MAY 28
CL SEMIFINAL PLAYOFF
Bonner 9, Neumann-Goretti 5
  Talk about immediate dividends! How so? Well, in this example the reward of hitting a baseball with authority. Let me explain. After the Friars well-earned victory over a very good Saints team, I was speaking with long-time friend John “Blade/Lefty/J-Mac” McCauley, one of Bonner’s assistant coaches.  During our conversation he mentioned that fellow assistant Josh Bower had changed the Friars’ batting practice format and implemented a more focused and intensive system of hitting. Now, don’t take this the wrong way because Bonner has been a good hitting team throughout the season. But for the most part they have relied on bunching hits together, moving runners, playing small ball, and running the bases effectively to score a good percentage of their runs. Not today, though. The Friars were scalding balls all over the field at Widener University. Did this new batting practice system help? Who knows? But chances are that they’ll use it again in preparing for Tuesday’s Catholic League final against Archbishop Ryan, a 9-8 winner over Wood in the other semifinal. Tuesday’s finale will also be played at Widener. You could tell right from the get-go that Bonner’s plan was to see ball and hit ball hard against N-G’s sr. RHP Al Baur. Already trailing 1-0, the Friars went right to work in their half of the first. On the first pitch he saw, sr. CF Rick Reigner belted a double to deep left to lead things off. Baur’s next pitch was smashed to left-center by sr. LF Sam Christie for a run-scoring double. Don’t look away now because Baur’s third pitch was a half-swing by sr. RF Matt Mullen for an infield hit to shortstop. With runners on first and third, sr. 1B Alex Liberatore also hacked at the first offering and grounded into a 4-3 double-play. However, Christie did score on the play to make it 2-1 Bonner. That’s not an everyday occurrence, right? Four pitches and two apiece of runs and outs recorded. Even in the second inning the aggressiveness of Bonner continued. Baur retired them in order and needed just four pitches in doing so, but two of the outs were on line shots at infielders. The Friars were indeed hacking. Trailing 3-2 in the home third, Bonner would tally thrice to take a 5-3 lead. With one out, Christie blasted his second double in as many at-bats to left-center that caromed off the bottom of the fence. Muller followed with a double of his own on a ground ball inside the third base bag to score Christie. With two outs, sr. DH Steve Markus singled home Mullen. Markus would score on yet another double down the leftfield line by sr. SS Josh Van Horn. Moving ahead the Saints would eventually tie the game and did so in a loud manner. Baur drew his third of four walks on the day with one out in the fifth. Then, on the first pitch he saw sr. DH/RF Mike Riverso creamed a ball over the 400-foot marker in straightaway centerfield. It was a tremendous shot that had to go at least 410-415 feet. This tied the game, 5-5, and seemingly gave the Saints all kinds of momentum. Bonner starter sr. LHP Jim Nestor’s pitch count was mounting by this point. N-G had another player reach base after M. Riverso’s bomb, but Bonner skipper Joe DeBarberie opted to keep Nestor in and he finished on a positive note by getting soph. C Nicky Nardini to line-out to left. The Friars game-clinching rally came in the sixth and many guys have a hand in it. By this time, soph LHP/LF Joe Gorman had relieved Baur and had already worked two scoreless innings. To begin the festivities, Van Horn boomed a shot to center that saw Saints’ jr. CF Dom Riverso make a valiant leaping effort, but he could not come up with the catch. By the time the dust has settled Van Horn was landing at third for a lead-off triple. Next, jr. 2B Mike Zolk made a terrific diving stop to his right to throw out jr. C Paul Shepherd and hold Van Horn at third. Up next for the Friars was sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri, who drove a ball move-than-deep-enough to center for a Sac fly, giving the Friars a 6-5 advantage. Ok, we have the lead now, so let’s get out there and shut them down in the seventh. Not so fast, though, for it’s time to add a little insurance. And how did that all get started? Via soph. PH Ron Scull, who at some point relayed to the coaches that he had success off Gorman in a game played in some sort of summer league. Scull promptly delivered with a solid hit to left. Soon after the Friars loaded the bases when Reigner was plunked and Christie worked a four-pitch walk. What happened next was the straw that broke the camel’s back in N-G’s quest to possibly win back-to-back PCL championships. With three hits already on his card, Mullen made sure there would be no doubt that he’d be the recipient of DN ink by slamming a ball high off the left-center field fence for a base-clearing double. Super clutch! With the score 9-5 the Friars were a mere three outs from their second final’s appearance in three seasons. On the mound for Bonner was jr. RHP Matt Dolan, who worked a perfect sixth. In the seventh, I’m sure he felt a significant amount of relief by retiring N-G’s slugging sr. 1B Mark Donato on a shallow fly to right to start the inning. He did follow this with a walk, but then got M. Rivero on strikes and soph. SS Marty Venafro on a liner to Mullen in right to end it. Dolan picked up the win, fanning two in a pair of hitless innings. This was his first action versus a varsity Catholic League team in some time. His effort was appreciated by DeBarberie who awarded him one of two game balls afterwards (Mullen received the other). Nestor ended up working the first five (111 pitches, 64 strikes) frames and really battled. He allowed just four hits, but walked seven and hit a batter. Still, he made enough pitches when needed (5 K’s) and held N-G to just 1-for-10 with RISP. Three times he picked-off N-G runners at first, but two of them arrived at second safely. The third did not and it was pivotal because Gorman followed this with a deep double to right. Bonner’s top three in the order (Reigner, Christie, & Mullen) were exceptional and went a combined 8-for-10 with 6 runs scored and 5 RBI’s. Seven of Bonner’s thirteen hits went for extra bases, including six doubles. For N-G, Zolk finished 2-for-4 (R, RBI) and blasted a ball off the base of the 370-foot sign in right-center. Riverso totaled three ribbies (Also SF). Gorman provided the other RBI for the Saints. Bauer and Gorman each pitched three innings. Even though the Saints had a very good season on a whole, one would have to think that they are overly disappointed that they didn’t achieve a little more. Aside from winning the PCL last season they also reached the semifinals of the PIAA 3A state playoffs. Thanks to a regular season sweep of the Saints this year, the Vikings of Wood will be representing the PCL in the 3A City Title game. Thus, the Saints season has come to an end. Still, there is so much for this senior class and team in general to be proud of. Thanks to them baseball is once again alive and well in South Philly. Meanwhile, the winner of next week’s final between the Friars and Ryan will represent the PCL 4A’s in the City Title game. So, there will be a lot riding on that tilt. Yet another tremendous job put forth by Widener’s head baseball coach Steve Carcarey and his staff/team. They do a great job when hosting these playoff games and deserve mucho credit for providing an enjoyable experience for all involved.

