MAY 27
CL AAAA FINAL
SJ Prep 4, La Salle 0
  Hard to imagine a more disappointing two-day stretch than the one the Explorers just wrapped up. Yesterday, they fell in the Catholic League Championship to Neumann-Goretti, 3-1, in a game that took eight innings. In past seasons that would have been all-she-wrote, end of season, but we now play in the PIAA era. And with the PIAA there’s always the possibility of a funky circumstance popping up from time to time. In this case, these longtime rivals were required to play a game in order to break a deadlock in points that were accumulated in the regular season and playoffs. The winner of this game would be the Catholic League 4A representative in tomorrow’s City Title tripleheader. So, for La Salle it was back to Widener, a day after a tough and emotional defeat. With that in mind, I was interested to see how they would respond. The Explorers won the coin toss and with that came seats in the third base dugout, or the home perch if you may. A one-two-three first by jr. RHP C.J. Burns was just the start Head Coach Joe Parisi’s squad was looking for. Even more so, a couple of runs in their half would have been just dandy in the feel-good department. With star sr. RHP Kyle Mullen on the mound for the Hawks, the Explorers threatened, but would leave the bases full, failing to capitalize. Mullen drew some tough luck with a strikeout-passed ball to start the game, but also walked a pair in a 32-pitch first inning. Would this hurt him in terms of going deep? No dice! He was able to avoid minor uprisings in the second and third, as La Salle again left runners in scoring position. From this juncture there would be just minor fires for him to smother. Ok, more on Mullen in a bit. Now, how did the Hawks break through? Well, it took some time, as Burns retired the first thirteen Prepsters in efficient fashion. Nine of these first thirteen outs came via the ground ball, as he was constantly down in the zone. However, with one out in the visiting fifth, jr. 3B Greg “Buddy” Brooks chopped a clean hit over the third baseman’s head and into leftfield for the Hawks' first hit. Sr. DH Perry Russom followed this with a single to right through the hole. Next, sr. LF Sean Murphy singled through the box. LaSalle sr. CF Joe Aloia’s throw was strong and had a chance to nip Brooks at home, but it short-hopped jr. C T.J. Burgmann and caromed away. Brooks scored the game’s first run and Russom and Murphy moved up to second and third, respectively. This was important because sr. SS Ryan Eden followed with a ground ball to first that scored Russom and the second Hawk run. For insurance purposes the Hawks would plate single tallies in the sixth and seventh. Sr. 1B Jeff Lynch smoked a double down the leftfield line to bring in soph. C Ray Toto in the sixth. In the seventh, Russom (2-for-3) singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on Murphy’s (2-for-3) second run-scoring knock of the contest. This would be all Mullen would need. In the home seventh, impressive sr. SS Tyler Freeman slashed a two-out double down the right-field line, his third hit of the game. This put runners on second and third, but Mullen rebounded and fanned sr. DH Brendan McCoy to end the proceedings. The Hawks will now take on the Lancers of Central High, who were (12-2) winners over Northeast in the Pub 4A and overall final. This game was also played this afternoon. Mullen’s final line read: 7 IP (123 pitches, 81 strikes), 6 hits, 3 walks, and 7 punch outs. Despite the early-in-the-game heavy pitch load, Mullen appeared to get stronger as the game wore on. And after that first inning he had supreme command. He also supplied a key defensive play in the game. In the fifth, with one out, the Explorers had two runners on base. McCoy sent a semi line drive towards the middle that was speared by Mullen, who easily doubled-off a runner at first for an inning-ending twin-killing. Also defensively, sr. CF Gio Morales made a solid play going back on a ball and another coming in on one. For LaSalle, sr. 1B Sean Abbott (two walks) was the only player to reach base more than once other than Freeman. Defensively, sr. 3B Michael Antoni handled four chances down at the hot corner. Sr. RF Kevin Johnson made a nice, retreating catch in deep right to retire sr. 2B Kevin Gillen. Burgmann showed good hustle getting back to snag a quickly descending popup near the backstop. Burns suffered the loss, but was solid nonetheless. He appeared to have a good competitive side to him. He worked the first 6.1 innings (89 pitches; 61 strikes). He did yield 4 earned runs on seven hits, but didn’t walk a batter. Win or lose tomorrow the Hawks will participate in the state playoffs. Of course, a win gets you a #1 seed out of D-12, and with that might come a more favorable draw in not only competition, but also travel purposes. Tomorrow’s tripleheader will be played at Campbell's Field in Camden. The line-up looks like this: N-G/Franklin Towne Charter 1 o’clock, Kennedy-Kenrick/Esperanza 4 o’clock, and SJ Prep/Central in the 7 o’clock nightcap. This was the seventh shutout yours truly has witnessed this season. It was a great day for baseball as the weather cooperated nicely by mid-afternoon. However, there was one stinky moment in the game. In top of the seventh inning I heard this truck beeping behind me on the first base side of the field. I didn’t pay too much attention at first, but then it hit me, like a Mike Tyson sucker-punch. Wow! As it turns out this was the truck responsible for emptying the portable toilets situated behind the stands. Good lord! Talk about ungodly! Fortunately, it only lasted about a minute and all were spared from further abuse of the nose. Smile! In closing, I’d like to congratulate SJP sr. pitcher Bobby Della Polla for being chosen as TS.com’s Best Teammate 2009! In my opinion it’s one of the best parts of TS.com, a tremendous honor and something to be proud of. Great job, Bobby!

MAY 22
CL SEMIFINALS
Neumann-Goretti 10, SJ Prep 9 (9 inn.)
