WARMINSTER, PA – Pitching has fueled Archbishop Wood’s season so far and was dominant Tuesday against Catholic League power Roman Catholic. The Vikings (13-1, 9-1 PCL) relied on senior Ryan Logan to shut out the Cahillites, 6-0, and have an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Philadelphia Catholic League today against Father Judge.
Logan, albeit dealing with control issues (seven walks), hurled six innings and only surrendered four hits. Roman Catholic (12-5,8-2 in PCL) continuously put pressure on the southpaw, placing six runners in scoring position throughout the game. However, the Cahillites’ hitters couldn’t get balls hit to the outfield to drop and missed opportunities.
“We got guys on today, but just didn’t hit when we got guys on base,” Roman Catholic coach Anthony Valluci said. “That was the problem here today for us.”
As productive as Logan was on the mound, he contributed at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs. He also received help from second baseman Matt Schwartz, who also drove in two runs.
Roman Catholic dispersed their hits in the game, with Greg Grandeli, Noah Clement, Victor Malizia and Santino Nave each tallying one single.
Nave started for Roman Catholic, going 4 1/3 innings and giving up five runs and seven hits. However, only one of them was earned, as the Cahillites committed three errors.
“We’ve been a very good team defensively this year and today we had about four errors total,” Valluci said. “That led to five of their runs; we make a play in the fourth inning and we’re out of that inning. We didn’t execute today and they did, so you got to credit Wood for that.”
Wood’s run in the fourth inning gave Logan some closure on the mound and the senior was able to have that necessary cushion starting pitchers covet.
“I thought Ryan did a good job battling through some situations,” Archbishop Wood head coach Jim DiGuiseppe Jr. said. “I thought he did a real nice job keeping his composure, settling himself down and working himself out of some jams. Defensively, behind him, we turned two key double plays so that really helped the situation.”
The two teams are vying for top-4 finishes in league play to close out the season. Archbishop Wood hopes to continue their success today facing Father Judge. Roman Catholic also hosts Archbishop Carroll today before traveling to Fort Washington Friday to face Upper Dublin in a nonconference game.