Bonner 9, Neumann-Goretti 5
  Talk about immediate dividends! How so? Well, in this example the reward of hitting a baseball with authority. Let me explain. After the Friars well-earned victory over a very good Saints team, I was speaking with long-time friend John “Blade/Lefty/J-Mac” McCauley, one of Bonner’s assistant coaches.  During out conversation he mentioned that fellow assistant Josh Bower had changed the Friars’ batting practice format and implemented a more focused and intensive system of hitting. Now, don’t take this the wrong way because Bonner has been a good hitting team throughout the season. But for the most part they relied on bunching hits, moving runners, playing small ball, and running the bases effectively to score a good percentage of their runs. Not today, though. The Friars were scalding balls all over the field at Widener University. Did this new batting practice system help? Who knows? But chances are that they’ll use it again in preparing for Tuesday’s Catholic League final against Archbishop Ryan, a 9-8 winner over Wood in the other semifinal. Tuesday’s finale will also be played at Widener. You could tell right from the get-go that Bonner’s plan was to see ball and hit ball hard against N-G’s sr. RHP Al Baur. Already trailing 1-0, the Friars went right to work in their half of the first. On the first pitch he saw, sr. CF Rick Reigner belted a double to deep left to lead things off. Baur’s next pitch was smashed to left-center by sr. LF Sam Christie for a run-scoring double. Don’t look away now because Baur’s third pitch was a half-swing by sr. RF Matt Mullen for an infield hit to shortstop. With runners on first and third, sr. 1B Alex Liberatore also hacked at the first offering and grounded into a 4-3 double-play. However, Christie did score on the play to make it 2-1 Bonner. That’s not an everyday occurrence, right? Four pitches and two apiece of runs and outs recorded. Even in the second inning the aggressiveness of Bonner continued. Bauer retired them in order and needed just four pitches in doing so, but two of the outs were on line shots at infielders. The Friars were indeed hacking. Trailing 3-2 in the home third, Bonner would tally thrice to take a 5-3 lead. With one out Christie blasted another double in as many at-bats to left-center that caromed off the bottom of the fence. Muller followed with a double of his own on a ground ball inside the third base bag to score Christie. With two outs in the same inning, sr. DH Steve Markus singled home Mullen. Markus would come across on yet another double down the leftfield line by sr. SS Josh VanHorn. Moving ahead the Saints would eventually tie the game and did so in a loud manner. Bauer drew his third of four walks on the day with one out in the fifth. Then, on the first pitch he saw sr. DH/RF Mike Riverso cream a ball over the 400-foot marker in straightaway centerfield. It was a tremendous shot that had to go at least 410-415 feet. This tied the game, 5-5, and seemingly gave the Saints all kinds of momentum. Bonner starter sr. LHP Joe Nestor’s pitch count was mounting by this point. N-G had another player reach base after M. Riverso’s bomb, but Bonner skipper Joe DeBarberie opted to keep Nestor in and he finished on a positive note by getting soph. C Nicky Nardini to line-out to left. The Friars game-clinching rally came in the sixth and they had many guys have a hand in it. By this time, soph LHP/LF Joe Gorman had relieved Baur and already worked two scoreless innings. To begin the festivities, VanHorn boomed a shot to center that saw Saints’ jr. CF Dom Riverso make a valiant leaping effort, but he could not come up with the catch. By the time the dust has settled VanHorn was landing at third for a lead-off triple. Next, jr. 2B Mike Zolk made a terrific diving stop to his right to throw out jr. C Paul Shepherd and hold VanHorn at third. Up next for the Friars was sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri, who drove a ball to move-than-deep-enough to center for a sac fly, giving the Friars a 6-5 advantage. Ok, we have the lead now, so let’s get out there and shut them down in the seventh. Not so fast, though, for it’s time to add a little insurance. And how did that all get started? Via soph. PH Ron Scull, who at some point relayed to the coaches that he had success off Gorman in a game played in some sort of summer league. Scull promptly delivered with a solid hit to left. Soon after the Friars loaded the bases when Reigner was plunked and Christie worked a four-pitch walk. What happened next was the straw that broke the camel’s back in N-G’s quest to possibly win back-to-back PCL championships. With three hits already on his card, Mullen made sure there would be no doubt that he’d be the recipient of DN ink by slamming a ball high off the left-center field fence for a base-clearing double. Super clutch! With the score 9-5 the Friars were a mere three outs from their second final’s appearance in three seasons. On the mound for Bonner was jr. RHP Matt Dolan, who worked a perfect sixth. In the seventh, I’m sure he felt a significant amount of relief by retiring N-G’s slugging sr. 1B Mark Donato on a shallow fly to right to start the inning. He did follow this was a walk, but then got M. Rivero on strikes and soph. SS Marty Venafro on a liner to Mullen in right to end it. Dolan picked up the win, fanning two in a pair of hitless innings. This was his first action versus a varsity Catholic League team in some time. His effort was appreciated by DeBarberie who awarded him one of two game balls afterwards (Mullen received the other). Nestor ended up working the first five (111 pitches, 64 strikes) frames and really battled. He allowed just four hits, but walked seven and hit a batter. Still, he made enough pitches when needed (5 K’s) and held N-G to just 1-for-10 with RISP. Three times he picked-off N-G runners at first, but two of them arrived at second safely. The third did not and it was pivotal because Gorman followed this with a deep double to right. Bonner’s top three in the order (Reigner, Christie, & Mullen) were exceptional and went a combined 8-for-10 with 6 runs scored and 5 RBI’s. Seven of Bonner’s thirteen hits went for extra bases, including six doubles. For N-G, Zolk finished 2-for-4 (R, RBI) and blasted a ball off the base of the 370-foot sign in right-center. Riverso totaled three ribbies (Also SF). Gorman provided the other RBI for the Saints. Baur and Gorman each pitched three innings. Even though the Saints had a very good season on a whole, one would have to think that they are overly disappointed that they didn’t achieve a little more. Aside from winning the PCL last season they also reached the semifinals of the PIAA 3A state playoffs. Thanks to a regular season sweep of the Saints this year, the Vikings of Wood will be representing the PCL in the 3A City Title game. Thus, the Saints' season has come to an end. Still, there is so much for this senior class and team in general to be proud of. Thanks to them baseball is once again alive and well in South Philly. Meanwhile, the winner of next week’s final between the Friars and Ryan will represent the PCL 4A’s in the City Title game. So, there will be a lot riding on that tilt. Yet another tremendous job put forth by Widener’s head baseball coach Steve Carcarey and his staff/team. They do a great job when hosting these playoff games and deserve mucho credit for providing an enjoyable experience for all involved.

MAY 25
CL QUARTERFINAL PLAYOFF
Bonner 9, Father Judge 8
   A day earlier the Crusaders bested SJ Prep in eleven innings to secure a first round playoff victory. They needed three runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extras. It’s hard to predict how things will go when a team gets right back at it the next day in another huge game. Sometimes a club can carry that momentum from an emotional win, but in other cases teams are often spent and have little left in the tank. Today, it appeared to be the latter, but after falling down big early, the Crusaders regrouped and made a game of it, nearly pulling-off another magnificent win. However, in the end they would fall a run short in their quest to advance to one of Friday’s semifinal games. Now, Bonner, the CL Red’s top seed, will take on Neumann-Goretti at Widener University (3:30), while CL Blue top-seeded Wood will tangle with Ryan in the other semifinal at La Salle High on the same date and time. Early on it appeared that the Crusaders were out of gas from the marathon they played the day before. Bonner plated two runs in each of the first three innings to grab a 6-0 lead. Meanwhile, Friar sr. RHP Anthony DiGalbo had done his part in silencing the Judge bats by allowing nothing in terms of hits over the same juncture. Then, and seemingly out of nowhere, Judge began to mount their attack. How much of an attack? Try a seven-spot in the visiting fourth that allowed them to claim a 7-6 lead. Big hits in the inning were supplied by jr. 3B/RHP Kurt Sowa (2-run single) and jr. LF Anthony D’Ambrosio with a bases clearing triple. It was a great at-bat by D’Ambrosio, too. Twice he weakly fouled off 0-2 pitches along the first base line, before eventually lacing a shot to right-center that avoided a diving sr. RF Matt Mullen. All total, Judge sent twelve men to the plate and collected all five of their hits in the game. They also benefited from some wildness, as DiGalbo and reliever jr. RHP Jim Bonner issued four walks in the inning. DiGalbo appeared to develop a blister on one of his throwing hand fingers, so this may have impacted his ability to locate. Bonner allowed the first four batters he faced to reach, too. All total, the duo combined to throw 49 pitches in the inning. Phew! Trust me, but it seemed like it would never end at one point. Fortunately for the Friars, Bonner ended the epic inning with a pair of force outs. One came at home on a ground ball to third. Afterwards, the Friars didn’t waste any time regaining control and just like they did in the first three innings, put another deuce on the board with their turn in the fourth. They even did so without benefit of a hit. Sr. CF Rick Reigner, who played a wonderful game, led off by getting plunked. Sr. LF Sam Christie followed with a walk. Mullen moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Next, sr. 1B Alex Liberatore flied to deep center for a sac fly and a tie game. With sr. LHP Steve Boyd on the mound for Judge, the Friars were able to pull a fast one. Being a lefty meant that Boyd’s back was to Christie situated at third. Timing it perfectly, Christie took off and stole home the old fashioned way, Yep, a Lou Brock special! On the play, multiple Crusaders yelled that he was going, but Boyd was already into his motion and could only throw wildly towards home. I’m not even sure a good throw would have nailed Christie, that’s how great a jump he got. Bonner went on to pick-up a critical run in the fifth. A lead-off walk to jr. C Paul Shepherd, a subsequent steal of second by sr. CR Mike Moran (two SB’s in game), and a productive ground-out by sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri (2-for-3, R), put Moran at third. Sr. PH Bill Lake was summoned to the plate and he promptly delivered with a line hit to right. It’s just great to see kids come off the bench and contribute, especially seniors. This made the score, 9-7. By this time Jim Bonner had settled in on the mound and had retired eight consecutively, including the sides in the fifth and sixth innings. But this Judge team would not go quietly and after their performance the day before, what else would be expected? Slugging sr. 1B Kevin Conroy (1-for-2, 2 W’s, 2 R’s) leadoff with a walk. He moved to second on a groundout and to third on a wild pitch. Jr. PH Tom Prendergast also walked to put runners on first and third. Sr. PR Mike Ginley replaced Prendergast at first. Sr. RF/RHP Kevin Faber was next and grounded weekly to second, but not all was lost as Conroy scored to make it a one-run game and Ginley moved up to second. Next, Bonner opted to put Sowa on via an intentional walk. Even though Sowa put forth a couple quality AB’s, I thought this move was somewhat interesting.  Now, Sowa represented the go-ahead run and jr. C Julian DeMuro, the current hitter, slammed a shot to deep centerfield in which Reigner made a sensational, over-the-shoulder catch his last time up. But hey, that’s why guys like Bonner skipper Joe DeBarberie get paid the big bucks and I write the reports. Smile! Bonner got in on DeMuro’s hands and coaxed a weakly hit ground ball back to the mound to end the game. Early in the game the hitting star for the Friars was Reigner, who led off Bonner’s first inning with a ringing home run down the right field line. It was of the run-it-out variety, but who’s going to complain? Reigner plated two more in the second with a single down the first base line. In the third, a sac fly by sr. SS Josh VanHorn and groundout by Shepherd scored the fifth and sixth Bonner runs. Sr. DH Steve Markus (1-for-2, SB, 2 W’s) plated the second Friar run in the first on another ground out. Markus more than likely tied a dubious record in the sixth. Maybe, set one? How so? Well, he was credited with not one, but two caught stealings in the same inning. First, he was thrown out standing up at second, but the ball was dropped after the tag. This was scored as a CS, E-4. Then, he took off prematurely for third and was gunned down by the pitcher rather easily. I gave you a Lou Brock reference earlier in the game, but I’ll have to dub this sequence as a Lonnie Smith type moment. Smith was a former Phillie who had all kinds of difficulties on the bases at times. Ask your coaches, youngsters, and I’m sure they could further explain. What makes this Bonner team such a difficult team to play against is that they rarely beat themselves and do a lot of the little things well. Today, they had three sacrifice bunts and two sac flies. Five of their nine runs were scored without a hit and none of them came on errors. They also made nine good outs by my count. A good out is when a runner advances on that out. When you can do things like this the game is a lot easier to play. J. Bonner ended up the winning pitcher, going the final 3.2 (69 pitches, 40 strikes). He gave up 3 runs on two hits. This kid has nasty stuff potential when on. Too many walks today, though. DiGalbo (3.1 innings, 80 pitches, 46 strikes) and Bonner combined for nine (two intentional) in the game. In Judge’s win over SJ Prep manager Tim Ginter had used most likely his top three pitchers. All three of them worked into a fourth inning. PIAA rules state that four innings or more of work require a two day rest period before being able to pitch again. Ginter needed a quartet of hurlers to get through six innings today. For my money, Sowa showed the best stuff in a hitless 1.1 innings. He also recorded the only strikeout for the Crusaders.