  On a day when FORTY-FIVE players reached base between the teams, the Saints outlasted the Hawks in nine inning dandy to reach the Catholic League Finals for the first time in fourteen years. Also, they prevented the two-time defending CL champion Hawks from reaching their fourth consecutive title-game appearance. The game was played at Neumann College in Aston in front of large and spirited crowd. And despite the 2-hours and 45-minute duration, I doubt very much that many left the sun-drenched venue a moment to soon. All right, let me set the stage a little bit before jumping to the late-in-the-game dramatics. In the top of the first, the Saints jumped on CL Red MVP sr. RHP Kevin Gillen for a four-spot to grab immediate momentum. From there they mostly relied on their 1st team All-Catholic jr. RHP Al Baur, who kept the Hawks at bay through five innings despite numerous threats. Entering the home sixth the Saints held a 6-2 advantage, but the Hawks were far from going quietly. They plated a trio of runs in that inning to draw within 6-5. In the visiting seventh the Saints answered the Hawks with three insurance runs of their own, thus, expanding their lead to 9-5. So, when Baur harmlessly retired the first two batters of the seventh, the Saints appeared to be sitting pretty and just moments away from securing a berth in the final, right? Well, one could think that with a pitcher of Baur’s caliber still residing on the hill. However, the Hawks would have other plans. Sr. CF Gio Morales, who was pest-like all afternoon, restored life with a four-pitch walk. Gillen followed with a double down the left-field line. Next, soph. C Ray Toto laced a two-run single to right-center to make it 9-7. After this, lumbering sr. 1B Jeff Lynch stroked a two-strike double to right-center to plate jr. CR Rob McCabe, who was running for Toto, now making the score 9-8. Lynch yielded to jr. PR James Stewart. With jr. 3B Greg "Buddy” Brooks at the dish the Hawks were once again down to their last strike. In fact, many of the Saints’ faithful were up in arms that Brooks was not rung up by home plate ump Bill “Babs” Haines on a pitch just off the outside part of the plate. Yes, it was a borderline, but in my opinion Haines’ strike zone was consistent throughout and the ball call here followed suit. Ok, back to Brooks’ AB. Still down in the count he flared a ball perfectly to the right-side. It floated just over the head of jr. 1B Mark Donato and just to the left of sprawling sr. 2B Billy Fulginiti. I’m not even sure it made it out of the infield, but it got the job done as Stewart raced around from second after the ball scooted away. Baur finally ended the foray with a harmless fly out to center. As we entered extra-innings both teams were into their bullpens. The Hawks moved sr. SS/RHP Ryan Eden to the mound, while N-G brought in jr. LF/LHP Reno Regalbuto. Neither team would score in the eighth. In the ninth, soph. CF Dom Riverso managed a one-out walk. He reached second with two outs after his third pilfer of the afternoon. With the go-ahead run standing on second, freshman SS Marty Venafro lined a first-pitch fastball up the middle to bring home Venafro. Morales’ throw from center sailed slightly towards the third base line. Wow! That’s a big-time moment for a youngster, right? In the Prep’s half of the inning Regalbuto retired the first two batters. Lynch preserved things with a single to left. Uh oh, here we go again? Not so fast. Brooks did put good aluminum on the ball and hit a low liner towards the middle that deflected off of Regalbuto’s glove. The slight deflection was enough to send it in Fulginiti’s direction; he gathered and flipped to Venafro for a semi-close force at second. Let the celebrating begin! Fulginiti also made a nice play to end the eighth with the winning run on second. How about some game notes? My specialty, smile! The game featured 27 hits, 12 walks, 3 HB’s, and 3 safe-on-errors. Yep, so I wasn't lying when I said 45 batters reached base earlier in the report.There were eighteen half-innings played and only once (N-G fifth) was a side retired in order. The Hawks stranded 14 runners on base included two in each of the first four innings. Today’s starting pitchers, Gillen and Baur, have been stingy to say the least all year on the hill. That wasn’t so much the case today. Baur was fine early, as he surrendered just two unearned runs thru five innings. He was around the strike zone for the most part too. Still, the Hawks constantly kept the pressure on him. His final line read: 7 IP (121 pitches; 79 strikes), 14 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 4 W’s, and 4 K’s. Gillen’s final look like this: 6.2 IP (117 pitches; 66 strikes), 9 H, 9 ER, 5 W’s, and 5 K’s. As you can see he was unusually wild, as he also unleashed 3 wild pitches and plunked three. Regalbuto showed a sneaky fastball in notching the win. He allowed 2 hits and fanned 2 in two innings of work. His performance was a HUGE boost for the Saints. Seven of N-G’s nine starters notched a run scored. Also, everyone in the starting line-up reached base and eight of nine reached base at least twice via a hit, walk, HBP. Their leaders were a couple left-handed hitters that mirror one another in D. Riverso (2-for-3, 3 R’s, 3 SB’s, 2 W’s Rbi) and Regalbuto (2-for-4, R, Rbi, W, SB). Baur added a hit and 3 walks. Jr. RF Mike Riverso (SB) had a 2-run double in the first and scored two runs. Venafro supplied two hits. What was comforting to see for manager Lou Spadaccini is that everyone in his lineup contributed in some form on a day when his top hitters Donato (1-for-4, W) and sr. C Joey Armata (1-for-4, R, W) were just ordinary. Defensively, D. Riverso made eight putouts from centerfield. For the Hawks Morales (4-for-5, W) and Toto were forces with the sticks. Morales is your classic leadoff hitter with tremendous wheels. Boy, does he not waste much time getting from home to first. He reached base his first five times up and two of them were infield hits that probably would have been normal outs for a slower runner. He scored 3 runs and knocked in one. Toto (4-for-6, 2B, 2 R’s, 3 Rbi’s) just peppered the ball all over the field. Even his two outs were line drive rockets to centerfield. Sr. DH Perry Russom, Lynch (BB), and Brooks (BB) all had two hits apiece. Defensively, Turner gunned down Armata from right-field as he tried to stretch a single into a double. Sr. LF Sean Murphy (Sac Fly) erased an N-G runner trying to score with a strong throw from left-field. The Saints will now play La Salle for the Catholic League Championship this coming Tuesday (3:45) at Widener University. Look for a couple of talented southpaws to have the rock in Donato and LaSalle’ sr. LHP Shawn O’Neill. Last year in a playoff game played at N-G’s home field, Donato outdueled O’Neil (1-0) in a game that featured just a combined six hits. Maybe, if our fearless leader Mr. Teddy S. is up to it (Ha ha), he’ll post a link from my report on that game here. Just as a little appetizer of course . . . And here it is.

MAY 19
CL QUARTERFINAL
Neumann-Goretti 4, North Catholic 0
   Before I get into the game action I have to mention today’s weather conditions. Delightful! What a gorgeous day for a baseball game. There was little to no breeze and nary a cloud in the sky. Give me 365 days of this and I’d be just a little bit happy. Smile! As for the game, well, if you got there late you didn’t see a whole lot in terms of offense. The Saints came out fired up and actually grabbed a little momentum during North’s turn with the bats in the first inning. Soph. 2B Mike Zolk managed an infield single towards the middle with two outs. Jr. SS Ryan Etsell followed this and sent a drive to deep left-center (The opposite way for the lefty) that appeared to be headed for extra-bases and quick Falcon lead, but jr. LF Reno Regalbuto got a terrific jump on the ball and made an excellent catch in full stride. This excited the Saints’ faithful, lined in masses along the left-field line, just a tad. Regalbuto piggybacked on his defensive gem with a line single to right to start N-G’s first at-bat. Jr. 3B Al Baur coaxed a walk to put runners on first and second. Wasting little time, star jr. LHP Mark Donato crunched a two-run triple to deep right on the first pitch he saw. Boy did this get out there in a hurry. Sr. C Joey Armata followed with a line single to left to plate sr. CR Blaze Cedrone. Being a catcher doesn’t prevent Armata from being frisky on the base paths either. First, he stole second. Then, he nicely read a ball in the dirt and took off towards third. The throw down sailed into the outfield and Armata easily scored for the fourth run of the inning. There you have it folks, the extent of the scoring in this baby. And not only would the scoring stop, but potential threats were damn near non-existent too. North thanks to three singles, a walk, and three N-G errors did put a player on base in every inning, but not until the seventh did they have a runner reach second base. Also, in five of the seven innings their base-runner came with two outs in the book already. Donato was masterful in a complete game effort (102 pitches; 67 strikes). He fanned 9 in the game and seemed to get stronger as the game wore on. I’d tend to say that he gets his punch-outs more on mixing his pitches effectively, than say dominating stuff. However, what he does possess is what some like to call a heavy ball. He induced nine ground ball outs and many of them were weakly hit. The other story of the game was Donato’s counterpart sr. RHP Bob Hopkins. For a moment in that first inning it didn’t look like he was going to escape at all. However, he was able to settle down in a big way. Over his last five innings of work he allowed just one walk (erased on a steal attempt) and ZERO hits. He ended up retiring sixteen of the last seventeen batters he faced, including the final eleven. I admired his competitiveness after that first inning and I thought he did a great job of keeping his team in the game the rest of the way. It could have been real easy for him to put his head between his legs. His final line read: 6 IP (94 pitches; 60 strikes), 3 H, 4 R (3 earned), 3 W’s, and 6 K’s. North’s other hits were singles by soph. C Tom Ditro (4th) and soph. CF Brendan Bradley (5th). Etsell turned in North’s best defensive play with a nice backhanded stab of one-hopper to his right. Ditro did gun down an N-G base-stealer. Of the ten players in North’s starting line-up eight were underclassmen, including seven sophomores. If they can add another quality arm and a couple of other players for depth purposes, then they have a chance to be good or very good over the next two years. Conversely, the Saints also started just eight underclassmen, but they’re not worried about next year yet. They now have a semifinal tussle with SJ Prep, a 4-0 winner over Conwell-Egan today, on Friday at Neumann College. These two teams played a wild non-league game in the middle of the season. The Saints prevailed 12-10, but neither team used any of their top pitchers in that contest. Today’s game lasted just 1:29, with the final five and half innings totaling just 67 minutes. Nice! Unlike yesterday (Roman over Bonner in 10 innings) dinner was still warm when I got home.

