feeling very good but after a weak warm up the McDevitt Lancers did not know what to expect from the Cahillites. The top of the first featured the first hit of the season, a single by SS Sean Cahill. Unfourtunately, we were unable to bring him in and it went to the bottom of the inning. I was starting on the mound and like many pitchers I wanted to start the season off with a statement. Well, I walked the leadoff batter. C Brian Cooper was up next and he singled down the third base line. I started to feel the pressure and Lee McInerney really made me feel it when he sent a fly ball to the fence. CF Chip Chapman lined it up but some how he dropped it. To make up for his mistake he made a beautiful throw to catch Vince DiGiovanni at home. The inning ended 0-0. In the
second we went down in order, but for Roman Pat Dunn led-off with a solo shot over the 315 sign in center. After two it was 1-0 Roman. Ricky Sheehan came in to pitch and I went out to RF. In the third Roman added 3 more to make it 4-0 and then two more in the fourth. Another pitching change for McDevitt featured Jr. Dan Fannon. Fannon threw 1 2/3 innings for us and really came up big. Entering the 6th we were down six, so Co-Captian Jim Romano and myself gave the team a little pep talk and reminded the rest of the team about the 3 E's. It must have worked because the 6th was huge for us. LF Steve Wilson led-off by getting on through an error. Cahill struck out swinging (and let everybody know his feelings on that). Next, Romano brought Wilson in with a double (Wilson advanced on a passed ball). 1B Greg Golding singled to make it first and second. I singled to right then with bases loaded Fr. Joey "Baby" Mitros grounded to the SS for a sure double-play but he bobbled it and everybody was safe. Chip Chapman doubled to bring in two and made the score 6-5. Fannon single to take the lead at 7-6. Fr. Steve Hansberry pulled a walk and Brian Mitros followed him with a single. Wilson and Cahill singled to bring the lead to 10-6. The top ended with Romano grounding into a fielder's choice (which was almost blown by the SS), and Golding popped out to first. The bottom of the inning was nothing more then a disaster. There were errors along with walks and also 3 hit batters; one called out Fannon after the pegging. Just for the record all three were accidental and calling out a person is pretty low. No offense but Fannon probably could not have hit a batter on purpose if he tried. Cahill came into pitch and hit two others but also got the first two outs. After a double by Reed the game was called due to darkness which in my opinion is bogus because I thought we could have mounted another come back to pull out the W. I will soon write in with a PCL North preview so don't miss it.