MAY 24
CL FIRST ROUND PLAYOFF
Father Judge 5, SJ Prep 4 (11 inn.)
  When talking with Ted yesterday I mentioned to him that I may be able to get to Judge today if he needed me to. Typically, the schools in the Northeast are too far for me to attend, but an opening in my schedule allowed me to make today possible. The other first round games were being played at La Salle, Lansdale, and Conwell-Egan, so Judge was the most logical for me in terms of travel. The news was joy to Ted’s ears; too, because this is the game that he thought should be covered. However, Ted had his daughter’s graduation ceremony this evening and wouldn’t be able to do so himself. No problem! And as usual Ted had indeed pegged the correct game for ink purposes. Ok, I didn’t love the fact that it lasted three-hours and twenty-four minutes. Phew! Even more troublesome was that I didn’t begin to walk out of McArdle Recreation Center until 7:10. Ugh! Someone forgot to tell the teams that the Flyers were playing tonight. Ok, I missed the first period, but in the end the Fly Guys advanced to the Stanley Cup finals and all was well. On top of that, I witnessed a heck of baseball game. The Crusaders needed three runs in the home seventh to tie the Hawks and force extra innings. They would go onto win it four frames later in the eleventh. For highlight purposes let’s go back to that home seventh. SJ Prep sr. RHP Pat Carbone was steamrolling his way through the Judge line-up up until this point. After allowing back-to-back singles to begin the second inning, he retired 15 of 17 Judge batters that stepped to the plate. The two runners he did allow came via an error and a walk, so the Crusaders didn’t have a hit since the second inning either. So what happened? First, jr. 3B Kurt Sowa (2-for-5) began things with a clean hit to right. Jr. PH Tom Prendergast followed this with a decently hit ball to right-center. Hawk sr. CF Tyler Veterano raced over and seemed to be in position, but the ball bounced off his glove for an error. Next, sr. 2B Jim Delaney snuck ball through on the right-side for a hit that loaded the bases. The Crusaders were in business with the top of the order coming up, too. Jr. SS Kevin Elmer grounded to shortstop with a potential double-play ball, but soph. SS Kyle Gillen bobbled the ball and his only out was at first. Sowa scored on the play to make it, 4-2, and now Judge had runners on second and third. Up next was jr. LF Anthony D’Ambrosio, who singled to deep short to score jr. PR Sean Malone, making it 4-3. Afterwards, power-hitting sr. 1B/RHP Kevin Conroy stepped up. Back in the first inning Conroy hit a titanic home run to dead centerfield. The ball rolled through the softball field and in the first base side of the dugout. This baby was tattooed! This time Conroy tapped to third, but it was good enough for DeLaney to score the tying run. After an intentional walk to jr. CF Mike McLaughlin (1-for-3, 2 W’s), Carbone ended the threat by getting sr. DH Mark Woltemate to fly out to right. Two of the runs in the inning ended up being unearned. In extras, the Hawks twice had golden opportunities to re-take the lead. In the visiting eighth, the Hawks had first and third with no outs. At this point Judge manager Tim Ginter replaced jr. LHP CJ Felthaus (3+ IP, 1 ER) with Conroy. For the first out Conroy got Gillen to fly out to shallow right. Then, on a squeeze attempt by jr. LF James Stewart, he easily snagged a lined bunt right back at him. He had little trouble completing the inning-ending twin-killing with a simple toss to third. In the visiting ninth it was time for additional Houdini acts by Conroy. This time with the sacks juiced, he was able to coax a timely 6-4-3 double-play from jr. C Ray Toto. Meanwhile, Carbone was being his bulldoggish-self and retired the Crusaders in order in both the eighth and ninth innings. Amazingly, he retired 21 of 23, aside from that seventh inning. Per PIAA rules he left after his ninth inning of work. His final line looked like this: 9 IP (134 pitches, 91 strikes), 4 runs (2 earned), 7 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strike outs. Relieving Carbone was soph RHP Ryan Winton. He was able to hold Judge at bay in the tenth, but trouble struck in the eleventh. A strike out started the inning, but a pair of errors in the infield, sandwiched around a walk loaded the bases. And stepping up for the Crusaders was arguably the most feared hitter in the league in Conroy. Wasting little time he jumped on the first pitch he saw and ripped it over the third base bag for the walk-off victory. Many on the Prep side, coaches, players, and fans alike, were convinced the ball was foul. I never did get a clean look from my vantage point. I asked a couple of Crusaders and they said they thought it went over the base. Who knows? But it was close and the Crusaders got the call and now advance to face Bonner in tomorrow’s quarterfinal matchup. This was Conroy’s third RBI of the game. He also ended up the game’s winning pitcher. All total, he worked four innings (48 pitches, 30 strikes), allowed 2 hits, 2 walks, and K’d one. Sr. Matt Gallo made the start for Judge. He worked 4+ (66 pitches, 37 strikes), allowed 3 runs (Only 1 earned), 5 hits, 2 walks, and one strike out. For SJP, they scored a single run in the third on a RBI single by jr. 2B Matt Stahl, who plated jr. LF Joe Liciardello (double). They added a pair of unearned runs in the fifth without hitting a ball out of the infield. In the seventh, they thought they had tacked on some insurance when sr. 3B Greg “Buddy” Brooks boomed a double to deep left-center to score Veterano. Stahl (2-for-3, W, Sac bunt), Veterano (2-for-6, 2 R’s, 3 SB’s), and Brooks (1-for-3, HBP, 2 W’s) were the most effective Hawks with the sticks. Overall, the Hawks really hurt themselves with a 3-for-17 showing with RISP. This was Judge’s third one-run victory of SJ Prep this season. It will be interesting to see what Ginter does with his rotation tomorrow. All three hurlers today worked into at least a fourth inning.

MAY 17
CL RED
SJ Prep 5, O’Hara 2
  With the Catholic League playoffs just a week away, there is still much to be settled across the Red division in this the final week of play. Today, the Hawks took a big step forward in claiming one of the three playoff berths that is still to be had. Behind a four-run visiting seventh and strong pitching from sr. RHP Pat Carbone, the Hawks snatched a late 5-2 victory over the Lions. The Prep (6-7) rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the seventh inning by sending ten men to the plate. Interestingly, they had just a pair of hits in the frame. Here’s how things transpired. Soph. SS Kyle Gillen started the inning with a clean single up the middle. Next, jr. LF Joe Liciardello was asked to sacrifice, but popped the bunt up to third for the first out. Batting in the nine-hole, jr. SS Matt Stahl was hit by a pitch. The critical play of the inning then ensued, as lead-off sr. CF Tyler Veterano sent a sharply hit ball down to soph. 3B John Kane. At minimum, an easy force at second would have been had, even the possibility of a game-ending double-play existed, but somehow the ball found its way through the wickets of Kane. Gillen scored easily to tie the game, and Stahl also scored when the ball got past jr. LF Tom McFeeley, too. Veterano was eventually erased when trying to steal third for the second out. However, sr. 3B Greg “Buddy” Brooks (1-for-3) and sr. RF Rob McCabe (1-for-3, W, 2 R’s, 2 SB’s) drew back-to-back, two-out walks. Afterwards, jr. C Ray Toto tattooed a ball over a diving sr. CF Andrew Onimus’ head just right to dead centerfield. The double plated both Brooks and McCabe and gave the Hawks some breathing room at, 5-2. In the home seventh, Carbone overcame a leadoff walk by retiring the next three Lions. The game’s final out came on a diving catch by Liciardello on a pop-up in shallow left. Relying mostly on a sinking fastball, Carbone was solid throughout. This kid definitely loves to compete and doesn’t mind showing some fire from time to time either. An example of this was after O’Hara’s fourth ended and he had words with a couple of O’Hara players, who he thought were trying to steal signs from the catcher while at second base. Cooler heads eventually prevailed and a quick look-see from yours truly did not spot any binoculars coming from the bullpen areas. Smile! Carbone went the distance (105 pitches, 65 strikes) allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits (All singles). Both runs and four of the hits came in the fourth. He fanned six in the game and walked three. Also, it was his bat that got the Hawks on the board with a RBI-single in the fourth. Offensively, the Hawks also received a contribution from jr. 1B Kevin Melone (1-for-2, 2 W’s). For O’Hara, sr. 1B/RHP Sean Dwyer (single) and soph DH Steve Trainor (Fielder’s choice) supplied RBI’s. Soph. SS Mike Schneider put forth a wonderful performance defensively. He started two double-plays, with one coming on a line drive. He also made two nice plays from the hole, as he displayed a strong and accurate arm. On another ball he showed quick reflexes on a hot shot up the middle that nicked off the pitcher’s glove. Sr. RHP Bob Boyle took the rock for the Lions and was on his game through six innings. Fatigue (??) and a bout with wildness did him in during that final inning, as he walked three and plunked two. His final line read: 6.2 innings, 6 hits, 5 ER, 5 W’s, and 1 K. He tossed 126 pitches (67 strikes), with 37 of them coming in the seventh. The Lions (5-8) will need to win tomorrow to ensure at least a pre-playoff game. In other action today Judge bested LaSalle to move to (6-7) and North lost to Ryan to fall to (5-8). So, there’s still a wide range of scenarios that can take place after the regular season finales for all of these teams are completed. It should be interesting!