MAY 18
CL RED FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF
Roman 4, Bonner 2 (10 inn.)
  It took roughly 3-hours and 10-minutes to play today’s CL Red first-round playoff beauty between the Cahillites and Friars, but if you’re a true baseball fan then I doubt you cared all that much about the long proceedings. What we had today folks was an old fashioned pitcher’s duel of major league proportions. No, today’s starters, sr. RHP Sean Weber (Roman) and soph. RHP Jim Bonner (Bonner) weren’t tossing flame-throwers or dazzling hitters with leg-breaking curves like big-leaguers, but they did both last a full nine innings, like they do in the majors on occasion. What these two kids lacked in true dominating stuff, they more than made up for in guts, toughness, and competitiveness. I just loved the way both hurlers competed today and it was a serious joy to watch. Due to PIAA rules a tenth inning was not possible for either pitcher, so neither finished the game. However, Weber’s squad did muster up a pair runs in the visiting tenth after he pitched the ninth, thus, making him the winner. Bonner’s hard-throwing sr. RHP Ryan Haley relieved Bonner after his nine-inning, 141-pitch stint (85 strikes). Whoa! Roman’s go-ahead inning went like this: Sr. CF Pete Dudek walked on a full-count after a couple of pitches narrowly missed for strike three. The next two batters both went down looking. Soph. DH Jack Foley followed with another full-count free pass on yet another close pitch. A wild pitch moved runners up to second and third for jr. 2B Anthony Ortiz, who ended up muscling a seeing-eye single between third and short to score both Dudek and Foley. The ball just avoided both Bonner infielders while on its journey into shallow left-field. Haley would issue free passes to the next two hitters to load the bases, but jr. RHP Anthony DiGalbo relieved Haley and recorded a punch out to stymie additional damage. Roman’s jr. RHP Tim Racek would relieve Weber in Bonner’s half of the tenth to register the save. However, the Friars did not go quietly. To start the inning jr. 1B Alex Liberatore (2-for-4, 2-run single in 3rd) walked. This was followed by an infield single by jr. C Josh Van Horn (2-for-5), as he slashed a low liner towards the first base line that caromed off the glove of sr. 1B Brian Karakaedos. Bonner, now playing right-field, followed and had the count at 3-0, but Racek roared back to get him on strikes for the first out. Next, jr. DH Steve Markus (2-for-5) singled the other way into the hole between third and short to load the bases. However, using a live fastball Racek was able to squelch the threat with back-to-back K’s of jr. 3B Matt Ruggieri and freshman PH Ron Scull. Racek ended up fanning the side. Naturally, the Cahillites celebrated! And for good reason too. Head Coach Joe Tremoglie’s club won five out of seven down the stretch to grab the sixth and final playoff spot. Now, they’ll have a chance to keep this Cinderella story alive again when they visit Archbishop Wood (CL Blue top seed) tomorrow in a quarterfinal match-up. Earlier in the game the Friars grabbed a 2-0 lead on a bases loaded single by Liberatore. Roman cut the lead in half in the fourth. Sr. LF Kyle DeLone led-off with a walk. After consecutive outs, he stole second, which allowed him to score on a sharp hit to right by sr. 3B John Hildebrand. Somehow Delone slid past the tag of Van Horn, as sr. RF Greg Shields uncorked a lovely throw home. In the fifth, the Cahillites knotted the game with an unearned run, as DeLone brought home Ortiz on a sac fly to right. Bonner had a golden opportunity to end it in the home seventh. After an initial out, a trio of Bonner batter reached base on an infield hit and a pair of miscues. However, with both the infield and outfield in tight, Weber coaxed a couple of shallow, lazy fly balls. The first one was to left and was not nearly deep enough to try a tag-up play. Weber’s final line read: 9 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 W (2 HB’s), and 4 K’s. He threw 122 pitches in the game with 85 of them going for strikes. Nice! Using mostly a fastball and solid breaking pitch he was pounding the strike zone throughout. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I love when a pitcher does that. This was the second time in nineteen days that Weber was masterful against the Friars. In his first appearance he went the distance with a one-hitter in a 9-0 win. Sr. SS Tim LeCompte was the only Cahillite with two hits. Delone had a productive day with a hit, HBP, walk, SB, and SF. Hildebrand reached base thrice (hit, 2 W’s), while jr. C A.J. Vagliani added a single with three free passes and gunned down a would-be base-stealer. Dudek made five putouts in center. For the Friars, Bonner has a chance to be a good one in time. Already a strong looking kid he showed a decent heater and sharp breaking-ball. His final line appeared as: 9 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 BB (HB), and 6 K’s. Jr. CF Rick Reigner (run scored) chipped in with a pair of hits. Defensively, Van Horn erased two trying to steal. Jr. LF Matt Mullen made a sensational diving catch on a ball tailing away from him deep down the left-field line. The Friars turned a pair of double-plays behind Bonner. All 19 hits in the game were singles. Seven of ten Bonner starters were underclassmen, while their JV and freshman teams boasted solid seasons. I think a promising outlook is on the horizon. Good crowd on hand all around and beyond Bonner’s spacious outfield fence. They were entertained throughout by DJ Timmy “Doc” Dougherty, a former Friar (’07), who not only played tunes in between innings, but announced batters as well. Nice job, Doc!

