On the Trail With Ted
Baseball 2015

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 Observations, notes, etc., on games I've seen during
and after the 2015 season . . . Plus some Tedbits.
my email . . . tedtee307@yahoo.com.
 

JULY 31
TEDBIT
  The stats below show how products of Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac schools have performed for the Phillies. Don't prepare to be impressed. Well, except by Del Ennis' numbers in the position players category. The Olney grad's key numbers over 11 seasons were special -- .286 average, 259 homers and 1,124 RBI. However, his batting average was 714 points short of Bill Peterman's. In 1942, Peterman, also an Olney product, played in just one game (on April 26) for the Phillies and stepped to the plate just once. He singled and played for no other teams, so his career average is 1.000! In the pitching category, no one boasts a winning record and all of the total numbers are quite unsightly. Meanwhile, how wickedly bad were the Phillies in the field in the early 1920s? In 1922 and '23, only 157 of the 234 runs allowed by West Philly product Phil "Lefty" Weinert were earned. That's nuts. Were those teams ever investigated for throwing games? (smile) . . . All details below were researched on www.baseball-reference.com. If I missed anyone: tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks. Did some extra checking. In the 1922-23 seasons, the Phillies allowed a combined 1,922 runs. A ridiculous 399 were unearned. The error total was 442. By way of contrast, the 2014 Phillies allowed 68 unearned runs and committed 83 errors. 

STATS FOR THE PHILLIES' PUBLIC/CATHOLIC/INTER-AC PRODUCTS
POSITION PLAYERS                      
Name School Years G AB R H RBI AVG 2B 3B HR
Ruben Amaro Jr. Penn Charter 1992-93/96-98 421 821 89 196 86 .239 38 9 13
Benny Culp Northeast 1942-44 15 26 5 5 2 .192 1 0 0
Del Ennis Olney 1946-56 1630 6327 891 1812 1124 .286 310 65 259
Eddie "Itzzy" Feinberg Southern 1938-39 16 38 2 7 0 .184 7 1 0
Joe Kracher Roman 1939 5 5 1 1 0 .200 0 0 0
Harry "Hal" Marnie Southern 1940-42 96 222 19 49 15 .221 3 3 0
Joe O'Rourke Jr. Roman 1929 3 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0
Bill Peterman Olney 1942 1 1 0 1 0 1.000 0 0 0
Gene Schall La Salle 1995-96 52 131 9 33 15 .252 7 1 2
      2239 7574 1016 2104 1242 .278 366 79 274
                       
PITCHERS                      
Name School Years G W-L ERA IP H R ER BB SO
Elmer "Swede" Burkart Olney 1936-39 16 1-1 4.93 42 47 23 23 26 9
Frank "Lefty" Hoerst North Catholic 1940-42/46-47 98 10-33 5.17 348 381 230 200 175 105
Bill Hoffman Northeast 1939 3 0-0 13.50 6 8 9 9 7 1
Dick Koecher Gratz 1946-48 7 0-4 4.85 25.2 31 17 14 14 8
Walter "Wally" Masters Haver. School 1937 1 0-0 36.00 1 5 4 4 1 0
Jack Meyer Penn Charter 1955-61 202 24-34 3.92 455 385 225 198 244 375
Jim Poole La Salle 1999 51 1-1 4.33 35.1 48 20 17 15 22
Harry Shuman Central 1944 18 0-0 4.00 26.2 26  15 12 11 4
William "Bucky" Walters Germantown 1934-38 115 38-53 4.48 745 843 436 371 313 228
Phil "Lefty" Weinert West Phila. 1919-24 99 14-30 4.46 375.2 452 273 186 188 123
      610 88-156 4.52 2060.1 2698 1252 1034 994 875

JULY 26
TEDBIT
  Yesterday, lefty Cole Hamels posted the Phillies' eighth individual no-hitter over the last 52 seasons. (Over 109 seasons, in all, because the previous one was way back in 1906). In his previous outing, Hamel experienced mighty struggles (and in the one before that, as well), allowing five runs, all earned, in just three innings. How had the other seven guys fared in their previous appearances? Mixed bag, as you'll see below. Hamels' ERA in his pre/no-no outing was 15.00. The other seven guys combined for 3.47. Interesting nuggets: Tommy Greene made his previous appearance in relief and pitched four shutout innings to earn the W in a 1-0, 16-inning triumph over the Cubs. Jim Bunning also took a journey on the bullpen trail. On June 18, 1964, three days before his perfect game vs. the Mets, he pitched two-thirds of an inning to earn a save in a 6-3 win over the Cubs. He pitched just twice in relief all season. All details below were researched on www.baseball-reference.com.

PREVIOUS OUTINGS FOR PHILLIES' NO-HIT PITCHERS, 1964-2015
(Combo No-Hitter Not Included)
Year Name Foe Decision Score #Days IP H R ER BB SO ERA
2015 Cole Hamels Marlins ND W, 8-7 Six 3 8 5 5 0 1 15.00
2010 Roy Halladay Nationals Win W, 8-0 Ten 9 2 0 0 0 6 0.00
2010 Roy Halladay Red Sox Loss L, 8-3 Six 5 2/3 8 7 6 2 1 9.52
2003 Kevin Millwood Rockies Win W, 5-2 Five 6 3 1 1 4 4 1.50
1991 Tommy Greene Cubs *Win W, 1-0 Six 4 3 0 0 1 5 0.00
1990 Terry Mulholland Expos Loss L, 4-3 Five 6 8 4 4 3 2 6.00
1971 Rick Wise Mets ND L, 6-5 Four 5 7 4 3 2 2 5.40
1964 Jim Bunning Cubs *Save W, 6-3 Three 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
*-relief                      
#-days before the no-hitter (Halladay's no-hitter vs. Reds occurred in postseason; start vs. Nationals occurred late in regular season)

JULY 15
TEDBIT
  Not even one of "Our Guys" has participated in the MLB All-Star Game since 1989 and that's probably a good thing as far as position players are concerned. The in-the-field guys own just two hits in 31 at-bats and Roy Campanella (Gratz) had both of them. Meanwhile, no one has scored a run and an RBI has yet to be collected. Ouch. Pitching has been respectable. The combined ERA is 2.70 . . . Take note: A Philadelphian named Jimmie Wilson made all-star appearances at catcher in '33 and '35. He went 0-for-1, then 1-for-3 with a double. I can't find evidence that he attended a Philly high school. Meanwhile, if I missed any Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac products, you know the deal. tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks!  

PERFORMANCES BY "OUR GUYS" IN MLB ALL-STAR GAMES
POSITION PLAYERS                  
Name School Team Year AB R H BI Avg. Extras  
Roy Campanella Gratz Dodgers 1949 2 0 0 0 .000 walk  
    Dodgers 1950 6 0 0 0 .000    
    Dodgers 1951 4 0 0 0 .000    
    Dodgers 1952 1 0 0 0 .000 walk  
    Dodgers 1953 4 0 1 0 .250    
    Dodgers 1954 3 0 1 0 .333 walk  
    Dodgers 1955 DNP            
    Dodgers 1956 0 0 0 0 0    
      Totals   20 0 2 0 .100    
                     
Del Ennis Olney Phillies 1946 2 0 0 0 0    
    Phillies 1951 2 0 0 0 0    
    Phillies 1955 1 0 0 0 0    
      Totals   5 0 0 0 .000    
                     
Harold "Pat" Kelly Gratz White Sox 1973 1 0 0 0 0    
                     
Jeff Leonard Overbrook Giants 1987 2 0 0 0 0    
    Mariners 1989 1 0 0 0 0    
      Totals   3 0 0 0 .000    
                     
Eddie Stanky Northeast Dodgers 1947 2 0 0 0 0    
    Braves 1948 DNP            
    Giants 1950 DNP            
      Totals   2 0 0 0 0    
  OVERALL TOTALS   31 0 2 0 .065    
                     
PITCHERS                    
Name School Team Year IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Mark Gubicza Penn Charter Royals 1988 2 3 1 1 0 2 4.50
    Royals 1989 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00
      Totals   3 3 1 1 0 3 3.00
                     
Walt Masterson North Catholic Senators 1947 1.2 0 0 0 1 2 2.00
    Senators 1948 3 5 2 2 1 1 6.00
      Totals   4.2 5 2 2 2 3 3.85
                     
Bucky Walters Germantown Phillies 1937 1 2 0 0 0 0 0.00
    Reds 1939 DNP            
    Reds 1940 2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
    Reds 1941 2 3 1 1 2 2 4.50
    Reds 1942 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00
    Reds 1944 3 5 1 1 0 1 3.00
      Totals   9 10 2 2 2 4 2.00
  OVERALL TOTALS   16.2 18 5 5 4 10 2.70

JULY 9
TEDBIT
  Listed below are the top five city leagues schools for producing pros in the three major sports. As makes sense, all are very old. Northeast, originally located at 8th and Lehigh, leads the way with 22 guys. However, 24 guys are listed. Reason: Amazingly, Bernie "Bert" Kuczynski and Samuel "Mike" Wilson, reached the top level in TWO sports. Northeast is tops among all city leagues schools for football players (15) while Overbrook leads the way for hoops (12). Northeast and Southern share the lead in baseball (seven). The debut years are listed next to the players' names. For basketball, it's the second year of the season (1974 for 1973-74, for instance).

NORTHEAST 22     SOUTHERN 20     ROMAN 18     WEST PHILA. 17     OVERBROOK 14  
  Football       Football       Football       Football       Football  
Herb Adderley 1961   Ray Abruzzese 1962   Charlie Carton 1925   Bob Bell 1971   Tom Carr 1968
Howard Berry 1921   Jack Del Bello 1953   Marvin Harrison 1996   Ed Bell 1955     Basketball  
Angelo Coia 1960   Bobby Petrella 1966   Jim Katcavage 1956   Ollie Dobbins 1964   Wilt "Dippy" Chamberlain 1960
Bill Fielder

1938

   Steve Sader 1943   Joey Maxwell 1927   Bill Mackrides 1947   Mike Gale 1972
Brent Grimes 2007   John Sandusky 1950   Nick Moody 2013   Harry Seltzer 1942   Walt Hazzard 1965
Johnny Hendren 1920   Dwayne White 1990   Scott Paxson 2008   Fred Sweet 1925   Wayne Hightower 1963
Bernie "Bert" Kuczynski 1943     Basketball     Joe Tyrrell 1952     Basketball     Wali Jones 1965
Roger Mahoney 1928   Nate Blackwell 1988     Basketball     Gene Banks 1982   Rich Laurel 1978
John Papit 1951   Stan "Loady" Brown 1948   Mike Bantom 1974   *John Baum 1970   Hal Lear 1957
Bill "Reds" Pollock 1935   *Ollie Johnson 1973   Rasual Butler 2003   Nelson Bobb 1950   Lewis "Black Magic" Lloyd 1982
Walt Stickel 1946   Louis "Red" Klotz 1948   Dallas Comegys 1988   Frank "Watusi" Card 1969   Andre McCarter 1977
Joseph "Bud" Sutton 1949   Petey Rosenberg 1947   Matt Guokas Sr. 1947   Norm Grekin 1954   Jackie Moore 1955
John Tracey 1959   Lionel Simmons 1991   Eddie Griffin 2002   Ray Scott 1962   Angelo Musi 1947
Charles Way 1995   Isaiah "Bunny" Wilson 1972   Marc Jackson 2001   Art Spector 1947   Malik Rose 1997
Samuel "Mike" Wilson 1922     Baseball     Lari Ketner 2000   Hubie White 1963     Baseball  
  Basketball     Al Brancato 1939   Bob Schafer 1956     Baseball     Jeff Leonard 1977
Guy Rodgers 1959   Joe Cascarella 1934   Maalik Wayns 2013   Emmett McCann 1920      
Steve Smith 2007   Eddie "Itzzy" Feinberg 1938     Baseball     Bernie Snyder 1935      
  Baseball     Harry "Hal" Marnie 1940   Joe Kracher 1939   Phil "Lefty" Weinert 1919      
Benny Culp 1942   George Riley 1979   Joe O'Rourke Jr. 1929            
Bill Hoffman 1939   Joe Rullo 1943                  
Bernard "Bert" Kuczynski 1943   Eddie Silber 1937                  
Jesse Levis 1992                        
Eddie Stanky 1943                        
Alan "Inky" Strange 1934                        
Samuel "Mike" Wilson 1921                        
*-never played on varsity                          

JULY 3
TEDBIT
  In all, seven guys have been starters for basketball champs AND first team All-City honorees in baseball. Baseball All-City teams were first picked in 1978. Ben Davis played in the majors and now serves as an analyst for Phillies telecasts. Dan Dougherty is the oldest son of Episcopal's former basketball coach, Dan Dougherty. David Miller is now Penn Charter's baseball coach. Dave Nanni, also a first team All-City honoree in football, was part of a very successful family. Two brothers, Tito (football/baseball) and Chris (football), also earned first team All-City honors and another, Paul, was a second-teamer in football.

School School Starter for
Basketball Champ		 1st Team All-City
In Baseball
Al Baur Southern 1986 1986, P
Ben Davis Malvern *1995 1994-95, C
Dan Dougherty Episcopal 1979, 1980 1980, DH
Kris Dufner Judge 1998 1998, INF
David Miller Chestnut Hill 1992 1992, 1B
Dave Nanni Penn Charter *1988 1989, DH
Dave O'Brien Malvern *1995 1996, OF
*-shared championship

JULY 2
TEDBIT
  Like fathers, like sons. You gotta love plural . . . You also gotta love cool ties and website legend Randy Seidman brought one to light earlier this week when he named his Hometown Philly Player and Pitcher of the Year for the 2015 college baseball season. The winners were Newberry College first baseman Albert Baur (Neumann-Goretti) and Chestnut Hill College righthander Dominic Raia (Girard Academic Music Program). John Rex, for one, was excited to see those choices and he sent me an email to explain the reason. John pointed out that the winners' fathers, who grew up in his childhood neighborhood and were slightly older, were baseball teammates at South Philadelphia High (commonly known as Southern). Indeed! And good ones, too. In the '86 season, Al Baur, a senior, earned first team Daily News All-City honors for pitching (he went on to pitch in the Phillies' farm system -- his son, a recent draftee, is off to a good start in the Pirates' chain) after starting at forward for a championship basketball team that was headlined by future NBAer Lionel Simmons. Dominic, then a junior, started at third base and went on to earn first team All-City honors (infield) in '87. My scoresheet from an '86 Rams game shows Al and Dominic batting third and fourth, respectively. (Meanwhile, the No. 2 spot was occupied by Phil Cardella, who's now an assistant at O'Hara.) Both guys represented the Public League in the first Carpenter Cup and Al was very effective, spinning three innings of shutout ball with seven strikeouts. As for the sons . . . Albert was a first team Daily News All-City infielder in '09 and a second team DH in '10. Dominic Jr. earned second team honors as an infielder in '10 and '11. As for John Rex . . . He was a two-sport star at Neumann. In the 1992-93 school year, he earned second team coaches' All-Catholic honors for his exploits as a quarterback and outfielder. Thanks for the Tedbit fodder, John, and congrats to the fathers/sons!
  Click here for some scoresheets from that '86 season (Southern vs. Mastbaum, and Pub in the Carpenter Cup). Click on each pic for an explanation . . . Also on that Pub squad was Northeast catcher Jesse Levis, who reached the majors.


  Ryan Etsell warms up before NC's final game, ever, in 2010

JUNE 29
TEDBIT
  All minor league baseball players like to think they're headed for the majors and, once there, will be capable of doing amazing things. How 'bout this? Ryan Etsell is still in the minors, but this season he's posting a stat that would rank No. 1 in major league history. (Over a much longer time frame, admittedly.) Let me explain . . . Etsell, a 6-4 righthander out of North Catholic (final class, in 2010) and Hillsborough CC in Tampa, Fla. (drafted in 2013), is pitching for the Inland Empire 66ers, the Angels' team in the high-Class A California League. In 16 games, including four starts, he has recorded 53 strikeouts while issuing just eight walks. That makes his strikeout-to-walk ratio an amazing 6.63. How amazing? Consider this: The all-time MLB career record, for guys who have pitched at least 1,000 innings, is 5.04, and it belongs to a guy who finished his career waaaaaaaaay back. Ever hear of Tommy Bond? You're forgiven. He finished his career 131 years ago! Over 10 seasons (1874-82, 1884), the 5-7, 160-pound righty racked up 972 whiffs against just 193 free passes. According to baseball-reference.com, three spots in the Top 10 belong to guys with strong  Phillies ties -- Curt Schilling is No. 2 at 4.38, Cliff Lee is No. 7 at 3.93 and Cole Hamels is No. 9 at 3.72. Pretty amazing. In a recent outing, Etsell took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with 12 strikeouts. This season he's 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA and an 0.95 WHIP. Ryan's dad, Jeff, a lefty, pitched North Catholic to the 1977 Catholic and City championships, and was drafted by Houston out of a Florida JC in the winder of '79. He was North's coach in that final 2010 season. Another son, Derrek ('07), also pitched for the Falcons.