MAY 14
CL RED
Ryan 10, O’Hara 9
  The Red Raiders escaped with a big, come-from-behind win over the Lions to clinch no worse than third place in the CL Red. Meanwhile, O’Hara slipped to (5-7) in league play and they find themselves tied for fourth place with three other teams, with just a week left in the regular season. The top six in the division will enter the second season, but I guess the possibility of a play-in game is still exists. So, how did Ryan do it? A little unconventionally if you ask me. How so? Well, they were the fortunate recipients of not one, but two huge catcher’s interference calls. For highlight purposes we’ll jump back to the visiting sixth and O’Hara leading, 7-3. Jr. LHP/LF Kevin Mack led off with a walk and quickly pilfered second. Jr. SS Eric Frain singled him home to make it, 7-4, and this spelled the end for O’Hara starter jr. RHP Andrew Tiefel. Jr. RHP Pete Henson relieved him and he got jr. 1B John Rizzo to slap a ball to second for the first out. Not so fast! Rizzo’s bat caught jr. C Bob Smith’s glove and he was awarded first. This would have been the first out. Henson followed this by retiring the next two batters, which would have ended the inning had the catcher’s interference not occurred. Sometimes these things happen, but when you leave the door open for a good team, then quite often they make you pay. And that’s exactly what happened. After this soph. 3B Mike Anusky was plunked to load the bases. Following this was sr. CF Pat Kwiatkowski, who ripped a double inside the bag at third that scored two for a 7-6 game. Lions’ manager John Grossi once again went to the pen and summoned in sr. RHP Bob Boyle, who went the distance in O’Hara’s 10-2 loss to Ryan on Monday. He was promptly greeted by sr. RF Mark Golic, who lined a two-run single up-the-middle, giving Ryan their first lead at, 8-7. Later, in the visiting seventh, consecutive singles by Rizzo, sr. C Colin Budny, and sr. LF/LHP Steve Markle gave Ryan an insurance run to make it 9-7 heading to the last of the seventh. By this point, Markle had already relieved Mack to start the sixth. He breezed through the sixth in perfect fashion. However, in the seventh, O’Hara’s soph. DH Steve Trainor (1-for-3, 2 W’s. 2 R’s, SB) walked and jr. PH Nick DiMarco singled to start the inning. Ryan skipper Ron Gerhart removed Markle, who also pitched a complete game on Monday, for sr. 2B/RHP Sean Kovacs. A sacrifice bunt punt runners on second and third, but Kovacs fanned the next hitter for the second out. Still, the Lions had some fight left, as soph. SS Mike Schneider (2-for-4, 2 RBIs) walked and sr. 2B Pat Greeley (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R’s) did so as well to force in a run, making the score, 9-8. Next, and with the count full, sr. CF Andrew Onimus weakly rolled a ball up the first base line. Kovacs fielded, but Onimus, who runs extremely well, beat the throw to tie the game. Actually, the ball rolled away some, but Schneider was too close to the third base bag to chance it. There’s a chance he could have scored had he came around the bag aggressively. Kovacs ended that threat with comebacker from sr. 1B/RHP Sean Dwyer (RBI 2B earlier). In the eighth, Kwiatkowski (3-for-4, 3 RBIs, 2 R’s, SB) started things with his third straight hit. Golic (2-for-5) followed him with a hit. At this point, Boyle was relieved by Dwyer, who recorded consecutive outs before issuing a walk to Frain to load the bases. Then, on a 1-0 pitch, Rizzo barely fouled a ball back, but again Smith’s glove got in the way. This brought in Kwiatkowski for the tenth Red Raider run. With Kovacs still on the mound the Lions went down in order and rather easily in their half. We’re lucky, too, as just at this time the clouds grew darker and the winds increased. I took off to my car immediately after the final out and by the time I reached the parking lot the rain had begun to fall. For the first four innings Ryan’s bats were mostly quiet, as they managed just a pair of hits. Budny (3-for-5) supplied one of these hits with an out-of-here-in-a-hurry blast to left-center. Eleven of Ryan’s thirteen hits came over the final four innings. Also, contributing a run-scoring hit was Anusky (2B, 2 R’s). Mack worked the first five innings (106 pitches, 66 strikes). He did allow seven runs on nine hits, but only two were earned. Early on, he speared a line drive back at him and fielded three other comebackers. Though not an overly hard thrower, I liked the kid’s make-up on the mound. He did well in mixing his pitches. Quite honestly, but he didn’t get a ton of help from his mates on the field. Anusky did turn a key 5-3, bang-bang, double-play with the sacks full in the third. Kovacs ended up as the winning pitcher.  For O’Hara, I like the potential of the rangy Schneider. Just a sophomore, he already possesses good size. Smith had a good day at the plate going 2-for-3 (2B) with a pair of runs and RBIs. The defensive play of the game was put forth by Onimus when he made a lovely running, tumbling catch in left-center. On the mound Tiefel (75 pitches, 47 strikes) was making his first start of the season. At one point he retired eight in a row. His final line read: 5+ IP, 6 hits, 5 runs (4 ER), W, and 4 K’s. He probably shouldn’t have started the sixth, as you could see him tiring in the fifth when Ryan touched him for a pair runs. In a perfect world, Grossi probably would have lifted him then. But this isn’t a perfect world, its high school baseball, and the availability of reliable arms isn’t always commonplace. So, I’m sure he was hoping that the youngster could give him another inning. One of the reasons for this is that last week the Lions lost the services of jr. pitcher Jeff O’Reilly. Jeff was hit in the eye by a thrown ball during practice. For the first day or so it was touch and go if he would have all of the vision in this eye. But we’re happy to report that he now expects to make a full recovery. Best wishes, Jeff! Today’s affair lasted 2:52. I got home at 6:55. Yep, just in the nick of time to catch the beginning of the Flyers Game 7 match-up with the Bruins at 7 o’clock.