MAY 12
CL BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 7, Conwell-Egan 4
  This was a crucial game for a couple of squads looking to garner one of two first-round byes that will be available when next week’s playoffs begin in the CL Blue. Both teams are firmly situated for making the playoffs, but I’d have to think that grabbing an extra day off to preserve pitching would be welcomed. In the end, it was the Saints battling back from an early 4-0 deficit to grab the victory. Now, they’ll wrap up their season tomorrow at Lansdale Catholic in hopes of securing second place. Wood bested K-K today to claim the top spot. N-G’s big inning was the home fifth where they plated a fistful to stake claim to a 7-4 lead. The proceedings went like this. Sr. DH Blaze Cedrone was plunked to begin things. After an out, jr. 3B Al Baur walked. This was followed by a line single to right by jr. LHP Mark Donato to load the bases. Next, sr. C Joey Armata chopped one in the hole between third and short that plated a pair. Jr. 1B Michael Riverso followed with a walk to re-load the bases. This chased C-E starter soph. RHP Matt Petrizzi. Soph. CF Dom Riverso, young bro of Mike, was the next hitter and he greeted jr. OF/RHP Andrew Schaefer with a hit to left that brought home frosh. CR Nicky Nardini on what proved to be the game-winning run. On the play, C-E’s sr. LF Bill Petraitis made a strong one-hop throw, while sr. C Pat Sevick superbly blocked the plate, and the Eagles were able to cut down Armata for the second out. Still, the Saints weren’t done, as sr. 2B Billy Fulginiti (3-for-3, 2B, SB) collected his third straight hit to plate M. Riverso making it 6-4. Frosh. SS Marty Venafro (2-for-3, 2 BI’s, 2B, SB) added a little more insurance after this with a single that squirted into left and scored D. Riverso. From this point on it was all Donato on the mound. He didn’t have his best stuff today, as witnessed by just 3 K’s, but after the Eagles put a four-spot on him in the third, nary a threat was had. He needed a total of just 30 pitches over the last four innings. Included in this was 6-pitch fourth, a 7-pitch fifth, and a 5-pitch sixth. In the seventh, his total ballooned to twelve (Smile), but he ended the game with a 1-6-3 double-play. Well, they were actually awarded the DP when the C-E runner heading towards second was called for interference. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary on the play, but who knows. The Saints also turned another twin-killing in the fourth that eliminated a lead-off single. Donato only needed 83 pitches (50 strikes) in the game. He allowed 7 hits and walked 4, but only a combined three of these came after the third. Also, he came all-so-close to not allowing any runs in the game. After retiring the first two batters of the third, C-E’s sr. SS Joe Tretter (2-for-4, SB) legged out an infield hit to first. It appeared that Donato was in position to take a flip from M. Riverso that would have been the final out, but the first baseman held onto the ball and dove in hopes of beating Tretter. No dice! Great hustle by Tretter, too. Schaefer and sr. 3B Joe Brown followed with walks. Then, impressive sr. CF/RHP Ben Keller (3-for-3) lashed a double to right-center that scored two and then another after a bobbled ball in the outfield. Next, Sevick knocked in Keller on a hit to right to score the fourth run of the inning. The Saints were able to cut the lead in half during their turn in the third, as Fulginiti and Venafro boomed back-to-back doubles for one run and after that another came across on a throwing error. Donato went all seven innings, but did not get credited with a complete game outing. Huh? In a nice gesture, N-G Manager Lou Spadaccini allowed injured sr. RHP Nick Piscitelli (torn labrum) to throw the game’s first pitch. Piscitelli was a 2nd Team All-Catholic hurler last year, but was lost for the season early on this year. This was N-G’s last home game and Spadaccini wanted to do something for his injured pitcher. Piscitelli's pitch ended up sailing high and tight for a ball. Time! Spadaccini had seen enough! Ha ha. Nah, it was planned and Donato entered the game, as the personable Piscitelli gave the mound a kiss on his way out. Armata made two defensive gems early for the Saints as he eliminated Eagle base-runners twice on pick-off throws from home. The second one came on a strike three swing in which the ball rolled towards the third base side. Nice! Fulginiti handled four chances at second. For C-E, Brown stayed with a few tough plays at the hot corner to nip N-G runners at first. During N-G’s fifth inning rally he made an excellent, sprawling, back-handed play deep behind the bag, but his throw was just late on a bang-bang play at first. The youngster Petrizzi didn’t throw all that bad during his stint. He retired the first six N-G batters on just 17 total pitches. His final line read: 4.1 innings, 5 hits, 6 runs (5 earned), 3 walks, and 1 K. Keller showed a hard sinker over the final 1.1 innings. It was good to catch Conwell-Egan in a game for once. They are one of the clubs I have difficulty seeing because their home games are so far, that I would never be able to get there in time for a 3:35 start. Head Coach Rich Papirio is one of the class acts of the league. And you can just tell that he runs a solid program. He offered me a roster in the late-going when I came over trying to get a change. Afterwards, the Saints packed up quickly and for good reason. The entire team was going to a Hall-of Fame banquet in which their coach (Spadaccini ’92) was being inducted. Spadaccini was a two-time 1st-Team All-City player and was the CL Blue Coach of the Year last season. N-G basketball coach Carl Arrigale was also being inducted, among others.

MAY 11
CL RED
North Catholic 3, Bonner 1
  Well, my in-attendance shutout streak has come to an end. Hey, it has to happen sooner or later, right? I had covered four straight games in which the winning pitcher tossed a donut. Actually, I almost did see another one today. North’s sr. LHP Matt Reed, who entered the game with a ONLY one inning pitched for the entire season, started the home seventh with a 3-0 lead and was cruising. However, an error to start the frame opened the door for the Friars. This was followed by a walk, an RBI-single by jr. C Josh Van Horn (2-for-3), and a hit batter to load the bases with no outs and one run in. Oh boy, things were brewing and with no sight of a Falcon reliever warming up, the game was in Reed’s hands. I'd be lying if I didn’t think he looked at least a little rattled out there at this time, but to his credit he was able to squash the threat with just two more pitches. How? First, sr. RF Greg Shields rolled a ball to soph. 3B Dan Venuto who tossed home for a force and the first out of the inning. Then, jr. PH Frank Ulmer hacked at the first pitched and rolled a ball to jr. SS Ryan Etsell, who flipped to sr. 2B Bob Hopkins for one, while his relay barely nipped Ulmer for a game-ending twin-killing. I’m never someone who likes to take away a batter’s aggressiveness, but I was a little surprised that the Friars didn’t wait Reed out a little longer in this sequence. Oh well, the crafty southpaw got it done. Hardly a flame-thrower (Only 2 K’s), he managed to do so by mixing speeds brilliantly and for the most part keeping the ball down. The seventh inning ended up being the inning in which he had to work the hardest, throwing 17 pitches. In the game, he tossed just 88 (54 strikes) pitches. The run he gave up was unearned and the Friars only collected a combination of 4 hits and 2 walks. North won a doubleheader yesterday at La Salle High versus two different teams (Judge and O’Hara). In doing so, they used their top two pitchers; Etsell and Hopkins, and with two more games to be played this week and major playoff jockeying taking place, a strong outing by Reed was indeed needed. He did not disappoint! And this is what it’s all about too. Having a senior step up in a big moment and contributing. Who knows how much this one outing will help the Falcons down the line? The games are going to become much more important in the next two weeks and you can never have enough pitching. Offensively, the Falcons did just enough to get the job done. They broke scoreless tie with a single run in the fourth. After soph. 2B/OF Ryan Hires led off with a walk, soph. 1B Elijah Resnick stroked a single to center. Next, soph. C Tom Ditro sacrificed to the pitcher. This was followed by a groundout off the bat of sr. RF Freddy DiMascia to plate Hires. North would go onto plate two more runs in the sixth. Again, it was DiMascia, who plated Hopkins (single) via a Sac fly to right. Then, after a walk to jr. LF Luis Rodriguez loaded the bases, Venuto dunked a ball into right for a hit to bring in Resnick (HBP). A potential fourth run tried to score, but Shields made a nice on-hop throw to nail Ditro at home. All three of Ditro’s AB’s proved to be effective as he provided a single, sac, and walk. Defensively, Venuto handled all five grounders that came his way down at the hot corner. Meanwhile, he and Ditro successfully executed a rundown play on a failed squeeze attempt by the Friars. Ditro erased a would-be base-stealer in the fourth. As for the Friars, I don’t think they’ll mind if they don’t see my face to much more. Well, at least the offense probably feels this way. Prior to the run in the seventh they had gone 16 consecutive innings without a tally with yours truly in attendance. It’s not fierce hitting team by any stretch and they have to rely on doing the little things to fuss up a threat in most instances. They do a lot of bunting, maybe, too much. In the third, sr. SS Jim Calabrese leadoff with an infield single. On a steal-bunt play Calabrese used good instinctive base-running to make it to third while an out was being recorded at first. The aforementioned squeeze was called after this and backfired. North did have the infield back at the time and a ground out followed, so the run probably would have scored. In the fifth inning Van Horn led-off with a hit and eventually reached third after not one, but two sacrifice bunts. To North’s credit they handled both plays and recorded two easy outs. I’m not sure I agree with consecutive bunts in that situation. Hindsight is always 20/20 and in this day and age bunt plays aren’t always handled smoothly, but when they were the Friars now needed a two-out hit to tie the game. Reed stepped up and recorded one of his two punchouts to end the threat. Sr. 2B Dan Williams supplied Bonner’s most noteworthy hit with a booming, two-out double to deep left that either short-hopped the fence or caromed off the base of it. Sr. RHP Ryan Haley threw well for the most part and kept his team in the game. His stint lasted 6 1/3 innings (124 pitches, 72 strikes). He yielded just four hits and all three runs. He fanned seven, but walked 5 and plunked one. Bonner’s best defensive play was a nice back-handed snag on a hard one-hopper by jr. 3B Matt Ruggieri. Van Horn disposed of a North runner trying to steal in the seventh. North began the game without Etsell (School issue) who didn’t arrive until the bottom of the second and didn’t enter the game until the bottom of the fourth. The Falcons have also been without sparkplug soph. C/RHP Mike Zolk, who is also saddled with a school issue. He services will begin again on Wednesday. Got the chance to speak with former Bonner slugger Kevin Ward (’05), who just wrapped up a productive career at Bloomsburg. The big fella isn’t scheduled to graduate until after the fall semester, but afterwards plans to take on an assistant’s roll at Neumann College while he pursues a master’s degree. Good luck, Kevin! You were always one of my favorites. Neumann is coached by former Friar skipper John Fleming.

