SPRINGFIELD, PA – On Tuesday, May 9th the Cardinal O’Hara Lions hosted the Conwell-Egan Eagles in an important Philadelphia Catholic League match-up. With just one league game remaining, each team desired the win in order to boost their standings before playoffs commence next week. Cardinal O’Hara managed to pull off the 5-4 home victory against Egan, to now garner an 8-3 PCL record.
O'Hara vs. Egan Highlight Video
The game was quiet until Egan’s Cori Jones hit a RBI to drive in Tori McCoach during the top of the third. Jones and McCoach were back at it again with another RBI from Jones bringing McCoach home to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Egan’s Alyssa Adams was hot on the mound until the Lions came roaring in at the bottom of the sixth.
With two outs, Cardinal O’Hara’s Emily Loomis hit a double RBI driving in Annemarie Banes and Julia Kush. Batting next, Samantha Randazzo hit a RBI sending Loomis home.
Allison Ahern hit a huge triple to send Randazzo back to home plate with another run for Cardinal O’Hara. Alexia Galli brought in the final run of the inning with a single RBI. The Lions finished the bottom of the sixth with a five run rally.
Conwell-Egan started off the top of the seventh strong with a double from McCoach and two singles from Jones and Adams. The Eagles were able to bring another run home making the score 5-4. Conwell-Egan finished strong but couldn’t seal the deal. O’Hara’s pitcher Jenna Smith finished the game with a strike out. She had seven strikeouts during the game with an easy 1, 2, and 3 shut out in the top of the fourth and only walked once. Conwell Egan’s Alyssa Adams struck out four and walked one.
The tension was high during the game as both teams were vying for a top playoff spot. Cardinal O’Hara’s head coach Bob Adams said that this week during practice his team focused on their defense and small ball. He applauded Egan’s offense with their heavy hitters, and these hitters showed up to this game. McCoach, Jones, Savage and Elizabeth Shire were all major assets to Egan’s offensive game. Cardinal O’Hara’s Emily Loomis was their shining light in a game that seemed to be pretty dark in the beginning for the Lions.
Coach Adams talks about O'Hara's strategy vs. Egan
Maura Kane talks about what it felt like to get one last home win
The Eagles came into this game sitting second in PCL standings with a record of 8-2, which is now 8-3. The Lions came into this game tied for the fourth spot in the PCL standings with a record of 7-3. Currently O’Hara, Conwell-Egan and Archbishop Ryan now sit tied in third place behind St. Hubert’s (8-2 PCL) and Archbishop Wood (10-1 PCL).
Looking Ahead: Cardinal O’Hara’s next game is away this afternoon at Little Flower High School. Conwell-Egan also plays today away at Archbishop Ryan.