MAY 11
CL BLUE
Wood 6, Carroll 0
  Not exactly a great day for baseball, as the temperature hovered somewhere in the upper 50's and there was definitely a hint of late March in the air. Fortunately, the late-day rain that was forecasted held off just long enough and everyone in attendance was spared that misery. Most certainly it wasn’t even close to an ideal afternoon for hitting and I’d venture to say that more than a few players experienced that unfriendly sting that often accompanies weakly batted balls. The Vikings were pretty much business-like in earning the win. In doing so, they remained on track to enter next week’s clash with fellow CL Blue frontrunner Neumann-Goretti with both teams having just a single loss. Sr. RHP Matt McAllister made the start and pretty much breezed through the Pats' young lineup. He did leave the game after five innings with some discomfort in his arm. Not sure if it was anything serious, but Wood’s brass didn’t give off such a vibe. His day’s work only consisted of 60 total pitches (38 strikes). His highest inning of pitches reached just 15. He allowed three hits (All singles), 2 walks, and fanned three. He did a good job of mixing his pitches and kept the ball low in the zone throughout. I appreciated his demeanor on the mound, as he seemed to be in total control, all the while displaying poise. As it turns out, his bat broke things open in the visiting fifth. Wood began the proceedings with just a slim 1-0 lead; as Carroll’s sr. RHP Seamus Finnegan was matching McAllister almost pitch for pitch. However, things started to unravel for Finnegan and the Pats when he issued a lead-off walk to the nine-hole hitter, sr. LF Jim Fannon. Sr. CF Brian O’Grady followed with another free pass. Next, sr. RF Mike Spahitz put down a fantastic bunt along the third base line. Hoping to merely move the runners, he got a little more thanks to the placement of the bunt and his wheels getting him quickly to first. A fly out to shallow left followed for the first out. From the clean-up spot, McAllister provided some pick-me-up when scalded a shot off the base of the fence down the leftfield line. The double plated two and gave the Vikes some breathing room at, 3-0. Jr. 1B Jeff Courter (2-for-3, R) followed with a Sac fly to center to make it 4-0. An error would eventually score the fifth run later in the inning. In the seventh, jr. SS Kyle McCrossen took advantage of Carroll’s friendly confines with a solo home run to center field for the game’s final run. Wood’s initial run came courtesy of jr. 2B Brady McNab on a line single down the leftfield line in the second inning. Soph. LHP Joe Monaghan worked the final two innings for the Vikings and showed promise. He ended up striking out the side in the sixth. Twice, he worked around fielding miscues, including rolling a 6-4-3 double-play to end the game. Wood’s other defensive highlights were provided jr. C John Pirner, who gunned down a would-be base-stealer in the first. In the fifth, Wood turned another twin-killing on a humpedback liner to Courter a first, who gunned to K. McCrossen coming across the bag at second. For Carroll, Finnegan (97 pitches, 65 strikes) pitched better than the results show. The back-to-back walks (Only free passes of the game) in the fifth were his downfall, though. He lasted 6 innings, allowing 5 runs (4 ER) on 7 hits, while fanning seven. In the top half of the first he struck out the side after allowing a lead-off hit and stolen base. I thought he had a good change-up for the most part. Jr. LF Greg DiSanto reached base thrice (2 W’s, 1B). No other Patriot got on via a hit or walk more than once. Carroll turned a nice double-play on the speedy O’Grady (1-for-3, W) on a one-hop rocket. Freshman SS Eric McGough made a nice, sprawling catch of a blooper in very shallow left. Game time came in at 1:55. Ok, let’s hope Mother Nature comes to her senses and gives us some nice days in the coming weeks. No need to be playing the games that really matter with the temperature in the 50’s.

MAY 10
CL RED
Bonner 6, North Catholic 1
  The Friars continued their winning ways as they notched their ninth straight league win over the Falcons today. And once again it was pretty much the same recipe of success in that they received solid pitching, played steady defense, and were opportunistic with the sticks. The Friars possess a staff that throws strikes for the most part and a defense that can pick the ball up routinely. And at this level that is quite often three-fourths of the battle. I wouldn’t exactly dub their offense as the Gashouse Gorillas, but they play an effective version of small ball and are aggressive on the bases. This typically leads to opportunities for manager’s Joe DeBarberie’s club. For the fourth time this season sr. LHP Joe Nestor took the ball for Bonner with yours truly in attendance. And for the fourth time he was in control. Today, he worked the first six innings, allowing four singles, and one earned run. He fanned eight (77 pitches, 50 strikes) and walked three in the contest. In the games I have witnessed he is now 3-0 and has allowed just 5 earned runs (12 hits) in 23 innings pitched. Not bad, huh? Jr. RHP Jim Bonner worked the seventh frame and blew away all three Falcons he faced. He had a live fastball, with excellent movement in his inning of work. Offensively, the Friars received somewhat of a gift run to get on the board in the home second. After the first two outs of the inning were recorded, Bonner loaded the bases on a hit and pair of walks. Then, sr. 2B Mike Haley sent a routine ground ball to third that appeared to be the final out. However, North’s jr. 3B Eli Rodriguez got caught up trying to decide whether to tag or throw and by the time he did go to first it was too late. Bonner tacked on another run in third on a two-out single by sr. 1B Alex Liberatore which scored sr. RF Matt Mullen (2-for-3, W, SB, Rbi). The Friars would create some separation in the home fourth with a three-run inning. With one out, sr. LF Sam Christie was plunked. Sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri blooped a hit to left-center after this. Then, after a wild pitch moved the runners up a base each, Haley executed a nice squeeze play to bring in the third run. In fact, the bunt up the first base line was so good, that he managed a hit on the play. Sr. CF Rick Reigner followed Haley with a Sac fly to center to plate the fourth run. Next, Mullen dropped a hit to center that scored the third run of the inning and fifth of the game for the Friars. On this play, jr. CF Brendan Bradley dove at the last second and had the ball bounce off his face. He was down for a minute or so and later on I learned that he had a tooth knocked out. You don’t see this too often and hopefully this doesn’t prove to be too much of a hassle for the young man. Bonner sixth and final run came in the sixth. Sr. DH Steve Markus walked with the sacks full to provide the tally. Markus is usually the Friars’ three-hole hitter, but today showed up late even though he was on the school grounds. He had a good reason, though. He was somewhere off beyond centerfield taking an AP Physics exam. Six different Bonner players stole a base in the game. Defensively, good players were provided by Christie in left on a sliding catch, Liberatore in foul territory on an over-the-shoulder snag near the fence, and jr. C Paul Shepherd who threw behind a runner at third as another North player attempted to steal second. The Falcons didn’t put up much of a fight and were rather listless for much of the game. Their lone run came in the fifth on a RBI-single by jr. RF Eric Crudele, scoring Bradley who earlier walked and stole second. Falcon star sr. SS Ryan Etsell did reach base twice on three plate appearances with a hit and a walk. Jr. LHP/1B Elijah Resnick made the start on the mound. He came out like a gangbuster, too, as he whiffed the side in the first. All total, he worked the first four innings (84 pitches, 51 strikes), allowing 5 runs on 7 hits. He fanned five during his stint. Soph RHP Jesse Leary showed some promise in two innings of work. He featured a lot of movement on his pitches. He surrendered one unearned run in his two innings of work and struck out a pair. North’s best defensive  moment came on a 4-6-3 double-play in the sixth inning. There were bases loaded at the time. I just loved the strike zone by home plate umpire Bill “Babs” Haines. Maybe, it was a little generous, but it was consistent/fair and that’s all you can ever ask for. Furthermore, this baby zipped by in just 1:43. And that’s the number I can appreciate. Smile!

MAY 6
CL RED
North Catholic 4, Roman 3 (10 inn.)
  OK, when was the last time you witnessed a game that featured the starting pitchers combining to throw 18 innings, strike out 28, and unleash an unconscionable 288 total pitches? Probably never, right? Well, that’s exactly what I took in today. North’s sr. RHP Ryan Etsell and Roman’s sr. RHP Tim Racek matched each other pitch for pitch for pretty much the duration. They even yielded their runs in the same inning. The Falcons plated three in the top of the fourth, while the Cahillites tied it up in their half. Believe it or not, but both Etsell and Racek appeared to still have mileage left in the tank, too. PIAA rules do not allow a hurler to throw more than nine innings in one game. If they did, then I have a strong suspicion that both would have headed out there for a tenth. Unbelievable! Before I get into some numbers let me tell you how this one was decided. In the visiting tenth, jr. RHP/1B Jack Foley took the ball from Racek. A leadoff walk to sr. DH Anthony Sambuca started things, but he was erased on a fielder’s choice by jr. 2B/C Eric Crudell. Jr. C/RHP Tom Ditro made it first and second after an error. Batting in the three-hole was Etsell (2-for-4, W, R) and he sent hard shot in the hole between first and second, allowing Crudell to come around and score. A strike out followed, so the run ended up being unearned, but I doubt the Falcons cared much. Roman’s turn would not produce any drama, as Ditro replaced Etsell on the mound and retired the Cahillites in order to earn the save. He did so convincingly, too, as he K’d the first two he faced and then retired soph. SS William Dougherty on a routine ground ball to second. This was a critical win for the Falcons as it pushed their record to (5-5) in league play and strengthened their hold on one of the six playoff spots. Etsell ended up throwing 150 total pitches in his nine innings and 108 of them went for strikes. Yep, that’s right, 108 strikes tossed. Wow!  I’m having a tough time believing I’ll see that again. Smile! His first impressive moment came in the second when he whiffed the side on called strikes. Eight of his twelve K’s were of the backward variety. His most clutch moment came in the home seventh. Back-to-back plunkings loaded the sacks, but Etsell was game by fanning consecutive Roman batters to squelch the threat. Huge! He ended up allowing ten hits, but not many of them were stung overly hard. He only issued one walk, but did hit four with pitches. Three of the four hit batsmen came after he had hitters buried in the count, so he may have been in waste one mode. The kid definitely has a big-time clue out on the mound. And though he is lanky, his motion is very much under control and deliberate. He featured a solid heater and quality off-speed pitches throughout. For Roman, Racek was equally as good, if not better, over his stint. Just two of the three runs (5 hits) he allowed were earned. He ended up retiring the last twelve he faced. And he needed just a total of 34 pitches in getting through the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Can someone say looking for a little more? All total, he tossed 138 pitches, with 94 going for strikes. Damn, I guess I came kind of close to seeing two guys throw 100 strikes in one game. He ended up striking out an impressive SIXTEEN Falcons, while only walking a pair. He fanned at least one North batter in every inning and sat down more than one in six of the nine innings he worked. For the most part he showed good pop on his fastball. He even took it up the ladder a few times to get kids out. However, he definitely had a better breaking ball compared to the last time I saw him and this definitely helped keep North guys off-balanced. Roman skipper Joe Tremoglie mentioned to me that he was scheduled to throw on Tuesday, but was home with a 102-degree fever. I doubt he wants to make the sickbed a weekly thing, but it’s hard to dismiss the results. Smile. As mentioned earlier in the report the first six runs of this game came in the fourth. For North, Ditro led off with a double to the base of the fence in right-center. Etsell followed with a walk. After a misplay on a short fly ball in left the bases were juiced. Next, jr. SS/2B Dan Venuto (2-for-4, IW) plated two with a solid single over the second baseman’s head. Jr. 3B Eli Rodriguez followed him with s single to score the third run. Roman’s first tally came when sr. LF Mike Gritsko and jr. DH Brandon Irwin executed a double-steal of second and home. The second run scored on a long single high off the fence in left-center by sr. RF Steve Herbetko (2-for-5), while Dougherty plated the third run on a groundout. Roman’s jr. 2B Rick Houck singled three times and pilfered a pair of bases. Roman’s sr. C A.J. Vagliani gunned down a pair of would-be base-stealers. The Cahillites were running wild early and stole six in a row at one point. However, in the home sixth Ditro finally nailed one after a leadoff single. It ended up being pivotal, as the next two Roman batters singled. Roman was a dismal 2-for-14 with RISP. All total, there were 329 pitches thrown in the game. Thirty-two strikeouts were recorded. The game lasted 2:48.