APR. 30
CL RED
Roman 9, Bonner 0
   Make it four in a row! Huh? Let me explain. While on the trail yours truly has now covered four straight games in which the winning pitcher has tossed a complete game shutout. That’s an anomaly, right? Well, it is in my book, especially in this day and age. Dealing the donut today was Roman’s sr. RHP Sean Weber, who Head Coach Joe Tremoglie says is just getting back into form from a serious broken elbow at the end of last summer. Before I get into Weber’s performance let’s look at the Cahillites' last five days. Heading into Sunday’s make-up game with Judge, Roman sat at 1-6 in the league and had lost six in a row. Furthermore, those league games produced just 20 total runs. Since that time Tremoglie’s club has ripped off a trio of impressive wins and scored 32 runs in the process. Now, they find themselves in the midst of what promises to be a heated battle for one of the six CL Red playoff spots. Ok, now back to Weber, whose brother Ryan ’06, was a three-year varsity contributor for Roman. All he needed today were 85 total pitches (57 strikes) to really put the shackles on Bonner’s lumber. A leadoff single by jr. OF Matt Mullen in the fourth would be the lone Friar hit. On the play, sr. 3B John Hildebrand was playing up, guarding for a possible bunt attempt. This allowed Mullen to just slash the ball past him, even though he was able to get some leather on it. Only two other Bonner players reached base (2 fielding miscues). A lineout double-play erased one and in the end Weber only faced two batters over the minimum. For me, the best part of his outing was that there was nary a walk or hit-batter. Yes, you just got to love that! Though he possessed a sneaky fastball and biting curve, he only managed four punch outs in the game. Who cares! He did coax 6 lazy infield pop-ups and I only recall one ball being stung by Bonner in the game. Another reason he was able to be successful was by throwing strike-one to 15 of 23 batters faced. Nice! Bonner’s starter was sr. LHP Justin Stauffer and it’s hard to imagine a pitcher’s first two innings being so different. Did anyone say opposite ends of the spectrum? In the first inning he threw 9 pitches, all strikes, and two K’s in a 1-2-3 frame. But the second inning would not be as kind. First, Hildebrand led-off with a towering double to deep center. The next four Cahillites all reached base via a walk or HBP. Sr. DH Cody Yoka (HBP), jr. C A.J. Vagliani (Walk), and soph. 1B Jack Foley (Walk) were all responsible for driving in runs. Then, after a pop-up for the first out of the inning, sr. SS Tim LeCompte (2-for-4, W) plated the fourth run with a single. Bonner’s jr. CF Rick Reigner prevented further damage with a great throw home on a tag-up play for the final out of the inning. Stauffer went from a 9-pitch first inning to an agonizing 44-pitch (25 balls) second.  Roman would match their second inning four-spot with another one in the third. Again, it was the wildness of Stauffer that did him in. With two outs he walked his second batter of the inning. Looking to contain the situation Bonner Head Coach Joe DeBarberie brought staff ace sr. RHP Ryan Haley into game. The Cahillites would have none of it, though, but they did receive a couple of favorable bounces to aid the cause. First, Vagliani (1-for-1, 2 W’s. HBP) sort of cued a ball towards second that took a tantalizing hop away from sr. 2B Dan Williams and spun harmlessly in the right field to plate jr. RF Steve Herbetko (4 W’s, 2 R’s). Foley followed this with a sharp hit towards center that hit something and sent the ball in the opposite direction of where Reigner was running. This went for a 2-run triple and made the score 7-0. The score would balloon to 8-0 soon after when Foley came home on a single by sr. LF Kyle DeLone (2-for-5). Roman’s ninth and final run would come courtesy of a Bonner error in the fourth. Roman received six RBI’s and 4 runs scored from their seventh thru ninth hitters. Defensively, Vagliani made a strong throw to cut down a Bonner runner trying to second base. Lecompte made a late throwing error, but showed solid range and good hands prior to this. Bonner’s soph. DH/C Jim Bonner smashed a ball right at jr. 2B Anthony Ortiz who speared and tossed to LeCompte for a double-play in the seventh. To be honest with everyone, but there isn’t much to say about Bonner’s performance today. I think DeBarberie would concur with that assessment. In the home fifth he made wholesale substitutions as seven starters were removed from the game. I would have to think that he was trying to get the attention of his kids. We’ll see if it pays dividends next week. Haley has been suffering from a blister and a somewhat tired arm. I was surprised to see him come into a 4-0 game, but I only say that in thinking that if he’s healthy enough to relieve, then isn’t he healthy enough to start? But hey, I just right the reports, and I’m definitely going to leave the pitching changes up to the people who matter. Smile! How is this for consistency? Bonner used three pitchers today; Stauffer (2 2/3 IP., 6 ER, 73 pitches), Haley (2 1/3 IP., 2 ER, 55 pitches), and soph RHP Matt Dolan (2 IP, 43 pitches), each of them threw one more strike than ball during their stints. Yep consistent, but not the ratio one is looking for. All total, Roman batters walked 11 times and were plunked twice. Defensively, jr. C Josh VanHorn made a strong throw to nail a Roman player attempting to steal.