JUNE 18
TEDBIT
  Some schools don't offer all three major sports, and those that do are sometimes good/great in one or two but not too hot in the other(s). And then there's St. Joseph's Prep. Over the last three school years, at least one Hawk has earned first team All-City honors in all three sports. And this school year produced a city record -- EIGHT guys were part of the fun. All-City baseball teams first were named in '78. This was the 30th time a school produced at least one first-teamer in all three sports. Through '03, the record for most total guys was five. The Prep then numbered seven first-teamers in 2003-04. As you'll notice on the list below, some schools were able to make an appearance with help from a two-sport star.

Schools With All-City First Teamers in the Three Major Sports
In the Same School Year, 1977-78 to Present
Year School Football Basketball Baseball
1979-80 Northeast Karl Siegle, K Willie Oliphant, G Scott Vogel, P
    Steve Poole, DE    
1980-81 Frankford Eric Leak, OL Anthony Chennault, G Bruce Konick, P
    Bob Brett, DE    
1981-82 Frankford Brian Ramsey, DE Rico Washington, C Rich McKay, P
    George Heineman, DB    
  Bonner Dan Brodeur, OL Walt Fuller, G Dan Hirst, INF
    Jim Chupein, K    
    Tom Abram, LB    
1985-86 Bonner Pete Ruggieri, DL Ivan "Pick" Brown, G Mike Weber, INF
    Joe Gallagher, LB    
1987-88 Bonner Art Serano, DL Brian Daly, F Jon Schaffer, OF
    Dan Summers, DL    
1990-91 Roman Marvin Harrison, MP Bernard Jones, F Harry Carr, OF
1991-92 Dougherty Manny Gonzalez, DL Cuttino "Cat" Mobley, G Chris Dugan, INF
1992-93 Olney Kenyatta Carter, Rec. Jason Lawson, C Larry Abney, OF
  Roman Joel Rivers, DL Marc Jackson, C Bill Black, INF
1993-94 Penn Charter Mike Samuel, QB Steve Goodrich, C Mike Sposato, OF
    Brandon Shepherdson, RB   Mike Samuel, P
1994-95 Carroll Andrew Garchinsky, DL Rafal Bigus, C Frank DiMaggio, INF
    Greg See, LB    
1996-97 Carroll Sean Scott, DB Martin Ingelsby, G Jay Aquilante, INF
        Mike Fuchs, C
1997-98 Judge Joe Mahoney, OL Jim Reeves, F Kris Dufner, INF
    Jim Casey, RB    
1998-99 Northeast Dante Poole, RB Randy Dukes, G Pat Brady, INF
2000-01 Roman Joe McCourt, MP Tamal Forchion, F-C Joe McCourt, OF
    Scott Paxson, DL    
2001-02 Episcopal Joe Person, OL Terrence Mack, F Adam Murray, INF
2002-03 Penn Charter Matt Ryan, QB Sean Singletary, G Taylor Baum, 1B
    Tony McDevitt, LB    
2003-04 SJ Prep Mike Buscaglia, OL Chris Clark, G Mark Noonan, INF
    Matt Parkhurst, DL    
    Brian Tracz, LB    
    Dan Jones, DB    
    Greg Ambrogi, DB    
2003-04 Malvern Andrew Mackrides, K Brian Grandieri, G Will Romanowicz, P
    Dan Onorato, LB    
2004-05 Central Cornelius Bunch, DL Scott Rodgers, G-F Andrew Reynolds, INF
  Gtn. Academy Phil Azarik, K Ryan Ayers, G-F Tyler Stampone, INF
    Tyler Stampone, DB    
2007-08 Ryan Nick Ferdinand, Rec. Andrew Rogers, G Nick Ferdinand, OF
2009-10 Neum.-Goretti Will Huff, P Tony Chennault, G Mark Donato, P
      Tyreek Duren, G  
2011-12 La Salle Ryan Geiger, OL Eddie Mitchell, G Joe Forcellini, 1B
    Jamal Abdur-Rahman, RB    
    Connor Daly, LB    
    Kevin Forster, DB    
  Malvern Michael Mooney, OL Brendan Kilpatrick, G Joe Ravert, 1B
    Connor Mahoney, DL   Joe Poduslenko, INF
    Joe Nilan, LB   Nick Bateman, OF
2012-13 SJ Prep David Tracz, OL Stephen Vasturia, G Jawan McAllister, OF
    Paul Johnson, DL   Tom Mullin, P
    Todd Jones, LB    
    John Reid, DB    
  La Salle Sean Coleman, Rec. Amar Stukes, G Chris Melillo, 1B
    Ryan Winslow, P   Dominic Cuoci, P
    Tom Spiteri, DL    
    Zaire Franklin, LB    
2013-14 SJ Prep Jon Daniel Runyan, OL Chris Clover, G Jawan McAllister, OF
    Chris Martin, QB    
    Jake Strain, DL    
    Ryan McNulty, LB    
    John Reid, DB    
2014-15 SJ Prep Jon Daniel Runyan, OL Chris Clover, G Dino Cattai, OF
    Olamide Zaccheaus, MP   Colin Scanlon, P
    D'Andre Swift, MP    
    Jake Strain, DL    
    John Reid, DB    

JUNE 15
TEDBIT
  Penn Charter product Kenny Koplove, a shortstop-reliever at Duke, was selected by the Phillies in the 17th round of last week's MLB draft. In time, of course, he hopes to make it to the majors and match the feat of his brother, Mike (Chestnut Hill Academy '95, seven-year stint as MLB reliever). As near as I can figure, five city-leagues brother combos have made it to the top levels of their sports. Some nuggets: Matt Guokas Sr.'s son, Matt Jr., also played (and coached) in the NBA. Matt Sr. did not play in the NBA (then known as the BAA) until the 1946-47 season, 13 years after he graduated from Roman. Later he was the Eagles' long-time PA announcer. Leroy Kelly, for his rushing feats with the Cleveland Browns, is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Marcus and Markieff Morris are the only twins on this list. Jerry Rullo's son, Jim, starred in hoops at Malvern and later coached the Friars. He's now the boss at Neumann University. Willie Sojourner played exclusively in the ABA. Mike Sojourner made his NBA debut after playing just two seasons of college ball.  

Philly Brothers Who've Advanced to the Top Pro Level
Surname First Name High School Sport Debut
Guokas Matt Sr. Roman Bask 1946-47
  Al SJ Prep Bask 1949-50
Kelly Leroy Gratz Foot 1964
  Harold "Pat" Gratz Base 1967
Morris Marcus Prep Charter Bask 2011-12
  Markieff Prep Charter Bask 2011-12
Rullo Joe Southern Base 1943
  Jerry Bartram Bask 1946-47
Sojourner Willie Germantown Bask 1971-72
  Mike Germantown Bask 1974-75

JUNE 14
TEDBIT
  First baseman Tim Quinn and pitcher-outfielder Chris Butera have helped their school make history. Thanks to those guys, Malvern now holds the top spot on this list -- Most Players to Earn First Team All-City Honors. The first All-City baseball team was tabbed in 1978 and No. 38 was released this week. Twenty-seven Malvern players have earned first team honors and Penn Charter now ranks second with 26. Judge, La Salle (tied at 22) and Neumann/N-G (20) complete the Top Five. Penn Charter does own the lead over Malvern, 33-31, in this category . . . Most Total First Team Nods. Six Quakers have earned first team honors multiple times (Mark Adzick did so thrice). Four Friars have done so.  

Schools With the Most First Team All-City Honorees
MALVERN (27)   PENN CHARTER (26)   JUDGE (22)   LA SALLE (22)   NEUMANN/N-G (20)  
David Orr, of 1981 John Loughery, inf 1978 Marc Fleming, of 1978 Gene Schall, p 1988 Nick Martino, c 1982
Mike Laino, inf 1982 Frank DeSantis, c 1978 Dave Gallo, inf 1979 Jack Stanczak, 1b 1989 Anthony Grosso, 1b 1986
Mike DeNoia, p 1983 David Amaro, of-1b  1979-80 Mike Stankiewicz, inf 1980 Chris Massella, inf 1990 Rob Carfagno, p 1988
Bill Lockhart, of 1985 Mark Gubicza, p 1981 Cosmo Losco, of 1980 Roger Harrington, of 1992 Lou Spadaccini, of 1991-92
Tim Kerns, dh 1988 Ruben Amaro, inf 1983 Harry Murray, of 1982 Kevin Kline, dh 1994 Nick Del Percio, dh 1991
Matt O'Brien, of 1993 Steve Floirendo, dh 1986 Pat Waninger, p 1982 Drew Middlemiss, 1b 1997 Ray Russo, of 1993
Glenn Davis, 1b 1994 Dave Healy, p 1986 Mark Iacovelli, inf 1985 Ed Bongard, c 1998 Doug Rubino, p 1995
Ben Davis, c 1994-95   Jamie Dimond, inf 1987 Kerry Cahill, inf 1986 Jeff Pietrak, of 1998 Tom Daly, c 2003
Dave O'Brien, of 1996 Dave Nanni, dh 1989 Chris Gies, p 1987 Bryan Harvey, inf 2000 Mark Donato, 1b-p 2008-10
Josh McKinley, inf 1997-98 Courtney Batts, inf 1992-93 Ron Filippo, of 1988 John Reifsnyder, inf 2001 Al Baur, inf 2009
Ryan Edginton, of 1999 Mike Samuel, p 1993-94 George Beisel, inf 1990 Ryan Parfitt, of 2001 Mike "Zoom" Zolk, inf 2011
Derek Duclos, p 2001 Mike Sposato, of 1994 Bob File, inf 1994 Dan Waters, of/p 2002-03 Joey Gorman, p 2011-12
Will Romanowicz, p 2004 Frank Maletta, inf 1995 Kevin McGerry, p 1997 Matt Zielinski, p 2005-06 Jimmy Kerrigan, of 2012
Tom Grandieri, of 2006 Domingo Negron, 1b 1996 Kris Dufner, inf 1998 Sean Saverio, c 2007 Josh Ockimey, dh-1b 2012-14
Phil Gosselin, inf 2007 Pat Larkin, of 1997 Brian Kearney, c 1999 Shawn O'Neill, p 2009 Bay To, of 2014
Chris "Goose" Gosik, of 2008 Matt Arizin, p 1997 Eric Ruhland, of 2000 Joe Forcellini, 1b 2011 Pat Doudican, p 2014
John Gentile, p 2008 Joe Larkin, of 1999 Kirk Bucholski, of 2000 Corey Baiada, c 2012 Charlie Jerla, p 2014
Mike Lubanski, dh 2009 Kenny Devenney, of 2000-01 Dale Curry, dh-c 2003-04 Kevin Long, p 2012 Vinny Vaccone, inf 2015
Ty Young, inf 2010 Aaron Greenfield, c 2002 Matt Compton, p/dh 2005-06 Dominic Couci. p 2013-14 Matt McKeown, of 2015
Chris O'Brien 2011 Taylor Baum, 1b 2003 Ryan Kreider, 1b 2007 Chris Melillo, 1b 2013 Tommy Nardini, c 2015
Nick Bateman, of 2011-12 Ryan Nanni, of 2005 Kevin Conroy, 1b 2010 Jimmy Herron, cf 2014-15    
Joe Ravert, 1b 2012 Mark Adzick, p 2005-07 Mike McLaughlin, of 2011 Nick Dermo, c 2014    
Joe Poduslenko, inf 2012-13 Doug Fleming, c 2008-09            
Steve Robinson, c 2013 Mark Rhine, inf 2009            
Matt Maul, inf 2014 Kenny Koplove, p 2012            
Tim Quinn, dh 2015 Steve Cohen, inf 2014            
Chris Butera, p 2015                

JUNE 11
TEDBIT
  Neumann-Goretti has a chance to make some serious history tomorrow at 3 p.m. when it meets Neshannock, at Penn State (and on PCN), for the PIAA Class AA state baseball championship. Thus far, only three schools have captured major sports state titles in the same school year. N-G already owns a basketball crown (AAA level) in 2014-15. State baseball champs were first determined in 1977. NO schools have won baseball, and football or basketball titles, in the same school year. La Salle was in the neighborhood last school year. It lost in the hoops final, then captured the baseball title.

PIAA Schools With Major Sports State Titles in the Same School Year
School Yr. School Sport, Classification Scores in Championship Games
2006-07 General McLane (District 10) Football, AAA beat Pottsville, 28-23
    Basketball, AAA beat Greencastle-Antrim, 57-55
2007-08 Steelton-Highspire (District 3) Football, A beat Serra Catholic, 34-15
    Basketball, AAA beat Susquehanna Twp., 65-52
2007-08 Jeannette (District 7) Football, AA beat Dunmore, 49-21
    Basketball, AA beat Strawberry Mansion, 76-72 (OT)

JUNE 9
TEDBIT
  Here's the Pub version of the June 8 Tedbit. Twenty-four guys over 40 years have handled plate ump duties. John McArdle (his nephew, Frank "Five" McArdle, is Ryan's football coach) is the leader. Just two guys -- Art Chapman (his dad, also named Art, was a long-time area scout for the Phillies) and Jim Cronin -- have worked finals in both leagues. Jim Berghaier, who worked the '93 final, was a former Philadelphia policeman. In '85, he was the man who rescued the now-deceased Michael Moses Ward, then 13 years old and known as Birdie Africa, during the MOVE confrontation, thus earning worldwide respect. 

Plate Umps in Public Baseball Finals, 1976-2015
Name No. ------- Years -------
John McArdle 4 1991 1987 1985 1983
Gerry DiGiovanni 3 1998 1995 1994  
John Jackson 3 2004 2001 1996  
Ed Vogel 3 1982 1980 1979  
Nick Vacarino 2 2013 2009    
Jim Carpino 2 2012 2008    
Jim Scott 2 2007 2002    
Harry Greer 2 2000 1997    
Ron Burgis 2 1990 1989    
Charlie Allen 2 1988 1986    
Charlie McDowell 2 1984 1978    
Keith Fell 1 2015      
Denny Williams 1 2014      
Marvin Doughty 1 2011      
Art Chapman 1 2010      
Steve Kupsov 1 2006      
Joe Lieberman 1 2005      
Terry Moore 1 2003      
J.T. Melvin 1 1999      
Jim Berghaier 1 1993      
Ed Grove 1 1992      
Jim Cronin 1 1981      
Rocco Montano 1 1977      
Bill Sopchak 1 1976      

JUNE 8
TEDBIT
  In the last 40 years, 19 guys have handled plate duties in Catholic League finals. Ed Kerrigan, who just completed his 52nd season as an ump, has worked the plate six times (though not since 2000). Next in line is Carlos Deno with five. And he boasts serious momentum, having worked three of the last four. Jim King, who ran the show in 1983, now assigns referees for Catholic League football.

Plate Umps in Catholic Baseball Finals, 1976-2015
Name No. ------- Years -------
Ed Kerrigan 6 2000 1985 1982 1980 1979 1976
Carlos Deno 5 2015 2013 2012 2003 1999  
Bill "Babs" Haines 4 2011 2008 2006 2002    
Jim Ricci 4 2001 1996 1991 1986    
Jim Cronin 3 1990 1984 1981      
Paul Fricker 2 2009 2004        
Tom Scartozzi 2 1998 1995        
Bruce Martin 2 1992 1989        
Steve Porrini 1 2010          
Jack Dabagian 1 2007          
Mike Finney 1 2005          
Art Chapman 1 1997          
Pete DeIuliis 1 1994          
Gary Brooks 1 1993          
Bill Lawrence 1 1988          
Bill Harris 1 1987          
Jim King 1 1983          
Greg Mills 1 1978          
Tony Focht 1 1977          

JUNE 6
TEDBIT
   Starring for Devon Prep this season is a senior catcher named Dominic Hardaway. When I saw that name and position, I had a suspicion. Hmmm. Is he the son of Vince Hardaway, a third team All-City catcher for King in 1981? Turns out he is! Very nice! Dominic has signed with Boston College (dad played at Shaw University, in N.C.), but is also being eyed by MLB scouts. Meanwhile, check out one of Vince's feats from '81 in a game against Central, whose franchise player that year was sr. C John Marzano (RIP), who advanced to the majors . . . Vince Hardaway, the Cougars' extra-impressive catcher, picked two runners off second and one off third. He also nailed one would-be thief at second and twice made quick recoveries at the plate on wild pitches to rub out hard-charging runners . . . Guess we know where Dominic gets his skills! And here's guessing Dad has told Son that story something close to a hundred times (smile). Meanwhile, one of Vince's teammates that season was soph Darryl Kelly. Darryl's sons, Marcus (Class of 2012) and Dimetri ('15), have starred at running back for Roman's football team in recent seasons.

JUNE 5
TEDBIT
  To follow up the last two days' nugget . . . In this century, 38 graduates of Public League schools have been able to say they've earned first team coaches' All-Pub honors at least three times. (If I missed someone, you know the deal . . . tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks!)