MAY 4
CL RED
Bonner 4, Father Judge 1
   Well, it was off to Bonner again today for yours truly and just like my two previous trips this season, the Friars earned yet another victory. This was Bonner’s fifth straight league win, as currently they sit atop the CL Red division with a 7-2 record. Once again it was strong pitching and defense that showed the Friars the way. This was my third look-see at sr. LHP Joe Nestor on the mound. His command wasn’t as sharp as it had been during my first two appearances, but it was plenty good to silence the Crusaders lumber. Nestor went 5 innings, allowing just a single run on three singles to garner the win. He threw 74 pitches on the day, but managed just 39 strikes. He issued five free passes and this led to some uneasy moments. However, just like last week when I watched him pitch, he was fortunate to have a few runners erased on the base paths. This was huge! In the second inning, he walked the first three batters he faced, but prior to the third free pass, jr. C Paul Shepherd threw behind the runner at second after a pitch and he was cut down as sr. SS Josh VanHorn applied the tag. Later in the inning, Judge jr. 3B Kurt Sowa lashed a single to left to score jr. C Tom Pendergast (1B, SB), but sr. LF Sam Christie delivered a strike to home to eliminate another potential run and end the threat. In the third inning, Shepherd threw out a base-stealer at second. This was instrumental because Judge followed with a hit. Bonner ultimately took the lead for good in their half of the second. A one-out error allowed VanHorn (2 runs, SB) to reach. He would eventually score on a ringing triple to left-center by Christie. Sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri would bring Christie in with a sac fly down the right field line. Good hustle by Christie enabled him to score on a ball that wasn’t hit that deep. Bonner would tack on two more runs in the fourth for a little insurance. Again, it was the combination of VanHorn and Ruggieri. VanHorn singled with one out and advanced to second on a groundout. Then, Ruggieri dropped a hit down the leftfield line to plate him. Sr. 2B Mike Haley followed with hit to keep the inning alive. Next, sr. CF Rick Reigner ripped a single up the middle to bring across Ruggieri. This would be all the Friars would need. Jr. RHP Marty McKeone worked two solid, scoreless innings to earn the save. He fanned three over that time. Bonner did manage twelve hits in the game. All but Christie’s triple were singles. Reigner provided three of the hits. Sr. DH Steve Markus added a pair. Nine of the ten Friars to grab a bat found the hit column. Defensively, Haley handled all four of the chances that came his way. The Crusaders could only manage four hits, with sr. DH Mark Woltemate providing two of them. Jr. LF Anthony D’Ambrosio made a terrific running catch in deep left-center that saved all kinds of trouble with runners on in the sixth. Great effort, kid! Jr. SS Kevin Elmer and sr. 2B Jim Delaney played well in the middle of the infield for Judge. They successfully handled all seven chances between them. Elmer made a heads up play throwing behind a runner trying to advance from second to third, while Delaney made a nifty Chase Utley-like play on a slow roller. It was once of those charge, field, then flip out of the glove plays. Sr. RHP Matt Gallo made the start. He worked the first 4.1 innings. He did allow all four runs, but just two of them were earned. He was around the plate and never issued a walk. I can appreciate that at this level. Jr. LHP CJ Felthaus relieved him and worked 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. Judge arrived close to game time, so the proceedings didn’t begin until 4:10 for the 3:45 scheduled start time. I envisioned one of those 7 o’clock affairs, but luckily it was not to be, as the game only took 1:58 to complete. Thank you! In closing, I just want to mention to readers that I try to see as many teams as I can on the baseball trail, but because of the afternoon start times and when I get out of school, I can only make it to certain schools. Bonner, O’Hara, Roman are the closest, but N-G, Carroll, West, and maybe SJ Prep down at the Lakes are also in reaching distance. I hate getting to games late. My stats need to be accurate! Smile. So, if I think a field is too far, then I won’t even try it. I just wanted to share this, so people wouldn’t think that I just go and see certain teams. Thanks for the support. 

APRIL 29
CL RED
Bonner 3, SJ Prep 2 (9 inn.)
  There was an oddity of sorts in this CL Red contest between the host Friars and Hawks, and that was that four of the five runs scored in the game came after there were two outs and no one on base. Included in that was the game-winner! SJ Prep starter jr. RHP James Stewart was still on the mound and retired the first two Friar hitters of the inning on lazy fly balls. Next, with the count sitting at three-two, sr. SS Josh VanHorn coaxed a walk, and then stole second a short time later, sliding head-first underneath the tag after a strong throw by jr. C Ray Toto. Sr. LF Sam Christie was at the dish and with the count 2-2, he stroked a single right through the box and into centerfield. With VanHorn coming all the way, sr. CF Tyler Veterano’s throw was strong, but skipped off the back part of the mound, causing it to slightly change direction and lose some of its juice. Thus, there wasn’t really a close play at home and VanHorn slid in rather comfortably. Ballgame! There were probably two major story lines in this game and both came from the Bonner side of things. One, was the tremendous pitching put forth by sr. LHP Joe Nestor (7 IP) and sr. RHP Anthony DiGalbo (2 IP), who was the eventual winner. The second story line wasn’t as positive and quite frankly had to be big-time frustrating for skipper Joe DeBarberie’s crew. Bonner had eighteen guys reach base at different junctures of the game. However, they had 14 LOB’s and were just 1-for-11 with RISP prior to Christie’s game-winning knock. A pair of twin-killings helped the Hawks at critical moments, but for the most part the Friars just had trouble getting that big hit. But hey, they persevered and now sit atop the CL Red standings with a (6-2) record. Check this one out! The Hawks batted .1000 with RISP. So, how did they do that and lose the game? Well, it’s easy when you only have one AB in that situation. With two outs in the first inning the Hawks kicked up a fuss after sr. RF Rob McCabe drew a walk. Toto followed with a sharp double down the left-field line. Next, jr. 1B Kevin Melone snuck a ball in the hole between third and short that plated both McCabe and jr. CR Joe Liciardello. Amazingly, the Hawks would only send the minimum amount of batters to the plate over the next eight innings. If you’re scoring at home that’s twenty-four. The Hawks did have three players reach base, via a pair of errors and hit batter, but each of these guys would be erased on the base-paths. Nestor picked off two with lovely moves and jr. C Paul Shepherd gunned down McCabe in the visiting ninth on a steal attempt. Nestor needed only 82 pitches (50 strikes) to work the first seven innings. He allowed just the two first inning hits and walked just one, while fanning five. I was actually surprised he didn’t come out in the eighth, as it appeared he still had much gas in the tank. The kid really was in a flow after that first inning. Not the hardest of throwers, but he did an excellent job of keeping the ball low and changing speeds. And his heater had just enough on it to be effective because of its location. DiGalbo was also around the plate and threw twenty of his twenty-six pitches for strikes. He fanned a pair in his first inning of work. Punch-outs and outs on the bases accounted for ten of the Hawk outs, but of the other seventeen outs recorded by Nestor and DiGalbo, fourteen came on ground balls. Nice! Bonner’s first two runs came in the first and third innings, respectively. Their first run also came with two outs and no one base. Sr. DH Steve Markus singled and came around on a deep double down the left-field line by Shepherd. In the third, sr. 1B Alex Liberatore stroked a hit up-the-middle to plate sr. RF Matt Mullen to tie the game. This was huge for it followed a 4-6-3 double-play by the Hawks. Mullen reached base four times in the game (2-for-3, HBP, W). Markus, Liberatore, and Christie all collected two hits. Sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri successfully handled five chances at the hot corner. He displayed good range going to his left. VanHorn made a couple of strong throws into a crosswind from deep short. For the Hawks, Stewart was a bulldog and showed all kinds of grit. Time after time he just made the necessary pitch to get his team off the field. He unleashed 132 pitches (76 strikes) in the game. I believe he also threw at least one inning yesterday in mop-up duty. Can you say pitch count need not apply? I still can’t get over the fact that no Hawk reached as far as second base from the second inning on. Even though it went extras the game lasted a reasonable 2:34. Just one complaint about today’s outing. The winds were strong and were mostly blowing straight in from right-field. This led to dirt in the left eye of your truly. So, I had to deal with that for about three innings, but in time things once again become clear.