APR. 28
CL RED
SJ Prep 10, O’Hara 0
  Shutouts are beginning to become habitual when yours truly is in attendance. For the third time in as many outings I covered a game where the winning team’s pitcher was able to toss a goose-egg. Today’s honoree was Hawk crafty sr. RHP Kevin Gillen, who was quite comfortable and in charge throughout his complete-game effort. All total, he scattered 5 hits (4 singles), walked only one, and fanned ten. Talk about pounding the strike zone! Seventy-one of his 105 pitches went for strikes. Also, he faced 27 batters in the game and threw strike one to 18 of them. Great ratio! The John Hopkins-bound hurler isn’t a huge kid and he’s not overly overpowering, but boy does he know how to pitch and control a game. Keeping batters off balance was his M.O. today and he did so by routinely mixing a solid fastball, sharp breaking ball, and quality changeup. I never got the sense that he was ever going to get predictable with what he was throwing. Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? You want to keep your opponent guessing, right? Offensively, the Hawks got all they needed with a two-run second, but would eventually go on to throw three more crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Sr. SS Ryan Eden (4-for-4, 2 R’s) singled all four times he came to the plate. His first knock was a lash to left-center that plated the game’s first two runs. In the fourth, the Hawks used consecutive one-out singles by Eden, jr. 3B Buddy Brooks, and sr. LF Sean Murphy to plate a third run. Then, a fourth came across when the game’s next batter, sr. RF Dan Turner, laid down a bunt that was errantly thrown down the rightfield line. The score would expand to 7-0 in the visiting fifth for the Hawks, as they sent nine batters to the plate and chased O’Hara starter sr. RHP Sean Coogan (4+ innings, 6 ER, 9 H’s, W, 2 K’s). Sr. DH Perry Russom singled home soph. C Ray Toto (1-3, W) for the first run of the inning. This was followed with a bases-loaded sac fly by Murphy. On the play, O’Hara jr. CF Andrew Onimus made an outstanding diving catch in right-center to prevent larger damage. Pesky sr. CF Gio Morales (reached base 3 times) brought home another run in the inning with a sacks-full walk. I’m not positive, but there might have been some sort of high school baseball record set today. Of course, there is no way of checking such a thing, but I’m always on the lookout for quirky types of things that occur during games. Anyhow, with Gillen in command and Prep up by a touchdown, both skippers opted to use some reserves in the seventh inning. The Hawks ended their inning with five straight pinch-hitters; meanwhile O’Hara started and ended their half with five consecutive pinch-hitters of their own. So, the game ended with a combined ten pinch-hitters. Could be a record, right? Maybe we’ll get Tom “Puck” McKenna to research it. Not!! Prep chief Chris Rupertus received some quality AB’s from his subs and they were able to tally thrice in that inning. The big smash of the frame came off the bat of jr. Tyler Veterano, who slammed a two-run triple to right-center. He later came home on an RBI groundout by jr. Pat Carbone. Prior to Veterano’s hit, jr. Bobby Della Polla singled in what a few of the Hawks said was his first official varsity at-bat. Cool! Della Polla is mostly used to pitch for the Hawks. Hawks didn’t exactly pound the ball all over the field, but did have hits in six of seven innings and finished with a total of 13. At least five of them were of the infield variety. Hey, they all count in the box score. Turner supplied the Hawks’ best defensive play with a sliding catch of a sinking liner in the first inning. Eden successfully handled three plays from shortstop. The Lions barely threatened all day. Three times they had a runner reach second base, but that was as far as they would get. Jr. LF Dan O’Hara hit the ball the hardest with a stinging double over the leftfielder’s head. Defensively, jr. SS Pat Greeley made a nice snag of a line drive that prevented a couple of runs from scoring. Sr. C Bill Pace made a laser of a throw to cut down a runner trying to steal second. Gillen was involved in a strange play and a first for me. With Morales stealing he swung through a pitch for strike two. However, his swing actually interfered with Pace, whose throwing hand hit Gillen’s bat. Afterwards, Gillen was ruled out and Morales was sent back to first base. Things are really starting to get jumbled in the Catholic League Red standings. Currently, no team appears ready to take control, but on the other hand no team is burying themselves either. Six of the eight teams will make the playoffs. As of now a pair of teams boast (6-3) first-place records and two eighth place teams sit at (3-6). Four other squads lurk in between.

APR. 18
CL RED
Bonner 1, O’Hara 0
  Just a gorgeous afternoon for a baseball game featuring a couple of long-time Delco rivals. For the second time in as many days the Lions and host Friars locked horns. O’Hara won the first game of this weekly series, 9-5. Ok, just because the weather has warmed up some, doesn’t mean the lumber is going to as well. Yesterday, I witnessed Neumann-Goretti’s star jr. southpaw Mark Donato toss a no-hitter. Today, I almost had a repeat performance. Times two! Bonner’s sr. RHP Ryan Haley (2-hitter) and O’Hara’s sr. RHP Sean Coogan (1-hitter) took no-nos into the fifth inning, respectively. Both hurlers pounded the strike zone throughout and were in command. Ironically, Coogan’s only walk proved to be the base-runner that would score the game’s sole run. Still, it was a pair of fielding miscues that allowed this to happen. Yep, Bonner scored without a hit. And this is how it happened. Jr. C Josh VanHorn led off the home third with a walk. He then stole second. After failing to get a bunt down, jr. 3B Matt Ruggieri popped a ball right behind shortstop. Confusion ensued and the ball fell to the ground, though, no advancement by Van Horn was possible. Next, jr. LF Sam Christie, the nine-hole hitter, also failed to get a bunt down and with two strikes tapped a ball to third base. Christie was ruled safe when the O’Hara first baseman prematurely came off the bag. Initially, the base ump ruled him out, but then asked for and got help from the home plate ump who ruled safe. Of course, this didn’t sit well with the O’Hara bench. Afterwards, jr. CF Rick Reigner rolled a ball to second base for a tag-him-out, throw-him-out double-play. On the play, Van Horn raced in from third. There you have it folks. There would be no more scoring and even possible threats were at a premium too. Amazingly, with two outs in the visiting seventh O’Hara had sent the minimum amount of batters to the plate. To this point Haley had walked one, plunked one, and allowed one hit, but thrice these individuals were erased on the base paths. VanHorn gunned down one on a steal attempt and Haley demonstrated quick feet and twice picked off runners at first. Even still, this game was not going to end without some drama. O’Hara headliner (and one of the most feared hitters in the entire Catholic League) sr. C Bill Pace sent a jolt to deep center field that nearly the tied the game. The ball ended up landing three-quarters of the way up the hill and he strolled into second with an easy two-out double. After the game a handful of Bonner coaches commented that it was the furthest ball they have seen hit at Bonner’s field. Following Pace’s blast, sr. DH Russ Trojan drew a walk. Then, each runner moved up a base on a wild pitch. O’Hara’s jr. 1B Sean Dwyer put forth a quality at-bat working the count full before hitting a ground ball into the hole between third and short. Bonner’s sr. SS Jim Calabrese circled nicely and his throw was able to beat Dwyer at first as jr. 1B Alex Liberatore made a brilliant stretch and catch. Ball game! O’Hara’s bench squawked at the call and someone bellowed, “Get some help” which was certainly made in regards to an earlier play that went against the Lions. I can’t even begin to give Liberatore’s stretch its justice, but Bonner coaches just gush over his fielding prowess. This was an important outing for Haley, the Friar ace, who has been up-and-down so far this season. Relying almost solely on a hard and nicely located fastball, he kept the Lions at bay all afternoon. I would venture to say that he threw his fastball 90% of the time. He finished with 120 pitches (77 strikes) and 8 strike outs. In every inning Haley was able to retire the first two batters he faced. Bonner’s only hit went to Liberatore with a clean single through the middle. The story for O’Hara was the pitching of Coogan, who entered the game with less fanfare than his counterpart, but still matched him pitch-for-pitch. Over six innings (92 pitches; 61 strikes) he fanned nine and allowed just the one unearned run. He displayed a good demeanor and competitive edge while out there. On top of that, he kept the ball down in the zone repeatedly. O’Hara’s first hit came via sr. RF Greg Monastra on sharply hit ball up the middle that found some leather of Bonner’s sr. 2B Dan Williams glove, but easily got into the outfield. Pace reached base all three times with a HBP, BB, and 2B. He also made a heck of throw to eliminate a Friar runner on a steal attempt. Bonner’s field loses a ton of baseballs when they get fouled over the cage. Today, they lost 20 balls, but it seemed like it was going to be lot worse after the way things started. In the second inning, Trojan had a 13-pitch at-bat that saw him foul eight balls over the cage by himself. The next time he came to the plate the home plate ump quipped, “Get some balls ready.” Hey, you would think with a name like Trojan, the baseballs would be better protected from such a fate. I know a lame attempt at some Saturday afternoon humor, but I couldn’t resist. Smile!