First Team, Four Times
Name School Pos. Years
David Ashbridge Masterman P-C 2008-11
Manny Fernandez Boys' Latin C 2012-15
First Team, Three Times
Name School Pos. Years
Ron Kenney Bok C 1999-01
Dave Firth Northeast P-DH 2000-02
Michael Gibbs Roxborough P-OF 2000-02
Andy Godlewski Saul 1B 2001-03
Joe Farina Frankford P-DH 2002-04
Josh Williams Kensington P-OF 2002-04
Haneef Hill Germantown P-INF 2002-04
Carlos Rosado Olney/Frankford INF 2003-05
Edwin Burgos Olney/Frankford P-OF 2004-06
Felix Madera Olney  P-OF 2004, 2006-07
Juan Torres Olney/Frankford 1B 2004-06
Enrique Meletiche Saul P-INF-C 2004-06
Jared Farbman Central P-INF 2005-07
Esteban "Shortie" Meletiche Frankford INF 2006-08
Harry Davila Swenson P-INF 2006-08
Edwin "Tito" Rohena Frankford OF 2007-09
Tim Freiling Northeast DH 2007-09
Terrell "Mouse" Barringer Dobbins C 2007-09
Carlos Payano Overbook P-INF 2007-09
Chuck Fitzgerald Phila. Electric P 2008, 2010-11
O'Shane "O'Daddy" Black Germantown P-INF 2008-10
Christian Blackwell Overbook INF 2008-10
Dom Raia GAMP P-INF 2009-11
Daquan "Day-Day" Brown Dobbins P-INF 2009-11
Omar Ortiz Boys' Latin P-INF 2009-11
Augusto "June" Ortega Frankford OF 2010-12
Michael Borelli Prep Charter P-INF 2010-12
Steve King Southern P-INF 2010-12
Justo Rodriguez Randolph P 2010, 2012-13
Shafeeq Coleman C. Tech/Overbrook P-C 2010-12
Harry Taggart Masterman INF 2011-13
Kevin Montero Frankford INF-DH 2011-13
Khalil Coles Franklin P 2011-13
Kelvin Sabastro Bracetti P-INF 2012-14
Marshall Drummond Furness INF 2012, 2014-15
Brian Nieves Swenson INF 2013-15

JUNE 4
TEDBIT
  To follow up yesterday's nugget . . . In this century, 10 graduates of Catholic League schools have been able to say they've earned first team coaches' All-Cath honors at least three times. (If I missed someone, you know the deal . . . tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks!)

First Team, Four Times
Name School Pos. Years
Kyle McCrossen Wood INF-OF 2008-11
First Team, Three Times
Name School Pos. Years
John Price Ryan P 1998-2000
*Mike Costanzo Carroll INF 2000-02
Shawn O'Neill La Salle P 2007-09
*Christian Walker Kennedy-Kenrick INF 2007-09
Mark Donato Neumann-Goretti P-1B 2008-10
Brian O'Grady Wood INF-OF 2008-10
Mike Riverso Neumann-Goretti OF-DH 2008-10
Colin Pyne La Salle INF 2010-12
Jimmy Herron La Salle OF 2013-15
*-advanced to major leagues

JUNE 3
TEDBIT
  The Inter-Ac League includes just six schools, so very talented players are able to make early impacts. Thus, in this century, 17 graduates (now 18) have been able to say they earned first team coaches' all-Int honors at least three times. The info is below.
  UPDATED: With Gtn. Academy's Sean Coyle, Tommy's brother. Sorry! And thanks to Jon Cross for speaking up.

First Team, Four Times
Name School Pos. Years
Tommy Coyle Gtn. Academy INF 2006-09
Jon McAllister Chestnut Hill OF 2007-10
First Team, Three Times
Name School Pos. Years
Kenny Devenney Penn Charter OF 1999-01
Taylor Baum Penn Charter 1B-DH 2001-03
Sean Grieve Gtn. Academy P-OF 2002-04
Mark Adzick Penn Charter P-1B  2005-07
John Barr Gtn. Academy OF-P 2005-07
Anthony Cafagna Chestnut Hill P-INF 2005-07
Mike Galetta Haver. School P-INF 2005-07
Rob Amaro Penn Charter 1B-DH 2006, 2008-09
Steel Russell Chestnut Hill C-INF 2007-09
Doug Fleming Penn Charter C 2007-09
Sean Coyle Gtn. Academy INF 2008-10
Tyler Young Malvern INF 2008-10
Kenny Koplove Penn Charter P 2009, 2011-12
Nick Bateman Malvern OF 2010-12
Joe Poduslenko Malvern INF 2011-13
Kevin McGowan Haver. School INF 2012-13, 2015

--


Kevin McGowan

 JUNE 2
TEDBIT
  It's not too common for a guy to even PLAY four years of varsity baseball, let alone make strong contributions throughout his career. But at Haverford School, now-senior Kevin McGowan, a second baseman and lefty swinger, was a right-away mainstay and his career numbers, as you'll see below (as compiled by coach Bob Castell), were quite impressive. And in odd-numbered years, forget about it! (smile) The Fords racked up a 91-40 overall record in Kevin's four seasons. In this last campaign, Kevin fanned just three times in 109 plate appearances. Best of luck at La Salle University, Kevin!
Kevin McGowan's Career Numbers at Haverford School
Year Avg. G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR
2012 .310 38 87 21 27 19 3 1 1
2013 .438 34 105 30 46 41 15 3 3
2014 .329 28 85 18 28 26 5 0 5
2015 .451 30 91 28 41 24 8 2 5
  .386 130 368 97 142 110 31 6 14

JUNE 1
TEDBIT
  Weather permitting, the PIAA state playoffs will begin today and six Catholic/Public teams will be involved -- three apiece from the Cath and Pub. Below are won-lost and runs for/runs against totals for each league, broken down by classification, since they began participating in state playoffs in 2009 and 2005, respectively. La Salle in AAAA has won two state titles ('12 and '14). SJ Prep ('09 in AAAA) and Neumann-Goretti ('09 and '12 in AAA, '14 in AA) have advanced to semis. In the Pub in '06, two AAAA teams participated. Central advanced to the semis. Overall, Catholic/Public teams are 22-51 and have been outscored, 507-188. The Cath is 18-14 and has been outscored, 127-112. The Pub has experienced outrageous struggles, going 4-37 while being outscored by 380-76.
  UPDATE: All six games were postponed. New schedule below under May 31.

Results for Catholic League Teams in State Playoffs (18-14, 112 RF-127 RA)
  CLASS AAAA   CLASS AAA   CLASS AA    
  W-L RF-RA   W-L RF-RA   W-L RF-RA      
2009 2-1 8-10   2-1 13-13   0-1 1-8      
2010 0-1 1-4   1-1 10-8   1-1 3-10      
2011 0-1 3-8   0-1 1-3     --        
2012 4-0 23-17   2-1 11-4     --        
2013 0-1 4-11   0-1 6-9   0-1 2-6      
2014 4-0 16-6   0-1 1-3   2-1 9-7      
10-4 55-56   5-6 42-40   3-4 15-31      
                     
Results for Public League Teams in State Playoffs (4-37, 76 RF-380 RA)
  CLASS AAAA   CLASS AAA   CLASS AA   CLASS A
  W-L RF-RA   W-L RF-RA   W-L RF-RA   W-L RF-RA
2005 0-2 3-18   0-1 4-14   0-1 11-13     --  
2006 2-2 14-32   0-1 0-18   0-1 1-7     --  
2007 0-1 0-14   0-1 0-15   0-1 0-8   0-1 0-5
2008 1-1 5-4   0-1 0-14   0-1 1-11   0-1 1-16
2009 0-1 2-6     --     0-1 2-17   0-1 0-4
2010 0-1 1-11     --     0-1 0-11   0-1 5-15
2011 0-1 3-10   0-1 0-10   0-1 1-10   0-1 2-3
2012 0-1 2-6   0-1 0-10   0-1 1-9   1-1 6-9
2013 0-1 0-5   0-1 1-11   0-1 4-13   0-1 2-3
2014 0-1 0-4   0-1 2-12   --     0-1 2-12
3-12 30-110   0-8 7-104   0-9 21-99   1-8 18-67

MAY 31
PIAA PLAYOFFS
First Round Games for Cath-Pub Teams, Set for Monday, June 1 . . .
ppd to June 3 . . . AAAA: West Chester East (1-4) vs. SJ Prep (1-1), at Richie Ashburn Field, 1
ppd to June 3 . . . AAAA: Olney (12-2) vs. North Penn (1-2), at Neumann University, 4 (back to 4)
ppd to June 3 . . . AAA: Twin Valley (3-3) vs. Wood (12-1), at La Salle High, 4 (new time: 2:30)
 **note: Franklin Towne has forfeited** . . . AAA: Franklin Towne (12-2) vs. Donegal (3-1), at Northern York High, Dillsburg, 5:30
ppd to June 3 . . . AA: Devon Prep (1-1) vs. Neumann-Goretti (12-1), at Richie Ashburn Field, 4
ppd to June 3 . . . A: GAMP (12-1) vs. Lancaster County Christian (3-1), at Wenger Field, Fredericksburg, 4 (back to 4)

MAY 31
TEDBIT
  Over the last 26 seasons, Wood has won 10 of 14 postseason games decided by one run. And the Vikings' record in one-run games lasting the regulation seven innings is 10-1! This year, all three CL playoff wins secured by coach Jim "Dege" DiGuiseppe Jr.'s squad were one-run jobs.   

Wood's Results in One-Run Postseason Games, 1990-2015
Year Occasion Opponent W-L Score
1990 Final Carroll Won 1-0
1993 Prelim Dougherty Won 9-8
  Semi La Salle Won 5-4
  Final Neumann Won 2-1
2009 Quarter Roman Won 14-13 (9)
2010 Quarter Kennedy-Kenrick Won 1-0
  Semi Ryan Lost 9-8
2011 Semi Bonner Lost 5-4 (11)
2012 First Conwell-Egan Won 7-6
2014 First Roman Lost 6-5 (9)
  LB Second Neumann-Goretti Lost 5-4 (8)
2015 Quarter Bonner-Prendie Won 5-4
  Semi La Salle Won 4-3
  Final Neumann-Goretti Won 3-2
(Extra Innings)      

MAY 29
TEDBIT
  The total dominance continues. Since the City Title series was resumed in 2009, the Catholic League has won all 19 matchups and the average victory margin has been 9.4 runs. In all, the CL's streak stands at 23 as it swept the Pub from 1976 through '79. Perhaps you're wondering, was there anything cool about the Pub's last win? No doubt! In 1975, Southern topped O'Hara, 7-1, as Jack Manfredi fired a no-hitter. He fanned nine, though he did walk five.

Catholic League's Victory Margins
In Modern City Titles
Year 4A 3A 2A Avg.
2009 10 16 11 12.3
2010 7 10 10 9.0
2011 5 5 - 5.0
2012 13 13 - 13.0
2013 8 5 3 5.3
2014 15 8 11 11.3
2015 10 8 10 9.3
Total 68 65 45 178
Avg. 9.7 9.3 9.0 9.4

MAY 28
TEDBIT
  After losing to Franklin Towne Charter, 9-7, in the final two days ago, Olney is still the Pub school that has gone the longest without having won a major-sports championship. The Trojans captured the baseball crown in 1969, so the wait time is now 46 years. This was the Trojans' third chance. They also lost the baseball final in 1997 and the basketball final in 1973 (in the Sonny Hill Winter League, which took the place of the Pub due to a lengthy teachers' strike). The coolest factoid concerning Olney's athletic program: No Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac school has sent more players to the major leagues. Six Trojans have made it: Elmer "Swede" Burkart, Jack Crimian, Lee Elia, Del Ennis, Bill Peterman and Al Spangler. Ennis, who spent most of his career with the Phillies, was by far the most successful. In 14 seasons, he posted a .284 average with 288 homers and 1,284 RBI. Elia was the last Trojan to make the majors (he also managed) and he'll soon turn 78, so the wait time for MLBer No. 7 has been quite lengthy as well.
  UPDATED: Olney does NOT lead the Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac schools in sending products to the major leagues. As noted by website loyalist Gayton Bongiorno, seven Southern guys have advanced to the majors -- Al Brancato, Joe Cascarella, Eddie "Itzzy" Feinberg, Harry "Hal" Marnie, George Riley, Joe Rullo and Eddie Silber. Know what? Northeast's total also numbers seven -- Benny Culp, Bill Hoffman, Bernard "Bert" Kuczynski, Jesse Levis. Eddie Stanky, Alan "Inky" Strange and Samuel "Mike" Wilson. The Olney thing stuck in my head from when I first compiled this list, prior to when alma maters were nailed down for some of the way-back-in-the-day guys. Sorry for not cross-checking and thanks to Gayton for speaking up.

Major-Sports Title Waits for "Veteran" Pub Schools
(These 21 Existed in 1976-77 School Year)
School Last Title Year Wait Time
Olney Baseball 1969 46
West Philadelphia Basketball 1978 37
Lincoln Football 1979 36
*Penn None   34
Overbrook Basketball 1983 32
Southern Basketball 1987 28
Roxborough Baseball 1990 25
Edison Basketball 1996 19
#University City Basketball 1995 18
Mastbaum Football 1998 17
#-Germantown Football 1999 14
Bartram Basketball 2003 12
Gratz Football 2009 5
Central Baseball 2010 5
Northeast Football 2010 4
Dobbins Football 2011 3
King Basketball 2014 1
Washington Baseball 2014 1
Frankford Football 2013 1
Franklin Football 2014 0
#-Bok Football 2012 0
*-closed in 2010      
#-closed in 2013      

MAY 27
TEDBIT
  Last Saturday, a win over Neumann-Goretti enabled Wood to become the 13th Catholic League member to capture football/baseball championships in the same school year. The chart below shows how close those schools came to a major-sports trifecta. Only one -- Judge in '82 -- also advanced to the basketball final (but fell to Roman in overtime). The football titles in this century have been "enrollment" versions, not overall. Nugget, as provided by website visitor Ken Woodring: Wood also won titles this school year in soccer and volleyball.  

CL Foot-Base Champs in Same School Year
. . . With a Look at Basketball Mixed In
School
Year		 School
 		 In Basketball
Reached the . . .  
1924-25 SJ Prep  - - -
1949-50 North Catholic Semifinals
1958-59 La Salle  - - -
1965-66 West Catholic  - - -
1867-68 Egan  - - -
1968-69 Dougherty Semifinals
1975-76 Judge Quarterfinals
1981-82 Judge Final
1984-85 Judge Semifinals
2000-01 Carroll Quarterfinals
2001-02 Carroll Quarterfinals
2012-13 La Salle Semifinals
2014-15 Wood Quarterfinals

MAY 26
TEDBIT
  When you don't cover every sport, it's dangerous to say someone has done something that NO ONE else has. However, it's difficult to imagine that any other Catholic League athlete has matched, or surpassed, Jimmy Herron's accomplishments. The talented La Salle senior finished his two-sport career having participated in 39 playoffs and enjoyed 30 wins (against nine losses). Jimmy was an outfielder in baseball (he'll play that sport at Duke) and wideout/d-back in football, and he was a varsity performer in both sports for all four years. In baseball, he began his freshman season as mostly a courtesy runner, but by playoff time he was often serving Joe Parisi, his coach for three years (Kyle Werman led the Explorers this year) as an outfield starter. In football as a ninth-grader, he was a backup two-way guy while also serving Drew Gordon, his coach for all four years, as a special-teamer. Look below for a breakdown of Jimmy's stats (thanks to Joe Parisi for providing the baseball numbers) and the results of all playoff games in both sports. Best of luck at Duke, Jimmy!

Jimmy Herron's Football Stats

Receiving
Year Rec. Yards TDs
2012 37 668 9
2013 48 734 12
2014 71 931 12
  Totals 156 2,333 33

Rushing
Year Rush Yards TDs
2011 5 48 1
2012 101 533 7
2013 20 94 0
2014 2 9 0
  Totals 128 684 8

Passing
Year C-A Yards TDs
2012 13-23 235 3
2013 0 0 0
2014 0 0 0
  Totals 13-23 235 3

All Scrimmage Plays

Year Plays Yards TDs
2011 5 48 1
2012 161 1,436 19
2013 68 828 12
2014 73 940 12
  Totals 307 3,252 44

Return TDs
2012     0
2013 Inter. 1   1
2014 Inter. 1 Punt 1 2
 Totals 2 1 3

Total TDs Involvement
2011     1
2012     *19
2013     13
2014     14
 Totals     47
*-includes three TD passes

Total Points
2011     6
2012     96
2013     78
2014     84
 Totals     264

Interceptions
201111     2
2012     2
2013     2
2014     4
 Totals     10

Jimmy Herron's Baseball Stats
Year Avg. G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR
2012 .333 16 30 12 10 7 3 0 0
2013 .430 24 86 35 37 24 7 2 0
2014 .386 27 83 31 32 20 8 0 0
2015 .329 23 70 24 23 16 7 1 0
  .379 90 269 102 102 67 25 3 0
La Salle's Postseason Football Playoff Results in Jimmy Herron's Career
2011   2012   2013   2014  
CL   CL   CL   CL  
Judge W Roman W Judge W Roman W
Roman W SJ Prep W SJ Prep L SJ Prep L
City Title   City Title          
Washington W Frankford W        
States   States          
Nazareth W Parkland W        
North Penn L Coatesville L        
  4-1   4-1   1-1   1-1
               
La Salle's Postseason Baseball Playoff Results in Jimmy Herron's Career
2012   2013   2014   2015  
CL   CL   CL   CL  
SJ Prep W Judge W C-E W Roman W
Carroll W Wood W Roman L Wood L
N-G L SJ Prep W B-P W    
    SJ Prep W N-G L    
City Title   City Title   City Title      
Frankford W Frankford W Washington W    
States   States   States      
Upper Dublin W Pennridge L Boyertown W    
Cent. Dauphin W     Hazleton W    
Hat.-Horsham W     Spring-Ford W    
CR South W     Conestoga W    
  7-1   5-1   7-2   1-1
               

MAY 25
TEDBIT
  In claiming the Catholic League championship on Saturday, Wood became the first team to win as many as three/all playoffs by only three runs total. Coach Jim DiGuiseppe Jr.'s Vikings topped Bonner-Prendie by 5-4, La Salle by 4-3 and Neumann-Goretti by 3-2. In '85, Judge also won three consecutive playoffs by one run apiece -- 4-3 over Ryan, 5-4 over Wood and 6-5 over North Catholic. But in the final, the Crusaders ditched the high-wire act and topped St. James, 11-5.

