PHILADELPHIA – Back on April 9, Archbishop Carroll used three runs over the final two innings to deflate Cardinal O’Hara, 3-2. Simultaneously but miles away, La Salle coughed up a five-run lead in the sixth inning but avoided disaster by stopping Father Judge, 10-7, in eight innings.

More than six weeks later, on May 23, those same four teams find themselves facing each other in the PM Catholic League semifinals. La Salle will face Father Judge at FDR Park in South Philadelphia; Delaware County foes Carroll and O’Hara match wits at La Salle High School.

To get there, the four squads needed victories in the quarterfinals on May 21. After daily rain had forced several postponements, a glorious afternoon saw the following:

Top-seed La Salle received a major scare before defeating upset-minded, eight-seed St. Joseph’s Prep, 2-1. With senior Joe Miller and junior Gavin Moretski combining efforts on the mound, the Explorers severed a 1-1 stalemate in the fourth inning when senior Shane Manieri tripled home senior Jack Ruch.  

“Personally, I’ve been on the team for two years now and watched our team who had talent lose where we were today, and we all knew we could have went further,” said Moretski, who pitched the final three innings for a save. 

The Explorers benefited from key defensive plays by senior Eric Marasheski, senior Anthony Cossetti, and Ruch.

“We were prepared for a close game – not that close – but we got the job done,” said Miller. “We knew the playoffs would be harder than the regular season. We had some rust to shake off. We hadn’t played in a whole week so we were a little flat, but moving forward it’s good to get that out of our way.”

Miller was asked if it’s difficult being the top seed.

“Playing for La Salle, people are always trying to get us,” said Miller. “We can try and use that to our advantage in the playoffs with the other teams overhyping games. We know that we just have to play our game.”

Two-seed Archbishop Carroll had no problem with seven-seed Roman Catholic. A three-run double by sophomore Trent Pierce and a two-run double by senior Chris Grill helped the Pats score nine runs in the opening three frames. Five pitchers, led by winning senior hurler Jake Kelchner, combined to frustrate the Cahillites.

“We have the ability to win like that every game,” said Grill. “We are locked in right now and we are all hitting as a team right now. Moving runners over and getting two-out hits has been huge for us. That’s what we’ve been feeding off of all year. 

Three-seed Cardinal O’Hara needed a walk-off hit to thwart six-seed Archbishop Wood, 3-2. Already with two runs batted in, junior Luke Sprague worked a two-out walk in the home seventh and slapped hands with sophomore brother Cole as he entered as a pinch runner.

Junior Dan Hopkins’ third hit of the contest advanced Cole Sprague to third. A ground single to left by junior shortstop Jim White set off the celebratory fireworks.

With a complete-game line score of two runs, five hits, two walks, and six strikeouts, senior Liam Nihill starred on the hill.

 “I was just hitting my spots and location was key for me,” said Nihill. “Other than that, our team had a lot of energy the whole game. It was definitely a career highlight."

 White said he would never forget his first-ever walk-off.

“It meant so much to me because my team deserves all of it,” said White. “We know we’re an ‘underdog’ in the playoffs, but we’re hungry and we’ve worked hard all year to get to where we’re at right now.

One miraculous, six-run inning later, Father Judge prevailed. Senior Nick Conway tied the game with a two-run single and later scored. Senior Tim McLaughlin’s sacrifice fly brought home the third run. Senior Justin Muraski’s two-run double and senior Matt Spaeth’s RBI single rendered the Saints’ seventh-inning run irrelevant. 

“I haven’t had many at bats this season because of a shoulder injury in football, but I was just trying to put the ball in play and make Neumann make the play,” said Conway. “Fortunately, I blooped one over the third baseman’s head to tie the game up.”

Judge senior Chuck Kelley struck out eight and allowed three singles in 4 2/3 innings. 

“The comeback was great,” said Kelley. “I knew as soon as I led off with a walk and then ‘Drew-ski’ (junior Andrew Sicinski) had the hit to make it first and second. I then stole third and knew we had a great shot to make a comeback. Coming into the seventh we had some good hitters due up. We knew the game wasn’t over yet and had confidence we would come back to win.”

The magnitude of the victory did not escape Kelley. Neumann-Goretti had won two straight league titles, three of the last four, five of the past seven, and six of the last nine.

“It’s definitely big,” said Kelley, “especially because they took us out of the first round last year. We went in looking for revenge.” 
 

(John Knebels can be reached at Jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)