APR. 17
CL BLUE
Neumann-Goretti 3, McDevitt 0
  Finally, we get a taste of spring! There’s nothing like a little sunshine and some warm weather every now and then, right? Man, how bad has this spring been so far? Ok, enough of that, but let’s hope the pleasant conditions are more than just a tease. Coming into the game I didn’t expect the Lancers to put up much of fight, but that was far from the case, as they competed throughout. In the end, though, N-G’s star jr. LHP Mark Donato was just too much to overcome. The reigning Catholic League Blue MVP was in control all afternoon. How much in control? How’s a no-hitter for you? Yep, the gifted southpaw was in control all day. He finished with 9 K’s, while only yielding a pair of walks in the game. The only other Lancer to reach base came courtesy of catcher’s interference. Remarkably, the Saints could have played the game without an outfield today, as nary a ball left the infield. The other twelve outs all came on groundouts. Many of them were of the weak variety too. In a preserving role freshman SS Marty Venafro made two nice plays to begin the last inning. First, he made a good play charging a slow roller. Then, he fielded another ball coming across and behind second base, but quickly wheeled and nipped McDevitt’s sr. RHP Luke Sawick, as jr. 1B Michael Riverso made a lovely scoop on a bang-bang play. From my vantage point it was too close to say if the right call was made, but McDevitt’s bench did slightly protest the play. A couple of other defensive plays by the Saints were also important in seeing that the Lancers would go hitless. First, freshman 3B Nick Nardini fielded a slow roller along the line and accurately tossed to first for the out. Nardini was filling in for jr. 3B/RHP Al Baur, who was sidelined with a minor ankle injury. An inning later, Riverso made a nice back-handed stab of a ball stung over the base. After the catch he easily won the race to the bag. The scary thing about Donato’s performance (93 pitches; 59 strikes) today was that he probably didn’t have his best stuff. However, when you’re as talented as this kid, then sometimes your 85% stuff is still plenty good enough. At the plate the Saints didn’t exactly slam the ball all over the field, but received a few timely hits and that would be good enough. Interestingly, six of their seven hits were two-baggers. Sr. 2B Billy Fulginiti twice came up with two-out knocks. In the second inning he laced a double to left-center, which scored jr. LF Reno Regalbuto, who doubled earlier. This proved to be the winning run. Then, in the home sixth he lined a hit over shortstop to score Venafro, who kept the inning alive with a two-out double a batter earlier. N-G’s other run was scored in the fifth. Soph. CF Dom Riverso led off with a double to right-center. After a wild pitch he raced to third and when the throw caromed into the outfield he easily trotted home. Sr. C Joey Armata, a four-year starter for the Saints, and Donato also doubled in the game. For McDevitt, Sawick was gritty and competitive on the mound. A classic short-armer, he did a commendable job giving his team a chance. He pitched all six innings (88 pitches; 50 strikes), fanning and walking four apiece. McDevitt’s best defensive plays were supplied by jr. 1B Brian Frasca with diving backhanded snag on a liner. Soph. C Matt Conroy made a nice throw to cut down a would-be base-stealer. Two times in the game the home plate ump stopped play to give “jewelry warnings.” Of course, these have to be documented on some type of card. Don’t you just love the PIAA? The funny thing about the warning given to an N-G batter was that it was for wearing a rubber band. Talk about nit-picking! Thankfully, no other situations arose in the game because this guy had the look of primo-stickler.

MAR. 31
CL RED
O’Hara 6, Judge 4
  It’s hard to imagine anyone achieving more in about a 15-minute span than O’Hara’s jr. RHP/OF Bob Boyle did this afternoon. With the score tied 4-4, he worked a scoreless inning of relief in the visiting sixth, stranding a runner on second. Then, in the home sixth it was Boyle’s turn to star at the plate. Jr. PH Mark Banes led off with a four-pitch walk. This was followed by consecutive outs on just two pitches; a popped bunt try and popup to shortstop. Next, Boyle stepped into the box, making not only his first plate appearance of the season, but of his varsity career. Surely, he’ll take a gander at a pitch or two, right? Who wants to risk making the third out on three pitches after a four-pitch walk started the inning?  Ahem, not my man Boyle! He’s a hacker! And on the very first pitch he saw, he launched the ball over the left-center field fence for a 6-4 lead. Amazing! On his way back into the dugout his teammates tried their best to give him the silent treatment, but couldn’t quite pull it off in classic form. Ultimately, they congratulated him thoroughly, as the excitement was too much to hold back. Sr. RHP/LF Russ Trojan barely broke a sweat in the seventh, as he retired the Crusaders in order (2 K’s, 10 total pitches) to notch the save, thus giving Boyle his first varsity win as well. Not a bad afternoon for a kid who ran track last year and spent the first five innings of this game on the bench. Ok, here’s the bad news. It’s all downhill from here. Smile! Earlier in the game Judge squandered leads of 3-0 and 4-3, as they plated single runs over the first four frames. O’Hara tied the game in the home third when hard-hitting sr. C Bill Pace tomahawked a hanger over the 375-foot sign in left-center. This was O’Hara’s only hit during the first four innings. Pace lashed a single to left in the fifth for their second hit. Later in the inning he scored from first on a two-out double by jr. 1B Sean Dwyer that was lofted to right-center. Judge’s sr. CF Dustin Kology gave a gutsy effort after a long run, but had the ball bounced out of his glove as he thudded to the ground. This tied the game at 4-4. Pace (3-for-4, HR, 2 R’s, 3 Bi’s) is the Lions’ headliner and the ball has little trouble flying off his bat. He is also a quality catcher. In the fifth inning he made two huge plays that saved his team from all kinds of trouble. First, he cut down a would-be base-stealer. Then, he ended a based loaded threat by retiring a runner after a strikeout-wild pitch. On the play, the ball rolled to the fence in front of the O’Hara dugout, situated along the third base side. Pace calmly collected himself, retrieved the ball, and gunned to Dwyer, who made a nice scoop to end the inning. Sr. RHP/INF Sean Coogan worked the first five innings and had a no-decision. Though he wasn’t overpowering, I liked how he kept the ball down in the zone. He also displayed a competitive side, even when things didn’t go well behind him. His final line read: 5 IP (104 pitches), 6 hits, 4 runs (2 ER), 4 W’s, and 3 K’s.  Jr. 2B/SS Pat Greeley (2 walks) made a nice unassisted double-play for the Lions that help avoid a potential big inning for Judge. This was the second time in as many weeks that the Crusaders lost a close game with yours truly in attendance. I didn’t mention this last week, but this Judge team is a little different than Crusader teams I have seen in the past. This team isn’t nearly has big as a typical Judge squad. No, they aren’t tiny, but they typically have at least four or five tall/stronger looking players. Sr. 3B Nick Petroski (run) reached base three times. Soph. DH Connor Thompson and sr. C Kyle Levocz (2-for-3) each had RBI groundouts. Jr. LF Kevin Faber (1-for-2, BB, Run, SB) reached base all three times he came up. Jr. SS/RHP Kevin Conroy made a nice stab of a liner to his right that resulted in a double-play. He worked the fifth and sixth innings for Judge and yielded 3 runs, while picking up the loss. Petroski made a nice charging play down at the hot corner, while Kology made a fine catch going back on a ball in straightaway center. Soph. RHP Kurt Sowa started the game and has potential, but he'll have to be in the strike zone more consistently. He only allowed the Pace home run in four innings of work (83 pitches), but walked the leadoff hitter in three of those four innings and issued six total free passes in the game. I think with a little refining this kid will be OK in time. Call it a hunch, smile! It was a pleasant day weather-wise for the most part, so my one pet-peeve wasn’t all that annoying. It would have been much worse had it been chillier. Still, there were an inordinate amount of timeouts called by batters before pitches in this game. Did the pitchers work at a record-setting pace? Not really, but I didn’t think it was that bad. Also, if I had a nickel for every time the home plate ump told players to keep one foot in the box between pitches, then I would have needed a wheel barrel to get to my car after the game. I’m pretty sure that’s a PIAA rule and I kept waiting for the umpire to lose his cool, but it never happened. Hey, he was a good sport. I can appreciate that.