Catholic League Multiple-Win Champs
With Only One-Run Victory Margins
Year School Wins Quarter Semi Final
1978 *Roman Two - O'Hara, 2-1 (8) Egan, 1-0 (8)
2003 *O'Hara Two - Egan, 10-9 La Salle, 5-4
2005 *La Salle Two - Roman, 5-4 C-E, 4-3
2015 Wood Three B-P, 5-4 La Salle, 4-3 N-G, 3-2
*-In those years, regular season division champs earned byes to the semis

MAY 12
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 4, Haverford School 3
  Looonnng before the game began, PC sr. 1B Dillon Malandro crushed a BP pitch from coach David Miller and his teammates quickly chanted, "Bus! . . . Bus! . . . Bus!" A loud sound followed and the kids roared, "Buuuuuusssss!" while cheering wildly. At least 30 feet beyond PC's rightfield fence, atop a small incline, is a driveway used by buses that come from assorted districts to pick up PC students. Dillon's dinger hit one of them, as it was moving slowly along the driveway. The ball landed on the roof, so no one was hurt . . . As things turned out, that was only the third most impressive homer of the afternoon. In the first, HS soph RF Bryan Hyland absolutely crushed a two-run home to pretty much exact right-center. According to two guys who got a better look than I did, the ball soared over the person coaching third base on the girls' softball field and landed a couple feet from the base! UPDATE: A PC tipster says the coach was PC's Donald "Doc" Mittica, who last week notched his 300th win. And that the ball landed between shortstop and second base. Then, in the third, PC frosh LF Mike Siani thumped a two-run homer a shade to the left of dead right. This time, the ball landed atop the brick wall that's part of the third base dugout. UPDATE: Mike was later given that ball. OK, that gives us two runs apiece. PC added two more in its third-inning outburst. Jr. C Kenny Bergmann singled, Malandro also singled and went to second as HS was unable to throw out Bergmann at third, and sr. 3B Steve Brown fired an RBI single to center. Sr. RF Gabe Smith was hit by a pitch and sr. DH Pete Kashatus lofted a sac fly to center. Soph RH Tyler Dunbar did finish the inning, then sr. DH-RH Nick Greco hurled the last three innings, racking up three strikeouts and allowing three hits. The highlight of Greco's stint was a DP as soph SS David Hogarth chased down a popup in shallow left with his back to the infield, then whirled and gunned to first. HS' other run was tallied in the fifth as frosh CF Justin Meyer, who reached on a botched popup, scored on a hard, two-out single to left by sr. 2B Kevin McGowan. In all, jr. Harrison "Timbo" Timberlake allowed six hits (three of the infield variety) while walking none and recording five whiffs. Malandro made a clutch play for the second out of the seventh, making a leaping snag of a liner that could have skipped down into the corner for a double. UPDATE: Dillon's girlfriend, Kayla Quinn, a sr. pitcher and the No. 2 hitter, is the star of that softball team. Last year, she fired a perfect game! Soph 3B Tommy Toal then flied to right and Timberlake, as he headed to PC's bench, let out a booming "Let's go!" in celebration. The game ended at 5:57. Not bad, considering it didn't start until 4:29! Yes, plate ump Mike Finney was VERY late; the game was scheduled for 3:45. Basketball player Eric Stahlheber kept the scoreboard up to date and at one point I took his pic. He said with a laugh, "I'm working hard. I appreciate the recognition." Just before PC batted in the third, a HS mom, who was also taking pics nearby, reported that, via Twitter, she'd learned SCH Academy held a 2-0 lead over Malvern in the bottom of the fifth. However, Malvern scrambled back to claim a 5-3 win and finish at 8-2 for an outright championship. The loss dropped the Fords to 7-3. Those teams are finished. SCH is now 6-3 with a makeup vs. Germantown Academy remaining on Friday. Also, congrats to PC jr. Sean Foley, who recently won the I-A's shot put championship. Lest we forget, last winter he notched the first field goal in PC's new hoops venue. Talk about versatility! (smile)

MAY 12
TEDBIT
  The offseason is gonna be rough for O'Hara's underclassmen. But next year they'll return with over-the-top motivation. Yesterday -- by their arch-rival, no less -- the Lions were no-hit in Catholic League play . . . for the fourth time this season. Collin DiGalbo, also B-P's quarterback, and Evan Raiburn combined to post this latest no-no. Earlier, O'Hara went hitless for nine consecutive innings (six in the no-hitter by La Salle's Anthony Morabito and Joe Peluso on April 9, then the first three vs. SJ Prep on April 13). This time, the streak is 13 innings and it'll be alive as the 2016 season begins. The Lions had no hits vs. Lansdale in the seventh inning May 5 (Chris Salvey homered in the sixth), then suffered a five-inning no-hitter vs. Judge and Dan Hammer on May 7. Yesterday's game, as noted, went the regulation seven frames.

CL No-Hitters This Season Vs. O'Hara
Date Opponent Pitcher(s) Score IP K BB
5/11 Bonn.-Prendie Collin DiGalbo 7-0 6 9 0
    Evan Raiburn   1 1 0
5/7 Judge Dan Hammer 10-0 5 5 1
4/22 Neum.-Gor. Ethan Pritchett 10-0 6 8 3
4/9 La Salle Anthony Morabito 10-0 5 4 1
    Joe Peluso   1 1 0

MAY 11
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 4, La Salle 3
  World record, baby!! (Maybe.) Counting all three in the fourth inning and the first in the fifth, Conwell-Egan made four consecutive outs on "grounders" that traveled, roughly, 75 total feet! Grounders is in quotes because two outs came on sacrifice bunts. In the fourth, after soph 1B Shane Souchuck flared a single down the rightfield line, sr. RH James Dougherty fielded a sac by frosh C Nate Erhard and fired to sr. 1B Brian Buckley for out No. 1. "Doc"-"Buck" then combined to retire jr. DH Billy Meyer on a short chopper. Jr. RF Jarrett Patman then hit another went-nowhere chopper and frosh C Andrew Cossetti fired to first to retire the side. Sr. LF Tyler Watto then drew a walk to open the fifth and soph CF Matt Costanzo laid down a bunt to get him to second; "Doc" to "Buck" also had the assist/putout on that one. Amazing sequence! As frequent website visitors know, I love the wacky stuff so I had to start the report with that breakdown . . . This was a noteworthy win for C-E, which started all kinds of young bucks -- three sophs and two freshmen (and only two seniors). And since the Eagles were pressed hard over the last two innings, their ability to keep standing tall and pull out the win was quite the memory-maker, especially with the final out in mind. In the sixth, La Salle drew within 4-3 as "Buck" blooped a two-run double into RF that jr. Jarrett Patman was not able to snag despite an all-out, forward lunge. Sr. 2B Ian McIntosh then ripped a single to center and sr. RH Cole Ingelido gave way to sr. LH Joey DeVos, who promptly drilled frosh C Anthony Cossetti in the leg to load the bases. Soph RF Gregg Sywulak then lofted a popup toward the area right beyond first base. Nicolas ran over and finally made the catch after juggling the ball for about 45 minutes (slight exaggeration -- smile). OK, seventh inning. Jr. LF Langston Livingston drew a walk, DeVos fanned sr. 3B Pat McNally on a high fastball, Livingston stole second and moved to third on a balk, sr. SS AJ Grezeszak looked at a called strike three on a curve (semi-controversial call; otherwise the plate ump had a strong day) and sr. CF Jimmy Herron smoked a liner toward Nicolas. Brian soared, reached up and . . . made the catch! As you can imagine, the Eagles were beyond excited. Ingelido, whose listed weight is 175 (maybe too high by 40 pounds -- smile), had an interesting outing. Though he struggled with command at times, some of his fastballs were impressive and he also threw the occasional pitch in sling-it mode, keeping the Explorers guessing. Meanwhile, Ingelido and DeVos forced the Explorers to strand 13 runners. La Salle's run in the second scored on a bases-loaded walk to Herron. C-E scored two apiece in the first (two-run single by Erhard) and fifth (RBI on a fielder's choice off Nicolas' bat, bad-hop RBI infield single by
Souchuck). Souchuck and jr. SS Ameir "Amigo" Uzzell had two hits apiece. Soph 3B Jeff Manto, a lefty swinger and the son of ex-MLBer Jeff Manto, faced a serious shift. McNally was basically positioned at SS, Grezeszak was within a step or two of second and McIntosh was way over toward 1B. Very strange to see that defense at the high school level. Meanwhile, God doubled today as a very effective groundskeeper. A shade after 3 o'clock, it rained semi-hard for maybe five minutes. The water made the infield look perfect. During the game there were occasional raindrops. Nothing to affect the game. While heading home, I received a call from Huck. He was providing some details on Bonner-Prendie's no-hitter vs. O'Hara. At one point I had to say, "Hold on for a second, Huck." Reason? I was in the drive-thru line at McDonald's! That has happened often through the years. Huck said, "Man, how many times have you had to tell me to hold on so you can order a No. 2? Ha, ha, ha. That should be a Tedbit." Unfortunately, there is no documentation (smile).

MAY 9
TEDBIT
  By defeating Southern in its final game Thursday, Science Leadership became the 20th Public League baseball team in this century to post a perfect record in division play. For a while, the feat was mostly accomplished by schools with "Frank" in their name. From 2001 through '11, the perfectos were Frankford (three times), Franklin Learning Center (twice), Franklin Towne and Franklin (once apiece).

Perfect Pub Regular Seasons, 2000-15
Year School Div. W-L
2015 Science Leadership C 12-0
2014 Olney B 12-0
2013 Lincoln B 11-0
  University City D 12-0
2012 Del-Val D 10-0
2011 Fels C 11-0
  Franklin D 11-0
2010 Boys' Latin D 12-0
2009 Phila. Academy C 10-0
2008 Franklin Towne B 14-0
  Masterman C 11-0
  Phila. Academy D 14-0
2007 Franklin LC C 11-0
  Masterman D 11-0
2006 None    
2005 Frankford A 16-0
  Prep Charter C 17-0
2004 None    
2003 Frankford A 13-0
2002 Frankford A 14-0
  Franklin LC C 13-0
2001 Washington A 14-0
2000 None    

MAY 8
DOUGBIT
  The following story/pic were submitted by Doug Herman, the coach at Science Leadership. Thank you, Doug, and congrats to
you and your players!

  The Rockets did the impossible and won another thriller to finish the regular season a perfect 12-0 in league play!

  Nick Clark took the mound today and battled a VERY talented squad from Southern. After giving up a bonafide solo home run by Pedro Reyes, Nick was dominant and got out of some jams, striking out 8 in 5+ innings. Kevin Courtney once again came up big, just missing a homer of his own with a drive down to the fence in the left field corner. Hit shot scored Aaron Watson-Sharer, who scored all the way from first after he led off the inning with a first-pitch single to left.

  In the 4th the Rockets struck! Kevin "Tank" Williams led off the inning with a battle of an at-bat and drew a walk. Benny "Buckets" Simon followed suit with the same and big senior Raekwon Smith baffled the Southern defense by laying a perfect bunt down the third base line. Jason Greene, who was running for Williams, slid into third as their ace pitcher, Elliot Castillo, bobbled the exchange to load the bases. Then with two outs and a 2-1 lead, Stephen "Stax" Eager-White ripped a bomb to dead center clearing the bases. As Rae rounded third a bad throw allowed "Stax" to score an extremely unconventional Grand Slam giving SLA a 6-1 lead.

  The strike zone inexplicably tightened up from there on out for Nick Clark, allowing Southern to scrape back, making it 6-4 SLA. In the bottom of the 5th Kevin Courtney was hit in the head with a high fastball but was fine. As he quickly hustled to first he called for time and ran over to Castillo to shake hands and clarify there were no ill feelings. Ijustice Avery hit the next pitch to center, and "Tank" Williams followed suit with an RBI single of his own, making it 7-4. Similar to Nick Clark's Houdini tricks in earlier frames, Castillo got out of a jam with runners on 2nd and 3rd to keep it a 3-run game.

Science Leadership celebrates finishing 12-0 in Public C
  Benny "Buckets" Simon came in to pitch the 6th and struck out the side after walking the first batter. SLA stranded "Stax" on third in the bottom half of the frame after he walked and stole 2nd and 3rd. Simon came back out in the 7th and made it interesting. After walking the first two batters he struck out two in a row. Then the heart of Southern's order came up. Their 2 hitter- Destouet- ripped an RBI single into left, making it 7-5, and then a passed ball allowed the runners to advance to second and third, setting up a nail-biting finish. With the tying runs on 2nd and 3rd Simon forced one of their best hitters- Neher- to hit a weak grounder back to the right side of the mound. Ben easily grabbed and flipped it to Rae for the final out, sealing a perfect 12-0 regular season for the SLA Rockets!

  Once again they bent but didn't break. Their offense, which scored 172 runs and their pitching, which only allowed 22 runs all season, got it done when it mattered and that sets up an interesting first round matchup with Bodine on Monday, 5/11 (Location TBD).


  Josh Pagan
  Photo by Juan Namnun









 

 MAY 7
TEDBIT
  Late yesterday afternoon, I experienced one of the freakiest moments of my life. Here's the play by play . . . On Monday, Frankford coach Juan Namnun sent a text to report that his sophomore catcher, Josh Pagan, had batted six times (with no OFFICIAL at-bats) in a 19-7 Public A win over Prep Charter. He'd been plunked four times while drawing two walks. In the early afternoon yesterday, I did some research on the likes of baseballlibrary.com and baseballalmanac.com to see if any major leaguers had experienced such a game. On Aug. 22, 1891, Walt Wilmot, playing for the Chicago Colts vs. the Cleveland Spiders, walked six times in six plate appearances. On June 16, 1938, Jimmie Foxx did likewise as the Philadelphia Athletics played the St. Louis Browns. And then there was this: in MLB record history, no player has been plunked more than three times in one game (MANY guys have experienced that pain), so Pagan, in effect, broke that record! Later, Juan texted more exact details on Josh's performance vs. Prep Charter along with a head shot. Meanwhile, Randy Seidman emailed his weekly Hometown Philly honors and one of the honorable mention guys was Penn Charter product Andrew Amaro, who plays at the University of Tampa and is the nephew of the Phillies' general manager, Ruben Amaro. However, in an extremely rare glitch, Randy had forgotten to include the details that would explain Andrew's appearance on the list. I sent him an email and the response came a short time later. The coolest part of it: (Stats Line of the Week: Sat., May 2: 0-for-0, 4 BB, 2 HBP, 2 R, 3 SB). I looked at that nugget one time, two times, three times, four times . . . Unbelievable!! Andrew also had six plate appearances in a game -- Tampa won over Rollins, 10-9, in the nine-inning contest -- with no official at-bats!! How amazing is that? Randy happens to leave out one item and it's a match for the high school version I'd been researching. Again . . . unbelievable!! Below are breakdowns for Josh and Andrew. Thanks to Juan and Randy for their help.
Name School Opponent Date Result Bats PA1 PA2 PA3 PA4 PA5 PA6
Jose Pagan Frankford Prep Charter May 4 W, 19-7 R HBP HBP HBP HBP BB BB
Andrew Amaro Tampa Rollins May 2 W, 11-10 L HBP BB HBP BB BB BB
  Pagan scored one run; otherwise yielded to courtesy runner            
  Amaro scored two runs and stole three bases              


Andrew Amaro
Photo by Andy Meng









 

  Explanation from Randy on what happened at his end -- Was finishing up my e-mail, and had one line left, and it was Amaro's. Wife wanted an iced tea
from Dunkin Donuts. Told her,"Let's wait 'til I finish this line," but changed my mind and said, "Sure, let's go!" I saved the e-mail with Amaro's name in and
no info. Got back from DD, started to proof the saved article, forgetting about the one missing line, and then sent it you unaware of the omission.