APRIL 27
NON-LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 12, SJ Prep 1 (5 inn.)
  Since these two teams compete in different divisions within the Catholic League, this was a rare mid-year non-league tilt. Still, I thought it had the makings of a good one. The Saints returned nearly everyone from last year’s title team. Meanwhile, the Hawks have been rather formidable in the big school division over the past few years and currently sit tied at the top of the standings. Maybe, this could be a preview of a future semifinal or championship game later next month? After all, last spring these two clubs played a dandy in the semifinals. The Saints won that one, 10-9, in nine innings. Well, we didn’t quite reach those standards today, as the Saints pounded the Hawks in a mercy rule shortened game. In fairness, I should mention that this is N-G’s bye week in the PCL Blue division. The Hawks were rained out yesterday, but have pivotal games with Bonner tomorrow and probably Thursday. So, it was not feasible for SJP manager Chris Rupertus to send one of his better starters to the mound. Nor would it have been smart. With things so tight in the PCL Red division you just have to save your best arms for those games. However, N-G skipper Lou Spadaccini didn’t use one of his top two starters either, but the Saints are more than likely much deeper than not just the Hawks, but nearly all of the Catholic League teams when it comes to quality arms. So, even though the game began with competitive juices flowing from both teams, in the end N-G just held too much of an advantage on the hill for it to materialize into a barnburner of sorts. Taking the ball today for the Saints was soph. LHP Joey Gorman, and though not completely on his game, he still had enough to neutralize the Hawks’ bats throughout. Some wildness (4 W’s, HB) was cause for concern over at different junctures, but Gorman dug in and made the pitches when he had to. Spadaccini mentioned to me that he had only issued three free passes on the season entering the game. He may have had some nerves early on, since the Hawks are considered a quality club and I’m sure wanting to perform well was at the forefront of his mind. Anyhow, I still liked what I saw and I definitely believe this kid’s best days are ahead of him. Today, he worked all five innings (87 pitches, 53 strikes) allowing one run on just three hits, while fanning a fistful. He reminded me of a good buddy of mine, Frank Stassel, who starred at West Catholic in the early '90s and later pitched for LaSalle. I mentioned it to Spadaccini and he agreed with the comparison. Once this kids get additional experience we should have a REAL good one over the next two seasons. The Hawks actually took a 1-0 lead in the first. Jr. C Ray Toto hit a sinking liner to center that skipped away for a double and scored sr. CF Tyler Veterano, who lead-off the game with a walk. The Hawks probably should have scored more, but had a runner picked-off at first on a wonderful timing play by the Saints. Then, the second out came on a nice relay and tag at home after Toto’s double. In the Saints’ half of the inning the first five batters reached base and the first four ended up scoring. Sr. star 1B Mark Donato laced a 2-run double to left-center. This was followed by a run-scoring triple from star sr. 3B Al Baur on a ball that was lost in the clouds by the Prep outfield in semi-deep left-center. Soph. SS Marty Venafro plated the fourth run on a fielder’s choice. N-G would add a single run in the second on a RBI-hit by soph. DH Mario Difebbo, who plated soph. C Nicky Nardini after he led-off with a towering double to deep left. In the fourth, the Saints did the majority of their damage as they sent thirteen batters to the plate. A combination of five hits, five walks, and a plunking allowed them to plate a touchdown plus the PAT to cement this baby. Supplying run-scoring plays in the inning were; Donato (single), Bauer (walk), sr. RF Mike Riverso (walk), Venafro (2-run 1B), Nardini (single), and DeFebbo (single). In just four innings of stick work the Saints collected 12 hits and had TWENTY players reach base via a hit, walk, or HBP. They were 9-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Gorman reached base all four times (hit, 3 W’s) he batted and scored two runs. Jr. 2B Mike Zolk scored two runs. Donato finished with 3 RBI’s, 2 runs, and went 3-for-4. DiFebbo (HBP) reached base all three times he came to bat, as did M. Riverso (HBP, 1B, W). For the Hawks, jr. SS Matt Stahl and jr. LF James Stewart collected the other two hits. Both were singles. Stahl started two DP’s on the field. The second one was a nice 6-3 turn. Jr. LHP Ed Foy made the start and went the first three innings. Sr. RHP Mike DeStefano relieved him in during fourth and worked an inning. Let’s just say that both struggled in trying to contain the Saints. In the two games in which I have covered N-G this year they have won both in mercy rule fashion, combining to outscore their opposition, 23-2, while collecting 25 total hits. Moments before the first pitch there was a loud crash that came from directly behind the batter’s cage. As it turns out one of the cars belonged to Gil Brooks, the successful and former head coach of the Hawks’ football team. Fortunately, no one appeared to be hurt, but Gil was situated out in the street waiting for the proper authorities to arrive for at least 45 minutes to an hour. Furthermore, there was considerable damage done and I believe Gil’s car was taken away on a flatbed truck. Ouch! I later saw him standing along the right field foul line with other SJ Prep parents/supporters. He seemed to be in good spirits.

APRIL 22
CL BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 11, Carroll 1 (6 inn.)
  The Saints are widely believed to be one of the top-rated teams on the diamond this season in not only the PCL, but all of SE PA. They returned many holdovers from last year’s title team. However, on Tuesday, Carroll traveled down to South Philly and handed them their first loss of the season. The 7-4 defeat was definitely a surprise to most, but in the end, maybe, it was just what this team needed. Last year on their way to their first Catholic League title since 1960, the Saints displayed big-time determination and were the hunters for that crown. Now, they are definitely the hunted and that loss the other day had to remind them of this very fact. Hey, in the game of baseball, and at this level, a little bump in the road isn’t all that bad, and in the end it could do wonders for a squad striving to do even better things in this go-around. As for today, there would be no repeat performance from the young Pats, as they were dispatched rather easily. The Saints scored in every inning but one and racked up 13 hits along the way, including four dingers. Meanwhile, sr. LHP Mark Donato cruised out on the mound. The Pats didn’t get their first hit until the home sixth. A second hit would follow and this broke up the shutout, but Donato would fan two of the last three he faced. With the score sitting at a 10-run deficit for the Pats there would be no need to play the seventh and the game ended. Donato (102 pitches; 61 strikes) pretty much overmatched Carroll all afternoon. He did surrender three walks, but the run he allowed was unearned. He fanned 10 in the game. Donato possesses a solid fastball. If I had one slight complaint about his course of action on the mound, it would be for him to use this heater a little more often. Especially, when he senses the batter is overmatched. His off-speed stuff is quality, too, but I think he may waste pitches trying to get guys out. In the end this just builds up his pitch count. Hey, just a thought to consider. The kid has been tremendous since he stepped on the field three years ago. With the sticks, heroes were a plentiful for the Saints. Carroll’s field can be classified as friendly confines cubed. Smile! The Saints wasted little time taking advantage when sr. 3B Al Baur (3-for-4, 3 runs) went oppo with a towering fly to leftfield for a 2-run homer. In the second, an error scored jr. CF Dom Riverso, who had walked and pilfered a base earlier. This made it 3-0. Moving to the third frame, Bauer led-off the proceedings with his second blast of the game. This time he muscled one to right-center. The Saints added another in that inning on a RBI-hit by soph. DH Mario Difebbo. The score ascended to 7-0 in the fourth. Again, the Saints used the long ball. This time Donato towered one into the trees in right-center. It didn’t appear he hit all that great and he would probably confirm this, but still the ball landed well and high into the trees. Eventually, the Saints would reach mercy rule territory with a four-run sixth. Sr. 1B Mike Riverso (2-for-4, SB) slashed a double to left-center to plate two. Then, soph. SS Marty Venafro (2-for-4) really lit into one for a long 2-run shot to straightaway deep left. Of the four HR’s this one was struck the best. Also, adding to the offensive cause was jr. 2B Mike Zolk (Transfer from North Catholic) who managed three hits and two runs from the two-hole in the order. Soph. C Nicky Nardini (W, HBP) reached base twice. I’ve heard very good things about soph. LF/LHP Joey Gorman, who serves as skipper Lou Spadaccini’s table-setter. He only managed one knock in four AB’s today, but I thought I detected the look of a quality player. Gorman played at Furness last season. Carroll’s two hits (Both singles) were supplied by jr 2B Sal Megaro and jr. CF Alex Ramondo. Jr. LF Greg DiSanto scored their lone run. Jr. RHP Steve Stortini (77 pitches; 49 strikes) started for the Pats and lasted four innings. He allowed 7 runs during his stint. He did fan five along the way. Jr. RHP Alex Tansey relieved Stortini and worked the final two innings. He was able to retire the Saints in order in the fifth, but gave up four in the sixth. Carroll’s field has been spiced up some and overall it looks rather nice. They added some height to the fence in left field from the corner to left-center. It won’t prevent the occasional pop-up from not going out, but it could keep some low liners in the yard. I believe the dugouts were new or at least refurbished. Lots of landscaping has taken place down the right field line and in and around the cage. A scorer’s table is now located behind home plate. Lastly, but up the hill behind home plate is a recliner or sorts. Father Ed Casey, an assistant coach and the school’s President, dubbed it, “The best seat in the house.”  I’m trying to remember, but I’m not sure anyone was sitting in it. Apparently the gentleman who won the honor of having this seat for this game was unavailable. I pretty much stood for the entire game. Hmmm, maybe, yours truly should have made his way on up. Time of game today came in at 1:43.

