Photos: Jake Law
By: Kevin Rowley
Fairless Hills, PA -- Conwell-Egan ended their 2025 home schedule on a high note, securing an 11-1 victory against the visiting Archbishop Ryan Raiders on Wednesday evening. The home team held a three-run lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning before exploding for seven runs to trigger the mercy rule.
On a night that began with a tribute to the team’s seniors, Egan starting pitcher Chase Forester was, fittingly, at the center of the win. The La Salle University commit threw six strong innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run while fanning eight.
It was a bit of a grind early on for the senior, as a lengthy at-bat to start the second by Ryan third baseman Emil-Favio Monegro ended with a hit by pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Chase Lahiff put Monegro into scoring position, but back-to-back strikeouts by Forester stranded the runner.
The visitors did strike first in the third inning, as a two-out rally started with a single to center by shortstop Victor Corniel. After an infield single by Raiders’ second baseman Dave Perez advanced him to third, Corniel scored the game’s first run when a Forester pitch reached the backstop in the ensuing at-bat.
Through three innings, Forester had thrown 58 pitches.
“The pitch count got high early in the game,” Forester said.
His defense behind him, and some timely strikeouts, helped limit the damage. After allowing a walk to Monegro to start the fourth, Forester did not allow a baserunner the rest of the way en route to a complete game.
Conwell-Egan senior pitcher Chase Forester #8 - PSD Photo by Jake Law
Starting on the mound for Ryan was reigning Catholic League MVP Jake Marchesano, who started the game by not allowing a baserunner through his first two innings of work. The third inning was a different story, however, as left fielder Joey Ortiz reached on an infield single to the shortstop, which was followed by a hit by pitch and a bunt single by Sean McGovern and Denny Fife, respectively.
After a strikeout left the bases loaded with one out, a sacrifice fly by Connor Landau brought home a run, just a tick before the also-tagging runner from second was called out at third. A brief stoppage in play occurred as the head coaches and umpires confirmed that Ortiz scored ahead of the tag at third, ending the inning but ensuring the game was tied up at 1.
A quiet top half of the fourth preceded a three-run bottom half by Egan, with RBI singles from Tommy Kalita, Ortiz, and McGovern. Now given some breathing room, Forester retired the side in order in the top half of the fifth to maintain the three-run lead.
Marchesano went back to work in the fifth, eventually finding himself with two runners on and one out before inducing a timely ground ball. The middle infield combination of Perez and Corniel smoothly turned a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and keep the deficit at three.
By retiring the side in order in the sixth inning, Forester left open the possibility of going out to the mound again in the seventh, even if he likely would not have faced more than one batter due to pitch count concerns.
With bases loaded & one out in the bottom of the 3rd, Connor Landau hits a sac fly to center, which scored a runner but the runner on 2nd was then throw out trying to advance. Result is a run scored, but also a double-play 8-5 - PSD Video by Kevin Rowley
A seven-run Egan sixth inning ultimately took the decision out of head coach Jeff Manto’s hands, with Forester’s complete game lowering his season ERA to 2.08 with just two games to go.
The barrage of runs came with two runners on and two outs in the sixth. Marchesano, whose strong repertoire resulted in at least nine swings and misses, was relieved at this point. The senior, who is committed to play in the fall for the University of Delaware, finished with a final line of five and two-thirds innings, with six earned runs allowed on seven hits.
Fife then hit a single to left to load the bases. Next up was left-handed hitting outfielder Brady Guzzie, who sliced a fly ball down the left field line that just managed to stay fair, scoring two with the double.
“With Chase dealing on the mound, we knew the offense had to come around eventually,” Guzzie said post-game. “[The] hits started to come together. That’s the biggest thing in baseball: hits are contagious.”
Landau followed with a two-run single to left to make it an 8-1 advantage. Johnson and Kalita added singles of their own to tack on another before Jake McLain’s two-run single to right ended the game. Johnson was perhaps the game’s offensive MVP, finishing with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored.
The loss ended a five-game winning streak for Ryan, who sit in fourth place in the Philadelphia Catholic League as of this writing. With their regular season now complete, this game could end up having implications for playoff seeding. Egan, at 6-5 with a conference game still to come, could end up in a tie with Ryan at 7-5, with a head-to-head win already in hand. The top six teams by record will earn a bye for the first round of the PCL playoffs, leaving hope alive for the Eagles to be able to skip straight to the quarterfinals.
For Manto’s team, this win puts them a game over the .500 mark at 8-7, but they may indeed be saving their best for last. The win on Wednesday night marks their third in their last four games, a streak that includes a win over La Salle College High School last Monday that dealt the Explorers their first conference defeat of the season.
Brady Guzzie talks about his double in the 6th inning and ending the season with a handful of big wins - PSD Video by Kevin Rowley
Chase Forester talks about relying on his defense and preparing for playoffs - PSD Video by Kevin Rowley
Egan’s season will conclude with two away games, first on Thursday, May 8 against Neumann-Goretti before concluding with a non-conference game against Interboro High School on Saturday, May 10. Ryan finishes the regular season at 13-7 overall with the playoffs ahead.
With the playoffs fast approaching, both schools will look to end long streaks since their last appearances in the PCL championship game. Egan last appeared, and won, in 2006, while Ryan has not appeared since 2010 and has not won since 1998. This blemish for Ryan aside, both teams finished the regular season strong against quality competition and will look to stay hot when the playoffs begin later this month.