MAY 5
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 12, SJ Prep 1 (5 innings)
  Note to fans of lengthy website reports: Brace yourself for disappointment. Though the Prep had been on a nice roll recently, today offered numerous punches to the gut (or lower). Hey, it happens. And sometimes the timing is quite the surprise. Wood scored four runs in the first, two in the second and six in the third before soph LH George Stewart, who began the year on the JV, was able to silence Wood's bats after getting hit around a little toward the end of the third. In the first three innings, I doubt Wood swung and missed more than five times and the total could have been as low as one. Pretty much all swings produced at least a foul ball. It was amazing. Anyway, Wood's primary hitting heroes were sr. CF Anthony Zupito (RBI double, RBI triple), jr. RH Joey Lancellotti (two-run single), jr. 1B Sean Kelly (ditto) and jr. 2B Matt Cummiskey (two-run double). Sr. C Nick Lafferty added a one-run single while the other runs scored on two wild pitches and an error. Wood's first five batters were sr. SS Tom Rosenbaum, Zupito, Lancellotti, Lafferty and Kelly. In the first three innings, they went 12-for-15 in reaching base (in whatever manner). Lancellotti, who at times comes off as free and easy and at other times as quite the bulldog, went all five innings. He allowed four hits (two of the scratch variety) while striking out four. His middle infielders helped out with doubleplays to end the first two innings -- Cummiskey to Rosenbaum, then Rosenbaum by himself on a step-on-it/fire-it sequence. The Vikings have turned as many as 13 DPs this season. The Hawks tallied in the fourth as sr. SS Tyler Clark managed a one-out scratch infield single, moved up with two away when jr. 3B Keith Flaherty milked a walk and trotted home when sr. C Jack Frantz cracked a double over the head of sr. 3B Austin Hill down into the corner. After the game, Wood coach Jim DiGuiseppe Jr. told his players I was going to buy him a cheesesteak. "Geez, did I say that out loud?" he added with a laugh. My response, also out loud with a laugh, about his original comment. "Not quite." Hey, I needed the six-plus dollars in my wallet for the nightly stop at McDonald's. Except I changed my mind and went to Taco Bell instead! See, I'm not completely set in my ways. On Monday, the Prep had Senior Day. Assistant Joe DeLuca did the announcing for that and decided to recognize base ump Gene Otto, who was also on hand today. "Gene," Joe told the spectators. "We said this was Senior Day. Not Senior Citizens Day." Gene, ever the good sport, gave me the go-ahead to mention that nugget in this report.

MAY 5
TEDBIT
  There are 19 baseball teams in the Catholic/Inter-Ac leagues and so far I've seen all but one (Judge - sorry). One trend I've noticed: A lot of young bucks (freshmen/sophomores) are sprinkled through starting lineups. In games I've attended, 39 YBs have started. The breakdown: 29 sophs and 10 freshmen. Four schools have started only juniors/seniors: Bonner-Prendie, Neumann-Goretti, SJ Prep and Wood.  

Young Buck Starters for Cath/Int Teams
School Last First Year Pos.
Carroll Argentieri Nick So. LF
Carroll Melito Rich So. DH
Conwell-Egan Nicolas Brian Fr. SS
Conwell-Egan Manto Jeff So. 3B
Conwell-Egan Souchuck Shane So. 1B
Conwell-Egan Erhard Nate Fr. LF
Conwell-Egan Costanzo Matt So. CF
Episcopal Payton Isaiah Fr. SS
Episcopal Virbitsky Kyle So. P
Gtn. Academy Dianno Jake So. CF
Gtn. Academy Capone Vince So. 2B
Gtn. Academy Werkheiser Ben So. 3B
Haver. School Toal Tommy So. 3B
Haver. School Hogarth David So. SS
Haver. School Hyland Bryan So. RF 
Haver. School Meyer Austin Fr. CF
La Salle Cossetti Andrew Fr. DH
La Salle Pogyer Jack So. C
Lansdale Casee Matt Fr. DH
Lansdale McSorley Ryan So. SS
Lansdale Ottomano Mike So. CF
Malvern Devereux Brady Fr. P
McDevitt Ehrlich Dan So. SS
O'Hara Klein Pete So. SS
O'Hara Beaky Jim Fr. CF
O'Hara Bromley Brian So. 3B
Penn Charter Holland Adam So. CF
Penn Charter Siani Mike Fr. RF-P
Penn Charter Toso Dom So. 2B
Penn Charter Lorenz Steve So. LF
Roman Nave Santino So. P
Ryan Hunter Cory So. 2B
Ryan Romano Matt So. C
Ryan Yost Brian So. 1B
Ryan Smith Justin So. 3B
SCH Academy Shubert Dan So. DH
SCH Academy Cucinotta John So. RF
SCH Academy Cunningham Bryce Fr. 2B
SCH Academy Alleyne Chris So. SS

MAY 4
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Lansdale Catholic 3, Ryan 1
  Ryan Quigley is rather well known around the Catholic League because he plays the three major sports and even stars in one; football MVP in Catholic AA last fall. Today, in effect, he tried a fourth "sport" -- tightrope walking. During the sixth inning, Quigley, LC's starter at second base, was replaced in the field so he could throw some warmup pitches in the bullpen beyond the Crusaders' third-base dugout. He then strolled to the mound for the top of the seventh, in relief of sr. RH Kyle Diseroad, and was given the task of protecting a 3-1 lead. How'd it go? It got hairy, folks! But Quigley indeed earned a save. He faced six batters and did not help his cause by allowing the first two guys to reach base -- soph 1B Brian Yost drew a walk and soph 3B Justin Smith sent a groundball single to center. Quigley then battled back with a pair of strikeouts -- one looking, one swinging -- before soph 2B Cory Hunter looped a single to left to load the bases. Next up was sr. CF Joe Iannacone, and he sent a groundball up the middle that became a game-ending, 6-4 forceout, thanks to soph SS Ryan McSorley. Overall, LC's hero was . . . Well, here's what was yelled at the time by one of the players: "Way to go, second base!!" Smile. In the second inning, the first two Crusaders were retired before walks to Quigley and McSorley sandwiched a single by frosh DH Matt Casee to load the bases. Soph CF-2B Mike Ottomano then sent a groundball exactly up the middle. And we do mean exactly! Thump! The ball hit the bag and took a crazy bounce into the outfield as Quigley and Casee dashed home. Diseroad, the leadoff batter and a lefty swinger, then fired an RBI single a shade to Yost's right. Ryan jr. RH Matt "Balboa" Rocchi also struggled in the third, but in that frame a fly to center enabled him to keep the 'Saders off the scoreboard. Overall, he allowed six hits and three walks while plunking two. Through five frames, Ryan advanced only one guy as far as third base -- Hunter led off the game with a single, thieved second and scampered over on a groundout. Sr. DH Josh Lopez finished the inning with a decent shot to left that couldn't penetrate the wind; Yost had an even better one in the second (almost reached the fence). Ryan's sixth began with a grounder by Hunter to sr. 1B Karl Brill. Brill gobbled and rumbled to the bag, but, oh baby, he neglected to step on it, as noticed by the first base coach, Matt Pagiegal (a sr. player), and the base ump. Hunter then stole second and was able to move to third as Iannacone followed with an infield single to deep shortstop. Alas, the Raiders tried a double steal with soph C Matt Romano at bat. The ball was cut off en route to second and Hunter was erased at the plate. Quite deflating, especially since Romano followed with a single. Iannacone then dashed home on Lopez' sac fly to left. The inning ended as jr. SS Tyler DiMatteo was rung up on a low/away curve that caught a sliver of the strike zone. In his six innings, Diseroad gave up five hits and no walks while fanning three. Ryan sr. SS Anthony Fratanduono, who has recently made a splash as a track novice, was not with the Raiders today. LC is now using the Nor-Gwyn American Legion complex, which sits behind Pennbrook Middle School, in North Wales, as its home field. It's pretty appealing. Beyond the fence near first base are two single rows of blue seats from the ol' Veterans Stadium. Cool. Took pics for a while down the rightfield line near spectator Bob Romano, Matt's dad and a former star rusher for Ryan ('84). Bob was minding the family's dog, a tiny thing named Maggie that can growl/bark with the best of 'em (smile). At one point Bob said with a laugh, "You can tell she's a people person, right? . . . No, she is, really. Just have to get past the first 5-10 minutes." Ha, ha. It was good to see LC coach Dave Scott. I'd sent him an email just to make sure today's date was correct and that the Crusaders were still using the same field as in previous seasons. They're not. Thank goodness I cross-checked. I kidded with Dave about how long the drive would be and that I might not make it until the fourth inning. He responded, "And don't forget your passport. You'll need it to get across the border." Ha, ha, ha.

  Mike Siani (L) and Brady Devereux

 MAY 2
TEDBIT
  . . . OK, so here's the deal. Yesterday's Inter-Ac League game between Malvern Prep and visiting Penn Charter was a special occasion because the starting pitchers were freshmen. RH Brady Devereux for MP and LH Mike Siani for PC. Wait, that's only one-third of it. Each one will play college ball at a high Division I level in the ACC -- Devereux at Wake Forest and Siani at Virginia. Wait, that's only two-thirds of it. Here's the final third of it: Each guy made his commitment before playing one game of varsity ball!! Devereux (Bubba Ball) and Siani (Whiz Kids) gained their early attention as members of nationally recognized club-team programs. Pretty amazing, right? How often (if ever) has a high school game featured two freshmen pitchers with rides to big-time programs? Especially with that extra nugget -- each guy received the offer (and accepted) before making his high school varsity debut. Congratulations, guys! As detailed in the game report below, Malvern won the game, 5-4. Neither pitcher was involved in the decision (though the win also went to a freshman, RH Billy Corcoran). Below are the pitching lines for Devereux and Siani.
Name School Throws IP H R ER BB SO
Brady Devereux Malvern RH 3 2/3 3 3 3 3 4
Mike Siani Penn Charter LH 6 6 4 4 3 3

MAY 1
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 5, Penn Charter 4
  Shortly before the game began, I happened to mention to PC sr. 1B Dillon Malandro that he was going to be part of a special occasion. After he heard the details, Dillon quipped, "Sounds like a Tedbit." Indeed! And we'll break it all down tomorrow. Decided not to do so tonight because the game itself wound up becoming quite the memory-maker. Think of the ways a team can seize a walkoff victory. A hit, an error, a sac fly, a walk . . . all kinds of things. With one away in the home seventh, Malvern scored run No. 5 on a botched suicide squeeze. The count was 2-1 to sr. DH Mark Gentilotti, a righthanded batter, and please don't blame him for failing to get aluminum on the pitch from soph RH Alex Cohen. Cohen is a big-time submariner/sidearmer and the pitch was so far outside that Gentilotti described it as being "in the other (batter's) box." PC jr. C Kenny Bergmann did a great job even getting his glove on the ball. However, his momentum briefly took him away from the plate and when he spun around to try to apply a tag, sr. RF Chris Butera was safely -- but not my much -- sliding across the plate. Quite a finish! And the Friars definitely realized that. Players exploded out of the dugout and raced onto the field to mob Butera and, ultimately, celebrate with each other in rambunctious fashion. Bergmann, meanwhile, sat dazed on the third base side not far from the plate, having been bumped in the head. Hopefully, he's OK! The home seventh went like this (with Cohen having taken over for frosh LH Mike Siani): Butera, Malvern's leadoff batter, made a last-instant swing on an offspeed pitch and flared a single to right. With Butera running toward second, jr. LF Chance DiFebbo (3-for-4 with a double) fired a groundball single through the hole vacated by jr. SS Frank Driscoll. Sr. 1B Tim Quinn was issued an intentional walk to load the bases. Cohen used a sweeeeeeping curve to fan jr. 3B Jake Mullan. Then came the game-ending sequence described above. Early, it appeared PC might be in for a long afternoon as Malvern tallied two runs apiece in the first and second. DiFebbo's RBI triple highlighted the first while Butera spanked a two-run single to right in the second. PC scored one run in the third on a solo homer to right (cleared the fence, strong liner off a nice, easy swing) by soph LF Steve Lorenz and two in the fourth on a semi-hard single to right by soph 2B Dom Toso, the No. 8 hitter. Props to the bottom of the order! That safety was notched against sr. RH Ryan Hegarty, who'd just replaced frosh RH Brady Devereux (three hits and three runs, all earned) in 3 2/3 innings. Hegarty went 1 1/3 and frosh RH Billy Corcoran pitched the sixth and seventh. He breezed (two Ks) through a 1-2-3 sixth, then soph CF Adam Holland blooped a single just in front of the diving centerfielder, sr. Parker Abate. Siani fanned on a changeup, but the inning stayed alive on a throwing error to first by sr. SS David Rodgers (it appeared he could have gotten a force at second; no doubt he felt great when his teammates bailed him out in the bottom half). Malandro was issued an intentional walk to load the bases and that decision left no wiggle room for Corcoran. Remember, he's only a freshman. Sr. 3B Steve Brown milked a five-pitch walk to make it 4-4, then sr. RF Gabe Smith was retired on a fly to left. Defensively, Mullan made a nice, hard-charge play on a grounder, Devereux picked a runner off first and Smith made an impressive throw from right to get an out at the plate. Strange fact: In the seven innings, 12 Malvern runners reached base before an out was recorded. Only two PC guys did so. Had a great pregame talk with Matt O'Brien, who earned first team All-City honors as an outfielder for Malvern in 1993. He drove up from Virginia (not far from D.C.) to check out his alma mater. Great to see you, Matt, and thanks for coming over to chat about the good, ol' days! (smile) Also on hand -- cool! -- was Wally Lubanski, whose youngest son, Joe, has just completed his college career at Yale. He prepped at Malvern as did his brother, Mike (Wake Forest). Their older brother, Chris, was an all-timer (No. 5 pick in the 2003 draft) at now-closed Kennedy-Kenrick, in Norristown. 

MAY 1
TEDBIT
  When he pitched yesterday vs. the Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals lefty Tim Cooney (Malvern) became the 51st Catholic/Inter-Ac/Public product in this century to realize the dream of playing in the major leagues, NBA or NFL. He was also the 13th Inter-Ac guy. That's pretty darn impressive since the I-A includes just six schools. By contrast, the CL's number is 22 (roughly three times as many schools, though some have closed during the time frame) and the PL's number is 16 (with hundreds of schools -- smile . . . OK, probably about 75 including those that have closed).

BASEBALL
     
CATHOLIC    
Bob File Judge 2001
Mike Costanzo Carroll 2012
Christian Walker Kenn.-Ken. 2014
     
INTER-AC    
Mike Koplove Chest. Hill 2001
Phil Gosselin Malvern 2013
Tim Cooney Malvern 2015
     
PUBLIC    
None    





















 
BASKETBALL
     
CATHOLIC    
Lari Ketner Roman 2000
Marc Jackson Roman 2001
Eddie Griffin Roman 2002
Rasual Butler Roman 2003
Kyle Lowry Dougherty 2007
Maalik Wayns Roman 2013
     
INTER-AC    
Steve Goodrich Penn Charter 2001
Matt Walsh Gtn. Acad. 2006
Rob Kurz Penn Charter 2009
Sean Singletary Penn Charter 2009
Wayne Ellington Episcopal 2010
Gerald Henderson Episcopal 2010
     
PUBLIC    
Sean Colson Fkn LC 2001
Ronald Murray Straw. Mans. 2003
Mardy Collins Gratz 2007
Lynn Greer E&S 2007
Steve Smith Northeast 2007
Marcus Morris Prep Charter 2012
Markieff Morris Prep Charter 2012
Dionte Christmas Fels 2014







 
FOOTBALL
     
CATHOLIC    
Anthony Becht Bonner 2000
John Waerig Dougherty 2001
Victor Hobson SJ Prep 2003
Jerrell Pippens West 2004
Kevin Jones O'Hara 2004
Maurice Stovall Carroll 2006
Scott Paxson Roman 2008
Steve Slaton Con.-Egan 2008
Curtis Brinkley West 2010
Anthony Walters O'Hara 2011
Nick Moody Roman 2013
Corey Brown O'Hara 2014
Tom Savage O'Hara 2014
     
INTER-AC    
Kyle Eckel Episcopal 2007
Matt Ryan Penn Charter 2008
Will Barker Hav. School 2010
Ryan Nassib Malvern 2014
     
PUBLIC    
Raheem Brock Dobbins 2002
Bruce Perry Washington 2005
Jahri Evans Frankford 2006
Brent Grimes Northeast 2007
Jameel McClain Washington 2008
Dominique Curry Washington 2010
Sharrif Floyd Washington 2013
Earl Watford Gratz 2014


 

APRIL 30
TEDBIT
  Tim Cooney, a lefty out of Malvern Prep ('09), will join quite the exclusive club this afternoon when he makes his MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals. He'll be pitching against the Phillies and only TWO other Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac products have gotten their start against their hometown team, according to debut info accessed from baseball-reference.com. Oddly, both guys graduated in 1974 -- lefty George Riley from Southern and righty Tom Filer from Ryan -- and they pitched against each other in the '74 City Title game (though Filer did so in relief and was not tagged with the loss). Southern won, 5-0, as Riley spun a four-hitter with 15 strikeouts. Those guys wound up making their MLB debuts three years apart. No position players have made their debuts vs. the Phillies. For whatever reason, many more Philly guys have first appeared in the majors with American League teams and for decades, of course, inter-league play did not exist. An interesting nugget: Late in the 1937 season, a righthander named Joe Kohlman made his MLB debut (in the AL) for the Washington Senators vs. the visiting Philadelphia Athletics. He went eight innings in a game that was suspended after 11 with the score at 7-7. He allowed nine hits, one walk and four runs (all earned) while striking out three. One problem: Not sure if he went to one of  "Our Schools." Though he's listed as being from Philly in many places, there's also an indication he might have been from Atlantic City. Anyway, check out this amazing fact:  While pitching that season for Salisbury in the Class D Eastern Shore League, Kohlman suffered a loss in his first outing and then racked up 25 consecutive wins! That dominance included two no-hitters.
  UPDATED: Tim's stint lasted 2 1/3 innings. His stats are below.