APRIL 20
CL RED
SJ Prep 8, Roman 5
  The teams combined for eight runs in a wild and lengthy seventh inning, which witnessed the Hawks extend a one-run advantage to six, after a 5-spot in the top half. However, the Cahillites plated three during their turn and eventually brought the winning run to the plate before the Hawks were able to escape with the victory. Let’s start in the Hawks' half for some highlights. Jr. LF James Stewart started the festivities by getting plunked. Sr. CF Tyler Veterano (2 runs) reached base on a sacrifice bunt/fielder’s choice. Sr. 3B Greg “Buddy” Brooks followed with a solid hit to left to plate Stewart and a 4-2 lead. Afterwards, sr. RF Rob McCabe smashed his fourth hit of the contest to plate Veterano and Brooks for his fourth and fifth RBI’s of the game. This marked the end of Roman starting sr. RHP Tim Racek, who was rather solid up until this point. Three batters later the lead ballooned to, 8-2, on a two-run double by jr. 1B Kevin Melone. The Hawks probably should have scored even more in the inning, but shoddy base-running did them in. Luckily, this did not hurt in the end, or certainly the Hawks would have been kicking themselves over additional missed opportunities. Anyhow, when things moved to the home seventh the Hawks still had sr. RHP Pat Carbone on the hill, though, he was over a 100 pitches entering the inning. After a walk and a strike out to start the inning, Roman’s sr. RF Steve Herbetko launched a towering shot, just right of dead center, that landed in the trees for a two-run HR. Afterwards, SJ Prep skipper Chris Rupertus made a trip to the mound and somehow Carbone convinced him to allow him to continue. To me, he looked big-time gassed, as in running on fumes. Well, two pitches later, Cahillite sr. C A.J. Vagliani stroked a hard single to left and that was it for Carbone. The tank was officially on E! He was relieved by soph. RHP Ryan Winton. Sr. SS Anthony Ortiz, who reached base all four times he batted, greeted him with a walk. Then, Winton was able to fan jr. 1B Jack Foley for the second out in the inning. Next, a walk to jr. PH Matt Stoffere loaded the bases. This was followed by a pee of a shot from jr. DH/RHP Rich Houck that rocketed off the lower part of Winton’s right leg/foot for a hit. This made the score 8-5. Winton was down for a couple of minutes, but eventually was able to get through a few warm-up pitches before continuing. Finally, Winton ended the threat by retiring soph 2B William Dougherty on a softly hit ground out to first. Not the prettiest of affairs, but as Rupertus said to his team afterwards, the Hawks did enough to earn the victory. The win puts the Hawks at (3-2) in league play and a quick glance at the results from today show that five teams in the CL Red sit atop the standings with the same record. I have only caught two games in person so far, but I detect major parity in the big-school division. We’ll see what transpires the rest of the way. All total, Carbone went 6.1 innings and threw 123 pitches (74 strikes). Not an overpowering hurler, but I appreciated his competitiveness and the smarts he displayed on the mound. Kid just struck me as someone with an idea. One area he’ll want to patch up is his control. He finished with 6 walks in the game. He did fan nine while in there, though. Up until the seventh inning he allowed just five hits and just one of these was struck solidly. With the Hawks trailing, 2-1, in the fifth, McCabe powered a 2-run double halfway up the big fence in right-center. Earlier he plated a run on an infield single. He also showed excellent speed in swiping two bases. Brooks finished 2-for-4, with 2 runs. He also made the defensive play of the game in the home fourth. With a run already across, the Cahillites had the bases loaded with one out, but Brooks ended the threat with a tag and throw for a 5-3 twin-killing. Nicely done! Melone was the other Hawk to manage two hits in the game. For Roman, Racek was tough early on. He got into the kitchens of quite a few Hawk batters and this led to some weakly hit grounders. His final line read: 6+ innings (104 pitches; 72 strikes), 6 runs (5 ER), 9 hits, W, and 3 K’s. Every now and then Racek showed life on his heater. However, he was mostly effective early on by keeping the ball low and in on the hands of SJ Prep hitters. At least three of the hits he yielded in the early stages were of the infield variety. Ortiz (1B, 3 W’s, 3 SB’s, 2 Runs) was active and pest-like. I liked his approach and gamer mentality. Sr. LF Mike Gritsko knocked in a run on an infield hit. Houck singled twice for Roman. The Cahillites were just 3-for-13 with RISP. It took 42 minutes to play the seventh inning and that pushed the overall game time to 2:34.

APRIL 14
CL RED
Bonner 9, La Salle 1
  Well, yours truly finally hit the baseball trail, as today I found myself at Bonner to watch the Friars host the Explorers of La Salle. Though the day was quite lovely weather-wise, the game was a little lacking in some respects. Still, I was glad to get this first one under my belt. Bonner used a five-run second to seize control and were never threatened from here on out. For the second straight week the Friars captured the second game of their weekly series with CL Red competition. Both wins came after tight losses on the road, and I just know it was comforting to skipper Joe DeBarberie to see his team hold serve at home. Today’s winning pitcher was sr. LH Joe Nestor, a transfer from neighboring Upper Darby. Nestor allowed the first two Explorers to reach on hits, but would yield just one more knock over five innings of work. Relying on mixing his pitches, the crafty Nestor really settled in as the game moved along. His final line read: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 W’s, and 6 K’s (90 pitches, 51 strikes). Jr. RHP Matt Dolan worked two scoreless innings in mop-up duty. In the sixth, he ended La Salle’s best threat of the contest. With a run already across he induced an around-the-horn double-play with the sacks full. Sr. 3B Matt Ruggieri started the twin-killing. In the seventh the Friars ended the game with another 5-4-3 DP. Again, this was started by Ruggiero, who back in the first inning used a heady play to cut down a La Salle runner at home. Going back to the DP’s, but I need to mention that both ended with brilliant stretches by sr. 1B Alex Liberatore. I can’t ever recall a player having the type of flexibility and stretching prowess that this kid exhibits while playing first base. He really has a tremendous grasp on what he’s doing over there. Alex is the younger bro of Colin Liberatore, a former TS.com Best Teammate recipient and friend to many. Colin is now a star manager (smile) for Villanova’s ever-popular basketball team. Bonner tallied a single run in the first without a hit. Ruggieri plated this with a squeeze bunt, or maybe a safety squeeze play. Whatever the case, but it’s not every day that you see your four-hole hitter bunting home a guy from third, in the first inning no less. But Bonner has been playing this was for a couple of years now and for the most part they have been successful at it. In Bonner’s five-run second, jr. 2B Jim Murphy and sr. CF Rick Reigner supplied RBI hits. Another run scored on an error, while Ruggieri and sr. SS Josh Van Horn produced back-to-back Sac flies. The Friars would tack on a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth. Jr. C Paul Shepherd (2-for-3) brought home the run in the fifth with a solid single. In the sixth, Reigner led-off with a ringing triple to deep right. He scored on a wild pitch. Then, Van horn slashed a hit to right for the ninth and final Friar run. Reigner was very good at the top of the order; scoring thrice after a BB, 1B, and 3B. Van Horn (SF, BB) collected two hits and as many RBI’s. Van Horn served as the Friar catcher the last couple of seasons, but is now playing shortstop. Kid has a big-time arm and he displayed it a few times in this one. Meanwhile, Shepherd demonstrated good receiving skills, so the change seems to be for the better. Sr. LF Sam Christie reached base twice (HBP, W, Run) and added a stolen base. Sr. RF Matt Mullen (HBP, W, Run) also reached twice. The Explorers feature a young squad, as manager Joe Parisi started four sophomores and three juniors among the ten players to begin the tilt. I suspect that this bunch will be ok for the most part, but with their youth they may have a couple of games similar to today's. They should get better as the season progresses, though. Their lone run came in the sixth on a single to center by jr. 3B Joe Forcellini. Sr. RF A.J. Rodriguez collected two hits, while sr. C T.J. Burgmann (Run), the one holdover I remember from last year’s team, reached base twice with a hit and a walk. Jr. RHP Brian Zielinski made the start, but just didn’t have it. His control really did him in, as he walked three and plunked a pair in 1+ innings of work. He allowed six runs (4 ER) before leaving. Soph LHP Greg Mungier relieved Zielinski and did a decent job for the most part. He’s not the biggest of kids, but I liked how he competed. He threw a total of four innings and allowed just one run on two hits. Bonner’s field no longer sports a fence in either left or right field. When I asked long-time assistant Gene Ferraiola about this he quipped, “Didn’t have it in the budget this year.” John Fleming, where have you gone? Smile! Today’s game lasted a manageable 2:11.