MAR. 25
CATHOLIC LEAGUE RED
Bonner 4, Judge 3
  While talking to Teddy S. last night I mentioned to him that I was thinking about making my baseball debut today, but that getting that first one under my belt is always the toughest. Hey, it’s the weather. I’m not a huge fan of standing in 45-50 degree temperatures, with a stiff wind blowing in my face. And of course, this always seems to be the recipe for early-season tilts. Today, not great, not bad, and certainly could have been much worse in that department. So, the debut was made and conquered, albeit with some uneasiness to begin things. In the first three half innings the pitchers combined to toss 91 baseballs toward home plate and I was not liking things. Eventually, it settled down some and little-to-no consternation was exhibited by yours truly from there on. Smile! After relinquishing an 3-0 lead, the Friars needed a single run in the home fifth to secure the win and sweep of the Crusaders in this the first week of league play. On just three pitches the Friars sent four batters to the plate and loaded the bases. Huh? How did that happen? Well, on the first pitch of the inning jr. CF Rick Reigner (1-for-2, 2B, 2 R’s) was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Next, jr. LF Sam Christie bunted the ball hard right back to the pitcher, who wheeled and threw wildly to second. On the third pitch of the inning, another sacrifice was in order and jr. C Josh Van Horn successfully pushed one along the first base side. This was followed by an intentional free pass to clean-up hitter, sr. INF Dan Williams. At the high school level the pitches are no thrown and batter simply takes his base. So, there you have it. Four batters, one out, and bases loaded on just three pitches. Shortly thereafter, Bonner would score their run courtesy of a wild pitch and never did collect a hit in the frame. Folks, this happens far too often at this level anymore. Earlier, the Friars' third run also came home on a wild pitch and made the score 3-0 at the time. In this sequence, Williams (1-for-1, 2 W’s) sharply singled with one out. He moved to second on a wild pitch, then to third on a groundout, before coming across on the errant pitch. Bonner plated two in the first on a bases loaded, seeing-eye single between third and short by jr. 1B Alex Liberatore. Does that name sound familiar? It should, as older bro’ Colin was voted TS.com Best Teammate of the Year in ’06. The popular Liberatore is currently one of the basketball managers for Villanova. How cool is that? Judge tied the game in the fifth and did so with two outs and no one on base. Also, they didn’t have a hit in the game up until this point. Jr. 2B Mark Woltemate busted out of the box on a slow, but not dribbling roller towards third. The throw bounced wildly, but it appeared that the play would have been bang-bang, so I awarded Judge their first hit. Jr. SS Kevin Conroy followed with a clean single to right. Then, sr. RF Eric Tropea lofted a ball to deep right that kept tailing away from sr. RF Greg Shields. Currently, Bonner doesn’t have their fences up in the outfield and by the time Shields retrieved the ball he was situated roughly 15 yards past the foul pole and directly behind it. This caused a slight hesitation and a move to his right in order to throw back towards the infield. By the time all this happened, Tropea easily scored for a game-tying three-run homer. After the inning, Shields said the ball actually landed past the foul pole. So, if the fence had been up, it still would have been a round-tripper anyway. I guess you could say justice was served. Soph. RHP Matt Dolan yielded the runs, but ultimately notched the win with his inning of work. Jr. RHP Matt Ruggieri earned the save with two scoreless innings. In the sixth he served up a lead-off double to sr. CF Dustin Kology, but retired the next three. In the seventh, he retired the side in order, including a pair of K’s (3 total) to end it. Sr. LHP Justin Stauffer started for Bonner and didn’t allow a hit in four innings. The unassuming, but sneaky fast lefty fanned five, but issued a total of six walks. There’s potential here, but he’ll have to do a better job of economizing his pitches. Eight of the first ten Judge hitters had three-ball counts on them. He made amends in the third inning with a one-two-three, 5-pitch frame. Justin’s father Tom, also a Bonner hurler (Class of ’78), was the Southern Division MVP as a junior. He was a second-team performer in his senior campaign. Defensively, Williams made two nice plays at second base. The first sparred a run when he went hard into the hole between first and second. Later, he nicely charged and bare-handed ball to nip a Crusader at first. Liberatore flashed some leather in the sixth by spearing a liner to his right with a Judge runner at third. For Judge, jr. LHP Steve Boyd suffered the loss, though, I liked how he battled. All total, he threw 4 2/3 innings, allowing just 4 hits, while striking out three. He too was bit by the wildness bug (2 HB’s, 5 W’s). Defensively, Woltemate made a nice backhand play up the middle. Sr. C Kyle Levocz gunned down a would-be base-stealer. The game featured just nine total hits, and no player had more than one. There’s a great story going on up at Bonner these days. ESPN was at the school today and will be there again tomorrow filming a feature on senior Matt Stevens, who is blind. Matt has been in the news recently for nailing a couple of game-clinching free throws in a CYO game at Bonner. Matt’s cousin is Bonner ace sr. RHP Ryan Haley. And it was Ryan who let Matt shoot his free throws that ultimately won his team the game. Interestingly, today’s home plate ump was Allie Steven, Matt’s father. I spent much of the game conversing with the always personable Haley. La Salle and St. Joe’s have made strong offers for his services, while Villanova has offered a full academic scholarship. Haley is ranked 2nd in the senior class. Meanwhile, his teammate Williams is ranked 4th. You gotta appreciate that. Nice work, fellas!