Public/Catholic/Inter-Ac Products Who've Made MLB Debuts vs. the Phillies
Name School Team Date Result IP H R ER BB SO
George Riley Southern '74 Cubs 9/15/1979 *L, 8-1 @2 3 1 1 0 0
Tom Filer Ryan '74 Cubs 6/8/1982 #L, 5-2 3 5 4 4 3 2
Tim Cooney Malvern '09 Cards 4/30/2015 #L, 9-3 @2.1 7 3 3 1 3
*-relief                    
#-starter                    
@-no decision                    

APRIL 29
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
O'Hara 8, Roman 5
  Many people swear I'm a jinx . . . And then there's Chris Salvey. Rumor has it O'Hara's sr. DH is starting a GoFundMe account to assure he'll have enough money to pay me to attend every O'Hara game for the rest of the season (smile). Back on April 13, he went 3-for-3 with a double, homer and two RBI in a 6-4, nine-inning loss to St. Joseph's Prep. Today, he went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in the fourth and a one-run double in the sixth for four total RBI. His grand total during Trail visits: 5-for-7, two doubles, two homers, six RBI. The homer, which cleared the fence in left-center a shade to the right of the 370-foot sign, ended the outing of soph RH Santino Nave. Like the homer vs. the Prep, the Bull-like Salvey (as in Greg Luzinski) buried it! The double involved a stroke of luck. Salvey did not put a wicked swing on a pitch from soph RH Aidan Welch. In fact, all he did was send a blooper down the rightfield line. The ball landed in fair territory, however, so Chris minded not in the least. He then rumbled home as sr. RF Nick Newman, who showed good, team-leading energy all game, fired an RBI single to left. Newman (grounder through the hole to left), sr. LF Colin McGuire (looper down the leftfield line) and soph 3B Brian Bromley (sac fly to right) notched RBI in the three-run first. Three guys shared pitching duties for the Lions. Due to some arm tenderness, jr. RH Kevin Sessa only made it through two innings. He yielded two runs. Next up was soph RH Isaiah Hammond, who pitched shutout ball over three frames and forced Roman to strand a guy at third in each of them. He allowed three hits, all singles. Sr. LH Bill Neill pitched the last two frames, yielding three runs, four hits and two walks. Even though O'Hara owned a comfortable tead to start each inning, Neill paid way too much attention to runners at first. Twice early in the sixth, he tried pickoffs with a four-run lead. Later, a mound visit appeared to get across the point that Bill needed to focus on hitters and forget about the runners. Oddly, Roman reaped only two hits from the first four batters in the order and six from the last three. Two RBI apiece went to sr. CF Jon Stoffere and sr. LF Derek Keough while jr. C Kevin Glynn went 3-for-3 with a walk and one RBI. Jr. SS Noah Clement and jr. 1B Vic Malizia halved four hits. All of Roman's 11 hits were singles. Roman's cleanup hitter was jr. RF Phil DiWilliams (also the QB). In the first inning he was robbed of a hit when McGuire made a sliding/kneeling catch of a low liner. Stoffere is the last of four brothers to play major sports for Roman. Beforehand, we saw Chris (QB), Matt and Nick. Their dad, Chris, was a pitcher for Roman in '81. Their uncles, John ('78, starting LF for championship team), Dan (QB-OF, '86) and Ted ('92, golf stalwart), also repped Roman in fine fashion. Meanwhile, Roman's scorekeeper is senior Jimmy Stinsman. Every school needs a Jimmy! He provides relentless support for all athletic teams and I'm told he's also a non-stop, first-honors student. VERY cool!

APRIL 28
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Episcopal 9, Germantown Academy 6
  Number 9 for Episcopal made Lotsis positive contributions. Sorry, couldn't help it (smile). And, just as in last week's SCH Academy-Penn Charter game that I covered, the winning team's most productive player in this Inter-Ac contest was a kid who goes by the initials AJ. SCH's headliner was AJ LaBella. EA's was jr. 2B Andrew "AJ" Lotsis. This AJ bats leadoff and in the home first he cracked an outta-here homer to right-center. His next two plate appearances produced walks and he scored a run in a six-run third. As Lotsis strode to the plate in the sixth, the Churchdudes were unsure how things were gonna play out because their lead had diminished from 7-0 to 7-6. But with one away and jr. RF Will Phillips (walk) on first, the lefty swinger fired an RBI double to left-center. He then moved to third on a groundout off the bat of frosh SS-RH Isaiah Payton and used a great read/mad dash to score the final run on a wild pitch. Sounds like the Player of the Game, right? Episcopal's six-run frame was fueled largely by sr. 3B-RH Ben Burman and Phillips. Each delivered two-run singles while jr. 1B Alex Burman (Ben's bro) and sr. CF Joe Chambers managed one-run singles. The Churchkids' pitching was done by soph RH Kyle Virbitsky (four innings), sr. RH Michael Nickolas (1 1/3), Ben Burman (2/3) and Payton (a 1-2-3 seventh; also showed a gun at SS). With the bases loaded and two away in the second, and with a full count on the batter, Virbitsky gigantically helped himself by picking a runner off second base. Payton made the tag. Another big defensive moment was recorded in the sixth by Lotsis, who made a leaping catch of a liner. GA's version of Lotsis was, fittingly, the second baseman. Soph Vince Capone got down a nice sac bunt to start, notched an RBI triple and RBI double (both balls were thumped) in his next two at-bats and made the Patriots' top defensive play, as well. With the infield up, sr. C Austin Morgan fired a one-hopper a shade to Capone's right. Vince perfectly pulled off the smother-it act and fired to jr. C Ryan Calhoun to get the out. Soph CF Jake Dianno had another defensive dandy, scrambling into left-center to run down Ben Burman's drive and stretch out for the catch. Right after Lotsis' leaping catch, Calhoun ripped a two-run double to left. Jr. LF Dan Zamarin had an infield single for an RBI in the fourth and later scored on a wild pitch. Early in the game, I heard a Patriot say to a teammate, "I can only get hits when my helmet doesn't fit me." The helmet was lookin' snug. "Looks like I'll have an oh-fer today." He did. Now coaching with Episcopal is assistant Dan Williams, a 2004 grad and third team All-City infielder as a senior. His partners are coach Mike Hickey (Malvern's former boss) and Tom Grandieri (former Malvern star). Guiding the Pats on an interim basis for this full season is Joe O'Hara, who won a record six Public League titles at George Washington. His primary sidekick is Calvin Jones, who formerly coached hoops at Washington and guided GA to the Inter-Ac baseball crown in 1996. Calvin starred in the three major sports at Edison ('70) and played briefly in the minors. Great to see all of you, guys! (Ditto for base ump John McBride.) Dianno (Mark, McDevitt) and GA jr. RH Emmett Harkins (also Emmett, La Salle) are the sons of former Catholic League notables. Batting leadoff today for GA was sr. DH John Aiello, a star shortstop and Wake Forest commit who's coming off Tommy John surgery and, thus, can't play in the field. John long has enjoyed a high national profile and a half-dozen MLB scouts, at least, were on hand today. They didn't get to see much. Batting only lefthanded, the switch-hitter fanned in his first at-bat, then walked, got plunked and walked again without seeing too many strikes. He was one of the two guys to score on Calhoun's sixth inning double.

APRIL 27
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 7, McDevitt 6
  With the score at 6-0 after 4 1/2 innings, the C-E guys were talking about posting a four-spot in the home fifth and sending everyone home a shade early. And then . . . There we were in the visiting seventh and McDevitt was thisclose to tying the score. The Lancers tallied three unearned runs in the sixth vs. sr. LH Joey DeVos, cutting the deficit to 7-3 and terminating Joey's outing (seven hits allowed, no walks, four strikeouts). Jr. RH Joe DeLong started the seventh, but could not zone in and was replaced after issuing no-out walks to jr. 1B Alex Wilson, sr. 2B Jake Cantwell and sr. CF Zach Coates. Soph RH Pat Brennan took to the hill and soph SS Dan Ehrlich sent a sac fly to right. An infield bobble reloaded the bases and sr. LF Brendan Hanagan followed with a grounder wide of first that turned into a scratch single. Then all heck broke loose. A wild throw allowed another run to score and sr. RH-3B Dan Janosen, who'd reached on the bobble, came whipping around third with designs on scoring as well. But as neared the plate, Janosen decided to leap, instead of slide. After frosh C Will Zimmerman made the tag, Janosen was ejected by the plate ump for failing to follow the proper protocol. (That sequence left McDevitt with only nine players.) Next up was jr. DH Joel Moore. The righthanded hitter sliced one down the rightfield line and -- oh baby! -- it landed a smidgeon into foul territory. C-E soph 1B Shane Souchuck said later that the ball was foul by only "a couple inches." Brennan took a deep breath and ended it with a called strike three . . . Now, let's work in some humor before we return to game nuggets. Before the game, C-E was warming up to country music. As the McDevitt kids reached their bench after walking in from the bus, sr. 3B-RH Jimmy Templeton said, "Country music? That's supposed to get you pumped up? It makes you feel like you should get on a tractor and take a ride around the field." Ha, ha, ha. He was a pip later, also. At a time when McDevitt had ducks on the pond, Templeton blurted out, "Ducks in the chicken coop!" Followed by, "Dragon flies in the swamp!" A teammate asked him, "Bro, WHAT are you sayin'?" Indeed. Ha, ha . . . OK, back to details. C-E, as coached by Mike Gossner, who doubles as an associate scout for the Orioles, is incredibly young. DeVos is one of only three seniors. Aside from Joey, the Eagles started three apiece of juniors, sophs and freshmen. Frosh SS Brian Nicolas, soph 3B Jeff Manto (his dad, Jeff, played in the majors out of nearby Bristol High) and jr. RF Jarrett Patman recorded two hits apiece while Souchuck (single) and jr. DH Billy Meyer (double) got things started with hits for RBI in the first. Nicolas and Patman also had doubles. Though he did have a late error, Manto made several nice plays. On one, he momentarily lost the handle on a grounder to his right, then regrouped and gunned to first for the out. For McDevitt, Janosen and Hanagan (headed to Delaware Valley College to kick/punt and perhaps play baseball) notched two hits apiece while Templeton sliced an RBI single to right in the three-run sixth. Coates (a k a "Zachie Robinson") had a strong day in center. He always got good jumps on flies/liners and made a diving stab of a sinker into right-center. Janosen made a nice sprawling stop of a comebacker. Ed Kerrigan, now in his 52nd season, worked the bases. After a player hit a foul ball up and over the restraining fence on the first base side, Ed crowed, "That's out on Lehigh Avenue!" A C-E sub wondered aloud, "Lehigh Avenue?" Gossner walked over to the kid and told him, "That's from the old Connie Mack Stadium." (Lehigh was parallel to the line from the plate to the rightfield corner.) Ed has been using that line for decades and for me it never gets old. In fact, I love it! Anyone of a certain age still wishes the Phillies played at Connie Mack Stadium. And that Richie (later Dick) Allen was still clearing the roof with homers out onto Somerset Street.

APRIL 27
TEDBIT
  On WIP yesterday morning, a caller mentioned to Sonny Hill that Overbrook High would soon be holding an alumni event to honor certain athletes. One name mentioned was Jeff Leonard, who enjoyed a long, productive career in the major leagues, and hearing his name set the mind into its commonplace, can't-be-helped spin. As in, over the last 39 years, how many other Pub/Cath/Int guys have made their debut and then proceeded to become everyday position starters (or close to it) in the majors? The answer: Not many. I decided to use 300 at-bats in a season as the cutoff. Only five guys have reached that number. And four managed just one season of logging that many ABs. Meanwhile, Frankford product Bobby Higginson ('87) was a 10-year starter for the Tigers, enjoying stints at all three outfield positions. Leonard played for five teams from 1977 through '90, hitting .266 with 144 homers and 723 RBI. "Higgy" played for only Detroit in an 11-year career, batting .272/187/809.

"Our Guys" With at Least 300 At-Bats in a Major League Season, 1977-2014
(Made Debut DURING That Time Frame)
Name School Year(s) Team Pos. G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Bob Zupcic Egan 1992 Red Sox OF 124 392 108 .276 3 43
*Bobby Higginson Frankford 1995-04 Tigers OF 154 597 179 .300 30 102
Ruben Amaro Jr. Penn Charter 1992 Phillies OF 126 374 82 .219 7 34
Joe McEwing Egan 1999 Cardinals 2B 152 513 141 .275 9 44
Ben Davis Malvern 2001 Padres C 138 448 107 .239 11 57
*-stats for best season are listed
  Other "Our Guys" position players, 1977-2014: Mike Costanzo, Carroll; Phil Gosselin, Malvern; Jesse
Levis, Northeast; John Marzano, Central; Gene Schall, La Salle; Christian "Ya Ya" Walker, Kennedy-Kenrick. 

APRIL 25
TEDBIT
  No-hitters are kinda rare, right? So, multiple no-hitters are almost NEVER posted on the same day, right? . . . Um, not really. Yesterday, Swenson's Johneric Vincente and String Theory's Joe Cammisa recorded no-hitters and that was the 14th time in this century that at least two no-nos have been recorded by Pub/Cath/Int pitchers on the same day. Three times, THREE no-nos have been posted.

Multiple No-Hiters on the Same Day, 2000-15
YEAR DATE LEAGUE PITCHER SCHOOL OPPONENT SCORE INN. K BB
2015 4/24 Public Joe Cammisa String Theory Dobbins 11-0 5 8 -
  4/24 Public Johneric Vincente Swenson Fels 13-0 5 5 1
2013  4/17 Public Emmanuel Young Franklin Bok 10-0 5 11 1
  4/17 Public *Justin Carlson Lincoln Roxborough 11-0 5 5 0
  3/27 Catholic Tom Mullin SJ Prep Roman 10-0 5 7 2
  3/27 Catholic Matt Kress Lansdale McDevitt 11-0 6 8 1
2011  5/2 Public Hector Cerda Frankford Washington 4-0 7 9 5
  5/2 Public Travis Zink Phila. Acad. Bodine 1-0 7 8  -
  4/6 Catholic Nick Gulla Lansdale McDevitt 10-0 5 7 0
  4/6 Public Ryan Gonzalez Furness Dobbins 14-1 5 13  -
2009 4/29 Catholic Ryan Mimnaugh Lansdale West Cath. 11-0 5 8  -
  4/29 Public Brian Gibbons Dobbins Univ. City 11-0 5 11  -
2008  4/21 Public Jose DeLeon Olney Bok 14-1 5 11 3
  4/21 Catholic Kyle Mullen SJ Prep North Cath. 9-3 7 6 4
2005  4/25 Catholic Rob Fisher Ryan Wood 8-0 7 8 3
  4/25 Catholic Bill Edger SJ Prep West Cath. 16-0 7 10 6
2004 4/29 Public Keon Richardson Dobbins Gratz 10-0 5 7  -
  4/29 Catholic Brian Rorick Carroll Kenn.-Ken. 10-0 7 8  -
2003 5/22 Public #Andrew Lihotz Northeast Kensington 10-0 5 7 -
  5/22 Public #Mario Malatino GAMP Mastbaum 5-1 7 12 3
  5/22 Public #Joe Farina Frankford Dobbins 17-0 5 13 -
  4/24 Public Joe Farina Frankford Bartram 13-0 5 11  -
  4/24 Public Jose Colon Mastbaum Fels 10-0 5 9 0
  4/24 Public Tyler Bowker Southern Penn 13-0 5 14  -
2001 4/2 Public Carlos Munoz Kensington King 10-0 5 12  -
  4/2 Public Ron Kenney Bok Overbrook 6-1 7 16 1
  4/2 Public Charlie Ritterson Washington Lincoln 11-1 5  -  -
2000  5/11 Public Terrance Brunson Dobbins West Phila. 14-2 5 12  -
  5/11 Public Jim Slavin Kensington Penn 11-0 5 13  -
  5/1 Public Eric Rossiter Franklin LC Univ. City 11-0 5 14  -
  5/1 Public Terrance Brunson Dobbins Audenried 14-4 5  -  -
*-perfect game
#-round-of-16 playoff

APRIL 24
TEDBIT
  (With the April 18 Tedbit in mind . . . ) Not quite 11, but close. Neumann-Goretti's pitchers slapped together a streak of 10 consecutive hitless innings. It ended yesterday in the third inning of a game at Carroll. The middle six featured a mercy-rule no-hitter by jr. RH Ethan "E" Pritchett. Thanks to N-G assistant Joe Messina for his help with the details below.

