Photos/Videos: John Knebels & Kathy Leister

By: John Knebels

PHILADELPHIA – The fly ball stayed in the air for a handful of seconds. For Bonner-Prendergast, it felt more like hours.

When the long drive to dead center field was finally snared by leaping sophomore Irv Fisher, a season of uncommon excellence had published the finest chapter in Bonner-Prendergast history.

With junior Kevin McGonigle pacing the offense with a home run and triple, and a defense that at times defied description, the Friars defeated Archbishop Wood, 4-2, and captured the school’s fourth-ever Philadelphia Catholic League championship and first since 2010.

“It’s been our defense and our pitching all year,” said Bonner-Prendergast coach Steve DeBarberie. “Every time we just seem to make every play every game, spectacular plays across the board . . . you can’t say enough.

“I mean, Irv Fisher . . . that catch at the end of the game was unbelievable. I thought it was gone. I thought we were down one going into the last inning. Unbelievable. I’m at a loss for words right now.”

The almost home run slugged by Wood senior Sean Slowinski was part of a seventh-inning rally by a Vikings team that remained close behind the complete-game pitching by senior Mike Trommer. The first-team All-Catholic surrendered four hits, one walk, and one earned run while striking out 11 against a Friars team that had averaged 8.8 runs entering the game. 

Trailing 4-1 with three outs to spare, Wood sent six batters to the dish. An uncharacteristic error, a one-out double by senior Pat McKinney (2-for-3 and a walk), a one-out RBI double by Trommer, and a walk to senior Aiden Myers (two walks, one RBI) put the lead run at the plate in the form of Slowinski, who came this close to putting Bonner-Prendergast behind in a PCL game for only the third time all season.  

None more breathtaking than Fisher’s last-out heroics.

“All I remember is the ball carrying,” said the humble sophomore. “Everyone is talking, saying I had a little bit of room. But that ball just kept going. I had to go back and catch that. Held it against the wall . . . it doesn’t feel better.”

Seconds after what will forever be referred to as The Catch, Fisher was embraced by an ecstatic Cannon. By the time both outfielders had reached the infield, the “dog pile” pancake consisting of leaping Friars had disassembled from the pitcher’s mound, and the players rumbled toward Fisher and Cannon to embrace them, congratulate them, and no doubt thank them for their clutch contributions.

One of them was McGonigle, who in today’s Class 4A District 12 championship (June 2) smashed two home runs to help the Friars overwhelm Public School representative Nueva Esperanza, 16-1, and prepare for a PIAA Class 4A state tournament that begins next week. 

“Helping the team out is all that matters,” said McGonigle. “I’m just so happy for us. I couldn’t be more proud.

“It’s just a team game. Everybody on our team came up big. Guys that played JV last year and were on their first year of varsity had a great year. Our mindset is just ‘nine other guys.’”

Regardless of how Bonner-Prendergast performs in the state tournament, this year’s group established itself as one of the best teams in PCL history.

While becoming only the fifth program to ever finish undefeated in the PCL – joining the 1982 Father Judge, 2006 Conwell-Egan, 2011 Neumann-Goretti, and 2021 La Salle renditions – Bonner-Prendergast allowed 19 runs for the season, the fewest ever allowed by any PCL team that played more than 10 games. Only twice did they allow more than two runs in 15 league games.

How to explain such a phenomenon?

“I can’t,” said DeBarberie. “Coming into this year with (senior) Ryan Kearney, arguably our best pitcher, going down for the whole year, I didn’t expect that.

“But (senior) Kevin Henrich, (senior) Michael Anderson, (sophomore) Jaxon Kehoe, and (sophomore) Harry Carr stepped up on the mound for us all year long. We all rely on them to do their thing, and with the defense we have behind them, it made their job a little easier.”

After finishing 12-0 during the regular season, Bonner-Prendergast’s postseason opponents entered as underdogs.

After stopping eight-seed Roman Catholic, 8-4, in the quarterfinals, and rugged four-seed Neumann-Goretti, 5-1, in the semifinals, the Friars were meeting two-seed Archbishop Wood in the final. The Vikings were looking to rid themselves of two sour memories – getting pounded, 13-2, by Bonner-Prendergast on their home field back on April 25, and a heartbreaking 3-2, eight-inning loss to La Salle in last year’s PCL final.

“It’s even harder when you go undefeated and everyone expects you to win and the pressure is on you, but these guys handled it fantastically,” said DeBarberie. “They were a confident group. They were never cocky. They respect every opponent. They just go out and play the brand of baseball we’ve been  playing all year.”   

“It was bringing me flashbacks,” said DeBarberie, this year’s PCL Coach of the Year. “We’re up 4-1 in the last inning with two outs. I’m like, ‘Here we go again.’

“Hats off to Wood. They battled the whole game. They knew they were never out of it. Their kids are fantastic. They’re tremendous ballplayers. They have had a heck of a year as well.”

Those Vikings now begin pursuit of a Class 5A state title while the Friars do the same one level below.

Could both finish with state titles?

Here’s hoping.

(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)