Streak of 10 Hitless Innings By N-G's Pitchers
Name Date Innings Opponent
Jared Healey April 15 #Two McDevitt
Ethan Pritchett April 22 *Six O'Hara
Gino Tripodi April 23 Two Carroll
#-Relieved Joe LaFiora (five innings)
*-Game limited to six innings by mercy rule

APRIL 23
INTER-AC LEAGUE
SCH Academy 11, Penn Charter 6
  Man, it was c-c-c-c-c-old. I was shivering for the last four-odd innings and heard more than a few people say while heading for the parking lot, "I can't take this anymore." The not-comfy temp was bad enough. The wind was also quite strong and the sun appeared, only slightly, for maybe 10 seconds at most. Beforehand, I heard separate groups of players discussing how the weather is almost always brutal when SCH meets PC. NOW you tell me (ha ha). Often in cold weather, pitching dominates. Not today, baby! The visiting Blue Devils posted a four-spot in the first and we were off to the races (around the bases). The teams bagged 11 hits apiece and nine went for extra bases. Oddly, PC won that contest, 7-2. SCH's most productive hitter was jr. 3B AJ LaBella, the No. 3 hitter. He went 3-for-4 with a double (ground rule) and sac fly (to the backtracking shortstop) for four RBI, but his best bolt was a liner that turned into an out (as jr. SS Frank Driscoll made a nifty lunge/dive to his right). Soph DH Dan Shubert, the No. 6 hitter, added three RBI with a one-run single in the first and a two-run single in the fifth. Jr. CF Nick “Juice” Rowland and sr. C Michael  Melady also had two hits apiece while soph RF John Cucinotta laced an RBI double and soph SS Christopher “Bubby” Alleyne scored three runs without getting a hit (two walks, one HBP). Aside from four in the first, SCH scored two in the second, four in the fifth and one in the sixth. PC's hitting headliners were frosh LF-LH Mike Siani, jr. C Kenny Bergmann and sr. 1B Dillon Malandro. When Siani came to bat in the third, I was standing at the edge of the restraining fence on the first base side, trying to take a quick pic. Two SCH subs were nearby and I happened to say about Siani, "This is the kid that got a D-1 scholarship (to the University of Virginia) before he ever played in a varsity game." The guys knew about it and one added, not in a mean way, just in an amazed way, "I don't know why." Next pitch? Ping!!!! Siani fired a two-run homer over the fence a few feet inside the dead rightfield corner. Of course, I couldn’t help but blurt out with a smile, “I guess that’s why.” The kid closest to me was shaking his head as if to say, “How in the world did THAT just happen?” UPDATE: That SCH kid was sr. Sean McCann. Siani also had an RBI double while going 2-for-4 with three RBI. He also pitched the last two innings, allowing one hit and a run while uncorking impressive fastballs. Bergmann went 2-for-4 with a double, triple and one RBI. Malandro -- his dad, Ed, was a terrific football-baseball player for PC (class of '83) -- went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI. He was also issued an intentional walk. SCH’s starter was jr. RH Gunnar Hayes. He experienced no problems through two, then was hit around in the third and fourth. Frosh RH Aidan Frye allowed two hits and a run over the final three frames. Meanwhile, PC’s other extra base hits were doubles by soph 2B Dominic Toso and sr. DH Pete Kashatus. The benches at PC are very close to the cage and when the kids are motivated, that proximity can create a lively ballgame. That definitely happened today. The SCH crew, in particular, showed great energy. Each time the Blue Devils headed out onto the field, two subs (sometimes more) stood beyond the end of that restraining fence and yelled assorted comments to the starters. “You’d better sprint out there!” “Who’s getting out there the fastest?” “C’mon, you gotta hustle to your position!” Sometimes, the subs added playful semi-pushes. Also, at times, guys could be spotted doing pushups. A LOT of pushups, even. Sorry, but I neglected to find out the details. (Feel free to email me, someone/anyone.) UPDATE: Received an email from the aforementioned Sean McCann. "The players that were doing those push-ups and yelling at players were myself, senior catcher Robbie Phillips, senior pitcher Josh Beckerman, and senior pitcher Pat McCann (no relation). We do this at every one of our games and keep the energy up in our dugout. We call ourselves "The Bench Mob" . . . Thanks for this response, Sean! PC’s coach is David Miller, one of the top athletes in the ol’ Chestnut Hill Academy’s history and a former minor leaguer. His emotions had to be swirling. In time, PC could have two very successful lefties in Siani and soph Brendan Cellucci. Their builds and velocities were very similar. Late in the game, a black squirrel made an appearance on the gigantic tree up the hill behind third base. Not sure I’d ever seen one of those. Two PC guys standing nearby said, “No one ever believes us when we say there are black squirrels running around PC.” Guess what? There ARE! (smile) . . . Major props to The Wife. At first, the pics refused to download/upload (whatever the correct word is) onto my ancient laptop. She was able to download/upload them onto her only semi-ancient laptop and then later, somehow, she matched the feat back on my computer. Thanks, kiddo!! Imagine how many curse words you would have heard for the second time in three nights (the Malvern-Haverford School pics are lost forever -- ugh). Even she couldn't perform that miracle. 

APRIL 23
TEDBIT
  The Catholic League has finally joined the club. This season, Neumann-Goretti has become the seventh city-leagues school in this century to find itself on the good and bad ends of no-hitters. The Saints suffered a no-no vs. Wood on April 14 and bagged their own yesterday as junior righthander Ethan Pritchett muffled O'Hara. Below is a breakdown. Amazingly, three of the no-hitters in 2003 occurred in Pub round-of-16 playoffs.

Pub/Cath/Int Schools on Both Ends of No-Hitters in the Same Season in This Century
Year School Date Winner Pitcher Loser Score Inn. Ks BBs
2015 Neumann-Goretti 4/22 Neum.-Gor. Ethan Pritchett O'Hara 10-0 6 8 3
    4/14 Wood Joey Lancellotti Neum.-Gor. 6-0 7 14 2
2012 Randolph 5/23 Randolph Justo Rodriguez Gratz 20-0 5 15 0
    5/8 Bartram Donavan Crawford Randolph 10-0 5 15 1
2011 Furness 4/14 Saul Bill Lehr Furness 10-0 5 5 0
    4/6 Furness Ryan Gonzalez Dobbins 14-1 5 13 -
2006 Penn 5/3 Penn Guiceppy Cruz Del-Val 3-2 7 21 7
    4/27 Lamberton Sheldon Henry Penn 10-1 7 8 1
2003 Kensington 5/22 *Northeast Andrew Lihotz Kensington 10-0 5 7 -
    4/22 Kensington Josh Williams Univ. City 10-0 5 8 -
  " Mastbaum 5/22 *GAMP Mario Malatino Mastbaum 5-1 7 12 3
    4/25 Mastbaum Johnny Marrero Franklin LC 10-0 5 13 -
  " Dobbins 5/22 *Frankford Joe Farina Dobbins 17-0 5 13 -
    5/2 Dobbins Jamil Phillips Eng. & Sci. 5-0 5 7 0
*-round-of-16 playoff

APRIL 22
TEDBIT
  When yesterday's Inter-Ac game between visiting Malvern and Haverford School concluded with a one-run margin and the former on top, we should not have been surprised. Over the last 11 seasons, the Friars have become quite successful at winning one-run I-A outings. Their record is 13-5 and four wins (in six chances) have been claimed in extra innings. How'd this one-run dominance begin? Glad you asked. Early in league play in 2005, the Friars edged Germantown Academy, 6-5, as reliever Tom Grandieri (now an assistant at Episcopal; don't hold it against him -- smile) scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the home 14th. There were 27 hits in the game and one was a homer by Malvern's Tim McEndy.    

Malvern's One-Run Games in Inter-Ac Play, 2005-15 (13-5 Record)
Year Winner Loser Score Innings
2015 Malvern Haverford School 7-6 7
  Malvern Episcopal 7-6 7
2014   Haverford School   Malvern 3-2 7
  Malvern Germantown Academy 6-5 7
2012 Malvern Chestnut Hill 7-6 7
  Malvern Germantown Academy 4-3 7
2011 Malvern Haverford School 5-4 7
  Malvern Episcopal 2-1 7
    Germantown Academy   Malvern 3-2 11
    Haverford School   Malvern 1-0 8
2009 Malvern Episcopal 5-4 9
2007 Malvern Haverford School 5-4 9
2006   Penn Charter   Malvern 4-3 7
  Malvern Haverford School 5-4 7
2005 Malvern Chestnut Hill 8-7 9
    Germantown Academy   Malvern 3-2 7
  Malvern Haverford School 7-6 7
  Malvern Germantown Academy 6-5 14

APRIL 21
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Malvern 7, Haverford School 6
  There's a reason certain statements become cliches. 'Cause they're absolutely true! In baseball, folks like to say, "They all look the same in the boxscore." As in hits. Home runs are the best hit, of course, and they also look the same . . . even when they're not. In the home third, a pair of lefty swingers for Haverford School thumped homers to right-center. A two-run shot by jr. 1B Frank Cresta came first and this one was a true blast as the ball cleared the fence at the left edge of right-center and appeared to land on the outbound side of Lancaster Avenue. Soph RF Bryan Hyland strolled to the plate two batters later and his solo homer, also hit hard but not quite a match for Cresta's, cleared the fence at the right edge of right-center. Coupled with an RBI single by Cresta in the first inning, those shots provided the Fords a 4-0 lead. Malvern later posted two HRs of its own. Both by jr. RF-CF Chance DiFebbo. A three-run job in a five-run fifth and a two-run swat in the seventh. Honestly, both dingers had the look of regular flyballs. But HS' field is not exactly roomy and DiFebbo was able to gleefully break out home run trots. The first homer left the yard not far from the foul pole in left. The second carried to center. Two homers on regular flyballs. What are the Chances? (smile) We're thinking DiFebbo minded not at ALL that his homers were not as impressive as the Fords'. They featured enough oomph to get the job done, right? Plus, they helped the Friars claim a win after falling into a 4-0 hole. DiFebbo also played basketball this past winter and as a guard sub made some nifty contributions in games I attended. Dude has the knack! The first run in Malvern's four-run fifth when jr. 3B Jake Mullan laced an RBI single to center. The Friars made it 5-4 in the sixth as leadoff batter Chris Butera, a sr. RH (four innings) and RF, crunched a double down the left field line into the corner. Mullan started the seventh with a scratch infield single (could have been scored an error) and DiFebbo made it 7-4 with his second swat. The entertainment was hardly over. Soph RH Shane Muntz, a semi-stocky fastballer, issued a leadoff walk to Cresta and sr. SS David Rodgers misplayed a popup. A wild pitch moved up the runners and sr. pinch-runner Devin Wilkins (manager of the hoops squad) scored on a groundout off Hyland's bat. Sr. LF Ryan Fuscaldo then grounded out on a very close play at first (a safe call would not have surprised), but the Fords drew within one as sr. DH-RH Nick Greco fired a hard single to center. The No. 9 hitter, frosh CF Justin Meyer, then drew a walk and pitching coach E.J. Moyer, formerly a star lefty for the Fords, took a brisk walk to the mound and made a change. Next was frosh RH Billy Corcoran, just up from the JV and making his first Inter-Ac appearance. (He did pitch in a non-league game over the weekend.) Soph 3B Tommy Toal lofted a popup. You can guess where it went, right? You got it. In the direction of Rodgers, the shortstop. This time David stayed with it and made the catch to give the Friars their win. Though 13 runs were scored, the game required just two hours and mostly moved along in brisk fashion. Especially early. The Fords' starter, jr. RH Michael Warnick, had few problems through the first four innings, though Malvern did hit some balls hard against him. David Hogarth, the Fords' soph SS, went 2-for-4 and made some impressive plays in the field. Hyland ended the visiting seventh by making an impressive, last-second catch against the fence. Wilmer Reid, a long-time, great-guy scout, and DN/Inky reporter Aaron "Ace" Carter (just to watch; he has mostly covered lacrosse this spring) were among the witnesses. Now coaching at first base for the Fords is Tom McNeely. He played for now-closed St. James (class of 1985; in football in '83 he set the city leagues record for passing yards in one game with 329, in baseball in '85 he earned first team All-City honors as an infielder) and his full name is Thomas More McNeely. Why's that? His dad attended St. Thomas More High (class of '48, I believe Tom said) and loved the place so much he named his son after it. Cool! STM, at 47th and Wyalusing, one block off of Girard, closed in 1975. St. James, located in Chester, closed in '93. Not easy for dad/son. Good luck with the Fords, Tom. HS ain't closin' any time soon (smile). Two best lines of the day: After Cresta cracked his homer, a bench guy bellowed, "Bartender, pour me a shot of Jack!" Mullan, meanwhile, had a thick clump of hair sticking out the back of his cap. A Ford student rooter yelled down to him, "No. 11, you have way too much hair for this sport! Why are you not playing lacrosse!?" Ha, ha, ha. (There will NOT be any pics. All kinds of issues trying to download them due to file sizes, etc., then somehow they were erased from the memory card. VERY sorry, guys. Frustrated beyond belief.)

APRIL 18
TEDBIT
  Over the previous eight days, pitchers for Boys' Latin and Wood slapped together matching streaks of 11 consecutive hitless innings. BL's is still alive, so we'll see what happens when the Warriors get back to action Wednesday vs. Bodine. Wood's ended on April 15 when Ryan soph Cory Hunter, recently promoted from the JV, led off the bottom of the first with his first varsity hit.
  UPDATE: In its next Pub game, Boys' Latin played Roxborough on April 22. In the first inning, Randy Krok ripped a single to left off Asa James. Rain forced the game to be suspended in the fourth inning with BL ahead, 7-2. 

Matching Streaks of 11 Consecutive Hitless Innings
BOYS' LATIN (Halted at 11 Innings; See Above)
Name Date Innings Opponent
Asa James April 10 @Two Bracetti
Asa James April 15 *Five Franklin
Manny Fernandez April 17 *Four Fels
WOOD
Name Date Innings Opponent
Kody Cracknell April 13 #Four McDevitt
Joey Lancellotti April 14 *Seven Neum.-Gor.
*-Length of Game      
#-Yielded hit in first inning of five-inning game
@-Yielded hit in fifth inning of seven-inning game

APRIL 15
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Wood 5, Ryan 1
  Who invented technology? Is it OK for me to hate him? (At least for the moment.) Broke out a new camera today and the dang thing broke my spirit. Bought it this morning and was able to charge the battery card for only a while. Plus, I was unable to find a similar card for backup purposes. Bottom line: the camera shut down at the start of the sixth inning. My apologies to guys who did something photo worthy thereafter. I'll get the hang of this . . . Maybe. Smile. Or should that be a frown? Anyway, the Vikings entered this tilt, held at Ryan, having twirled 11 consecutive hitless innings in CL play. As many of you probably know, jr. RH Joey Lancellotti yesterday fired a no-hitter (with 14 strikeouts) against Neumann-Goretti. The Vikings' previous CL opponent was McDevitt and soph RH Kody Cracknell posted a one-hitter in that one. According to Wood's scorekeeper, Vince "Stat Wizard" Ferrara, that safety was notched in the first inning (and the game went just five). Would the domination continue today? Nope. In the bottom of the first, soph RF-LF Cory Hunter, a lefty swinger recently promoted from the JV, lashed a single to right for his first varsity hit. Would that be the start of something good? Nope. Ryan failed to score against sr. RH Justin Rubin (4 2/3 innings) and managed one marker against soph RH Sean Hughes (rest of the way). Rubin, who's bound for Richmond on a football scholarship, yielded four hits compared with two for Hughes. They combined for a rare feat in the fifth. Rubin recorded a pickoff at first base for out No. 2 and Hughes matched that feat for out No. 3 (after Rubin allowed a single and was replaced). Wonder how often something like that has happened. Not very, it says here. Ryan scored a run in the sixth as Hughes was reached for two singles (by sr. CF Joe Iannacone and sr. 1B Shane Smith) and two walks (to sr. DH Josh Lopez and soph C Matt Romano). Just when observers were thinking, "This could get interesting," Hughes shut down the inning with a strikeout and a grounder that turned into a doubleplay -- sr. 3B Austin Hill to jr. 2B Matt Cummiskey to jr. 1B Sean Kelly (nice scoop). The seventh was uneventful. Hunter and Smith, whose brother, Justin, a soph, played 3B, had two hits apiece. Ryan's starter was jr. RH Shane McGrody, who went five innings. Wood was quiet through three, then posted four in the fourth and one in the fifth. Sr. C Nick Lafferty, a righthanded hitter, sent RBI singles to right in each inning, and those were the only RBI via hits. Hill lofted a sac fly to center. The most interesting play ended the fourth. With two away and runners on first and third, jr. RF Bob Heck began bolting for second. McGrody stepped off and threw wildly to third. However, the ball bounced off the restraining fence right back to J. Smith and jr. LF Corey Dower was gunned down at the plate. Soph Mick Pristas, Wood's sub leftfielder, had a nice bounceback moment. After allowing a baserunner to move up due to a bobble in the sixth, Pristas opened the seventh with a diving catch of a short popup. Impressive all day was how Lafferty did his best to stop semi-wild pitches even with no one on base. Aside from the no-hitter, the big news out of Wood this week is that jr. RH Anthony Russo, also the QB, has dumped baseball to concentrate on football. Many legends on the property! The Hughes family had a two-pack. Sean's dad, Ken, played baseball and QB for Ryan (as did his older brother, Ed; both also played college FB as QBs) and the guys' father, Ed, pitched for a half-decade in the Phillies' farm system after starring at Judge. Click here for a link to a story that shows what a special man Mr. Hughes is. Others: Ryan FB coach Frank "5" McArdle and his uncle, Ed; former CL umpiring stalwart Frank Sylvester, who has long been umpiring games in the Atlantic Coast Conference; basketball ref Don Cummiskey, Matt's dad; game umps Nick Chichilitti (plate) and Joe Lieberman (bases) and the coaches who always make visits to games involving Wood and Ryan enjoyable: Jim DiGuiseppe Jr. and Sr., Brian Klumpp and Steve Carr (Wood); Gerry Eck and Walt De Treux (Ryan). Great to see everybody! . . . One last nugget: Four Wood starters were wearing stirrups. Gotta love the respect for back in the day. They were sr. CF Anthony Zupito (two runs scored), Lancellotti (the DH), Dower and Rubin. 

APRIL 14
TEDBIT
  Some Tedbits are smaller than others. This one is infinitesimal. As near as I can figure, only three members of Catholic League basketball rotations are also playing baseball this spring. The Prep's Jack Henkels was the most productive hoopster. He averaged 9.4 points in CL play and totaled 232 points for the season. Lansdale's Ryan Quigley also stars in football. (Couldn't find anyone in the Inter-Ac to add to this list.)  

CL Hoops Rotation Members
Who Are Also Playing Baseball
Name School Bask Base
Jack Henkels SJ Prep Guard Outfield
Ryan Quigley Lansdale Guard Outfield
Zach Coates McDevitt Guard Outfield

APRIL 13
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 6, O'Hara 4 (9 inn.)
  Me: I hate when this happens. You: When what happens? Me again: When a close game is decided by a miscue. Hey, errors (and other foulups) are part of the game. But my strong guess is that winning teams feel better when they seize wins thanks to clutch hits. We'll start with the visiting ninth. Sr. C Jack Frantz reached base on a scratch infield single, was bunted to second by sr. LF James Gleason and came around when a routine grounder turned into a throwing error. One out later, sr. RF Dan Schuhl sliced a low liner into left field and jr. 2B John Coppola checked in with run No. 6 (by neatly evading a lunge tag by jr. C Sean Donahue). O'Hara went the 1-2-3 route in the bottom half and sr. RH Andrew Magiera, who worked three scoreless innings in relief, owned the W. Magiera allowed two hits and two walks. He performed his best trick in the eighth, inducing a popup back to himself with two away and the bases loaded. The Hawks' starter was jr. RH Billy "Wrestling" Matz and his only problem was the presence of sr. DH Chris Salvey in O'Hara's lineup. Salvey, whose build stirs memories of ex-Phillies slugger Greg "Bull" Luzinski, crushed a double to left-center in what became a two-run fourth and powered a two-run homer to left in the sixth. The wind was blowing rather hard to left throughout the game, but for some reason it mostly appeared to push balls down instead of help them. Salvey's shot had major teeth. Right through it! The ball cleared the fence in the area to the right of the scoreboard and left of the 370-foot sign. Crush job! Salvey also singled in the eighth, finishing the day 3-for-3 (hit by a pitch in the first) and two RBI. When Salvey laced his double, the O'Hara folks all said to themselves, "Fiiiiiinally!" The Lions had been held hitless for at least nine consecutive innings in Catholic League play -- the first three in this one and all six in a loss to La Salle last Thursday. Two days before that, the Lions fell to Conwell-Egan, 6-5. Coach John Grossi was unsure whether his squad had gone hitless in one or more innings to end that one. Those scoresheets were in his office, he said. (If we get an update, we'll post it.) UPDATE: John reported that O'Hara had two hits in the seventh inning vs. C-E. Thus, the streak was nine innings.) The Prep managed one hit against sr. LH Bill Neill through three innings. Staff ace Chris Fusaro, a sr. LH, then took over and impressed early with some perfectly placed changeups. But in the sixth, with one away, sr. 1B Colin Cunningham, a lefty swinger, sent a groundball through the left side for a single and sr. SS Tyler Clark, a righty, stroked a single to right. A popup provided out No. 2, but jr. 3B Keith Flaherty milked a walk and Frantz delivered a medium-velocity single to left. Two runs scored in regular fashion and a third came in as a throw trying to cut down Flaherty at third went awry. Gleason then hammered an RBI triple to deep left-center. Sr. RH Angel Rivera came on to get out No. 3, then fared well through the seventh and eighth. Salvey was the only Lion with multiple hits. Cunningham, Clark, Frantz and Gleason bagged two apiece for the Prep. The game required 2 hours, 34 minutes. Prep soph Colin Scanlon, a bench guy today, had the two best lines. When Neill bounced a pitch, Scanlon noted, "He's ruining ant hills!" When a subsequent pitch was up there, he called out, "Yeah, that's high! Leave it in the attic!" Meanwhile, right before the game began, Prep sr. DH Dino Cattai told his teammates, "I feel a 10-spot today, boys! How 'bout you?!" Smart kid, that Dino Cattai. The game DID produce 10 runs (though I have a feeling he meant the Prep would score 10 -- smile). Strangest sight of the day: John Reifsnyder, who starred and assisted at La Salle, is now helping Prep coach Joe Falcone. There was also one other "violation" -- O'Hara's starting SS was soph Pete Klein, who's the son of a guy who starred for . . . Bonner! In a 1987 semifinal, his dad, also named Pete, went 2-for-3 with a triple and four RBI as the Friars used an eight-run visiting seventh to erase a 14-11 deficit and top St. James, 19-14. (Note to youngheads: St. James, located in Chester, closed in 1993.)

APRIL 10
TEDBIT
  Yesterday, junior righthander Shane McGrody pitched a two-hitter as Ryan beat Carroll, 1-0, in a Catholic League game. The list below shows all 1-0 results in CL regular season games in this century. Interesting nuggets: Conwell-Egan's Brian Herman posted two in 2006 and TWO games took place on the same day (April 5) in 2005. Both went extra innings. Those were the games started by Ryan Geiss and Brian Rorick.

1-0 Games in the Catholic League Regular Season, 2000-15
Year Winner Loser Starter for Winner @Hits
Allowed		 @Innings
Pitched
2015 Ryan  Carroll Shane McGrody 2 7
2014 La Salle Judge Dominic Cuoci 3 8
2010 North Catholic O'Hara Ryan Etsell 3 7
2009 Kennedy-Kenrick Carroll Jimmy Volpe 1 7
  Bonner O'Hara Ryan Haley 2 7
2006 Conwell-Egan La Salle Brian Herman 3 7
  Conwell-Egan Judge Brian Herman 1 7
2005 Dougherty North Catholic Kevin McGovern 3 7
  Conwell-Egan La Salle Ryan Geiss 0 *7
  Carroll SJ Prep Brian Rorick 1 #5
2004 Ryan  Conwell-Egan Mike Szelagowski 6 7
  Dougherty Wood Mike McCann 2 7
  Judge Dougherty Shane Erb 1 8
2003 Roman SJ Prep Matt Daley 3 7
  SJ Prep Kennedy-Kenrick Joe McElwee 5 7
  O'Hara Roman Kevin Paul 4 +5
  Carroll Conwell-Egan Brandon Gribbin 3 7
2002 McDevitt Judge Bob Mitros 6 7
2001 North Catholic McDevitt Dan Szychulski 5 7
@-by starter
*-game went 9 innings; Matt Burns pitched the 8th and 9th
#-game went 8 innings; Brian Puliti pitched 2 2/3 and Dan Ritter pitched 1/3 to get the win
+-game went 7 innings; Josh Rickards finished up (2 hits over two innings)

APRIL 9
TEDBIT
  The guys below are my "favorite" baseball players in the Catholic League. Reason? Though they have also starred in football, they have not limited themselves to one sport. Often these days, perhaps because of demanding coaches, once guys become accomplished in one sport they stop playing others. Not cool. Have as much sports fun as possible in high school, guys. Meanwhile, check out the list that shows the NFL players who played in the Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac Leagues. Many played two sports and QB Matt Ryan, a product of Penn Charter, was a mainstay in three. Meanwhile, if you want to go way back, hoops all-timer Wilt Chamberlain (Overbrook) was also a track star. He routinely won the high jump and shot put events. Can you imagine? How many guys, ever, have won THOSE two events, which require top-notch athleticism AND brute strength? . . . Note: La Salle's Jimmy Herron (Duke) and Neumann-Goretti's Matt McKeown (Delaware) will be playing D-1 baseball in college, so congrats to them for having stuck with football.    

Cath Football All-Stars Who Also Play Baseball
School Name Pos. Year A-C Football Honors
Bonner-Prendie Christian DiGalbo 1B Sr. 1st DL/2nd OL
  Collin DiGalbo P Sr. 1st QB/2nd P
Carroll Max Frederick P Sr. 1st K
Lansdale Ryan Quigley OF Jr. 1st RB/DB
La Salle Jimmy Herron OF Sr. 1st WR/DB
McDevitt Brendan Hanagan P-INF Sr. 1st K/P
Neumann-Goretti Matt McKeown OF Sr. 1st DL 
Ryan Matt Romano C-INF-P So. 1st P
Wood Justin Rubin P Sr. 1st LB
  Anthony Russo P Jr. 2nd QB

APRIL 1
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Carroll 5, Bonner-Prendie 2
  So, how will Max Frederick get his sports kick in college? Like a lengthy field goal attempt, that's still up in the air. Frederick served Carroll's football team as quite the competent kicker over the past three seasons, and there's no doubt he could perform those duties at the next level. Ah, but he's also a pitcher and today he slapped together a decent outing as the Patriots carved out a road triumph. The sr. RH went six innings and should have departed with an ERA of 0.00. But with two away and runners on second and third in the fifth, sr. 1B Christian DiGalbo lofted a way-up-there popup. All kinds of guys could have caught it. Alas, no one did. The ball plopped onto the soggy turf a shade behind second base -- also a shade toward the right side -- as sr. LF Nick Lazer (walk) and sr. 2B Dan Goggin (single; both moved up on a wild pitch) scrambled home. While checking with Max after the game to ask whether he's committed to a college (he's not) or a specific sport (he's not), I kiddingly told him he should have run over there and caught the ball himself. He quipped back, "I was thinking about it." Frederick allowed four hits and three walks while recording two strikeouts. He's still lanky (listed at 6-4, 165, during football season), so lots of filling out could take place. And who knows? It would not be impossible to kick AND pitch in college, right? Sr. RH JJ Cicala, the starting third baseman and cleanup hitter, worked an uneventful seventh. Carroll scored one run in the second and two apiece in the fourth/fifth. Sr. C Mike McCarthy, a righthanded hitter, deftly shortened his stroke and sent an RBI single to right in the second. Soph DH-1B Rich Melito and sr. 2B Brian Schnell pulled RBI singles down the leftfield line in the fourth. Sr. SS JT Evangelist did likewise for the first run in the fifth. The second marker came courtesy of an all-timer. Jr. 1B-3B Nick Zambella cracked a drive to deep left. Lazer semi-circled going backward, the ball zipped over his head and . . . plop! It stuck in the soggy turf. Or maybe even muddy turf. (Left field was definitely the worst area.) Lazer did not pick up the ball at first. He just looked down in amazement (and perhaps was hoping a ground-rule double would be called). The play continued and Zambella wound up with an RBI triple. Base ump Joe Cassidy, the men's basketball coach at South Jersey's Rowan University, said he'd NEVER seen that happen in MANY years on the umpiring trail. B-P's pitcher at the time was reliever Anthony Martinelli, a jr. RH. He also provided quite unusual viewing. When runners were on first, Martinelli was looking back over his RIGHT shoulder to check on them. "Cass" said he'd seen that a few times. Maybe I had, too. Couldn't remember it, though. B-P's starter was sr. RH Nick Bralczyk. He had all-or-nothing innings. Carroll went down 1-2-3 in the first and third, but otherwise put 10 runners on base against Bralczyk. RH Eli Chase, a hard-throwing soph, worked the sixth and seventh. The best defensive play occurred in the third when sr. RF Jake Miller (looping double down the rightfield line) tried to score on Goggin's two-out single to right. Sr. RF Matt Guyger came up throwing and McCarthy made an impressive snag/sweep to record the out. The B-P folks were upset McCarthy wasn't called for blocking the plate without having possession of the ball. Did appear to be borderline. Oddly, the game's first strikeout was not recorded until the second out of the visiting fourth. In fact, there were only four Ks all game. In Monday's Neumann-Goretti/La Salle game, there were 10 alone on called third strikes. None today. Dude had a tight zone. The most prominent visitor, by far, was former MLBer Mike Costanzo, a 2002 Carroll grad. Mike recently opened an insurance agency in his native Springfield (Delco) and he'd love to hear from you if you're ready to spend money to protect your house/car/whatever (smile). Mike's office number is 484-843-1199. Also, he'll play this season for the Camden Riversharks. Also prominent in the Class of 2002 was O'Hara shortstop Mike Essery (both guys twice earned first team All-City honors) and he was among the witnesses, as well. This Mike is related, via marriage, to Carroll assistant Joe Lake. Great to see you, guys! One more witness of note: former Roman basketball star R.C. Kehoe, now the coach at Holy Family. Ditto, R.C.!

MARCH 30
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 7, La Salle 4
  This was a double-edged opener. As in, neither team was able to play a non-league game before this one due to the crappy weather so far this spring. The base ump was Gene Otto, who assigns umps for all home games involving Catholic League and Inter-Ac League teams. Prior to today, only seven games had been played and five had taken place on turf surfaces at Haverford School (three) and Ramp Playground (two, used by Judge). "The other two were at O'Hara," Gene said. "Only two games so far on regular fields. You believe that?" Yes, it was semi-bitter today, mostly because of a wind that often raged in from dead right, but the field itself looked great and a medium time was had by all (smile). N-G and La Salle are two of the CL's top-dog programs, so it was kind of a shame that they had to meet in a no-preparation opener. There was still some quality viewing, however. For N-G, jr. RH Ethan "E" Pritchett and sr. RH Bay To (Fairleigh Dickinson) came within three outs of posting a combo one-hitter. Sr. SS Justin Curtin (Gwynedd-Mercy), sr. 2B Vinny Vaccone (Mercer County CC, in New Jersey) and sr. DH-RF Gino Tripodi (also G-M) bagged two RBI apiece and sr. LF Matt McKeown (Delaware, transfer from South Jersey's Paul VI) posted a pair of absolutely-ripped doubles. For La Salle, sr. CF Jimmy Herron (Duke) drew a walk in his first at-bat and then hit three balls hard while netting two singles and one RBI, sr. 3B Ian "Eight Feet Beyond the Arc" McIntosh crunched a two-run double to left-center in the seventh and jr. RH Joe Peluso faced just 10 batters while pitching three innings of no-hits, no-walks, no-runs relief. This was game No. 1 for Kyle Werman, La Salle's new coach, and he'll always remember this: His team's first run scored on a hit-by-pitch in the butt (absorbed by jr. LF Langston Livingston). That came in the visiting first after walks to sr. SS AJ "Spell This Fast Once" Grezeszak and Herron and an HBP to McIntosh. Herron's RBI came in the second after soph C Jack Pogyor drew a walk and sr. CR Connor Williams stole two bases. The guys who scored on McIntosh's two-run double in the seventh were Grezeszak (walk) and Herron (single). I was a little surprised To was still out there pitching because he'd slightly turned an ankle while grounding out to end the sixth. If you follow CL baseball, perhaps you're wondering why Pritchett and To did the pitching. Reason: Star sr. lefty Pat Doudican (College of Charleston) is nursing a slightly tender elbow. He hopes to be back soon. With some D-1 assistants on hand to evaluate, Pritchett settled down after the early control problems. He fanned six in four innings. Rumor had it he hit 83 to 86 mph on the radar guns in the first inning. Because his body is nowhere close to being filled out, there's MUCH to like about this young man's potential. To, a star RF and leadoff man, struck out two in his stint. N-G touched sr. RH James Dougherty for three apiece in the first and third and one in the second. Vaccone's two-run shot over the head of sr. 1B Brian Buckley highlighted the first. The big hit in the third was a perfectly placed popup down the right field line (also worth two runs) by Tripodi. Curtin collected his RBI in the second by inside-outing an 0-2 pitch to right. Good piece of hitting. Sr. C Tommy Nardini (also G-M) went 2-for-3 with an RBI double. The game's big oddity: each team looked at five strike threes. The plate ump called a lot of borderline high strikes, but there was no questioning his consistency. He did so from the outset. Per coach Kevin Schneider, N-G's field soon will get dugouts and the black shirts are also due to arrive shortly (hopefully). Dianne Herron (La Salle) and Lisa Doudican (N-G) handled photos-by-team-moms duties. Both reported being q-q-q-uite c-c-c-old (smile). Other dignitaries: Jon Cross (former Penn Charter coach, now creating waves with the AAU Bandits), Al Baur (former Southern star and minor leaguer; his son, Albert, starred for N-G and now is drawing pro interest at Newberry in South Carolina) and Sean Saverio (ex-La Salle star now assisting Werman). Joe Messina, then a seventh grader (his dad, Joe, is a Saints assistant), last summer pitched a pair of 1-2-3 innings in an all-star game that was nationally televised. Very cool! If Werman is a little down about losing his first game, he shouldn't be. Ex-boss Joe Parisi dropped his debut vs. Judge, but went on to claim 453 wins. Best line of the day: After looking at the quite crumpled jersey being worn by Tripodi, N-G's field guy said to him, "It looks like you took that out of your wallet." Ha, ha, ha.

MARCH 30
TEDBIT
  Let's try this again . . . and again . . . and again. For the sixth time in 19 seasons, the Catholic League is trying a different format for its baseball regular season. The breakdown is below. By contrast, football (first to Red-Blue, then to AAAA-AAA-AA) and basketball (Red-Blue, then to all one league) have changed just twice apiece.

Regular Season Formats for Catholic League Baseball, 1997-2015
Years Alignment Regular Season Schedule
1997-2004 North-South two games vs. each division member, plus four crossovers
2005-2006 North-South two games vs. each division member 
2007 North-South three games vs. each division member
2008-2012 Red-Blue two games vs. each division member 
2013-2014 Red-Blue three games vs. each division member in Red; two in Blue
2015 No divisions one game vs. each member