JUNE 11
CARPENTER CUP CLASSIC FIRST ROUND
Burlington County (N.J.) 10, Catholic League 7
  Uggggggggh. For the third time this decade (also 2000 and '02), the three Philly-based squads have experienced a first-round meltdown. Yes, I realize other areas around the suburbs have good baseball. Doesn't mean I can't be surprised, not to mention disappointed, when Our Guys suffer their Early Outta Heres. There was a BAD omen early when, with two away in the second inning, a grounder was misplayed. In the press box, a guy from a suburban newspaper said, "That's the kind of play that can cost you the Carpenter Cup." Just when I was thinking, "Kind of a weird comment for a first-round affair," boom!, the VERY next pitch from Bonner sr. LH Conor Kerins (bound for West Chester) was launched over the leftfield fence for a two-run homer. In the third and fourth, La Salle jr. LH Shawn O'Neill wriggled free from a pair of jams to escape with no harm done (despite having allowed four walks and two hits) and SJ Prep jr. RH Kyle Mullen posted a 1-2-3 fifth. But Burlco broke through for three in the sixth against Mullen and four more in the seventh against Mullen and C-E sr. RH Andrew Sinon and the story was basically the same: too many deep counts followed by hits resulting from too-fat fastballs. In all, CL hurlers walked 11 guys and the CL batters milked just two. Big disparity. Hittingwise, there were some special moments. The first was provided by Wood soph 3B Brian O'Grady, a lefty swinger. In the home sixth, with CL down, 5-0, sr. CF Tim Edger (SJ Prep), sr. SS Rob Benedict (Bonner) and jr. DH Jon Schmidt (Ryan) loaded the bases on singles. O'Grady then powered a grand slam off the netting above the RF fence and a sign for 345 feet. Niiiiiiiice! He's only the second city-leagues soph in CC history to hit a homer, joining Germantown Academy OF Mark Steffens in '86. Mark played for a while in the Phillies' farm system. Also, he's just second city guy to crush a grand slam, joining La Salle's Zac Hess in 2004. I quoted Brian a little in the DN story, but overall ink went to Ryan sr. RF Nick Ferdinand, who was 2-for-3 with three RBI. Nick led off the seventh with a shot to dead center. The fence in that part of Penn's Meiklejohn Stadium is about 20 feet high and the sign reads 380. So let's call it about a 405-foot blast. Ferd wasn't finished. In the seventh, with N-G soph 1B Mike Riverso (single) and O'Hara jr. C Bill Pace (FC/E combo) on base, he powered a shot to left-center that short-hopped the fence and went for a two-run triple. Nick, who intends to play football (WR) and baseball at Bloomsburg, also made the day's best defensive play, though something went wrong at the very end. Going slightly to his left, he caught a liner and then uncorked a perfect (and strong) one-hop throw to the plate. Pace caught the ball OK, but it dribbled out of his glove as he was in the process of applying the tag. (The scoring decision was still a sac fly.) By the way, the CL's two-run eighth could have been much more productive if not for some flat-out bad umpiring. There were two called third strikes in the inning. On the first one, the ball was far outside. On the next one, and it ended the frame, the ball was WAY far outside. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! On to the ninth we go. Benedict collected his second hit with one away and O'Grady did likewise with two away. Get the tying run to the plate. All you can ask, right? The drama would not build. Riverso liked the first pitch and so did his bat. Alas, a liner went directly to the centerfielder and that was it. Now we get into a gray area (smile). Since the last game has been played, is this the end of my 37th year of covering high school sports? Or does it continue for one more day because West Catholic QB Curtis Drake will be holding a press conference tomorrow? Since Curt is a junior, you could take the approach that it's the beginning of School Year No. 38. Hmmmmmmmmm. It's not easy figuring out this stuff, folks (ha ha). **Update: As it turns out, Bernard Fernandez will be covering the press conference. Guess that tells you for sure where Curt is going.** Anyway, like always, all the best to the seniors as they move on, and thanks to everyone (players, parents, coaches, fans, etc.) for paying attention.

JUNE 9
CARPENTER CUP CLASSIC FIRST ROUND
Mercer County (N.J.) 4, Public League 3
  I am one hissed off dude. After years and years, decades really, of experiencing assorted levels of frustration, disappointment and, yes, even embarrassment, the Pub put together a nice performance and was slapped in the face, in part, because of an outrageously bad call by an umpire. Boooo! The call in question did not give MC its fourth run, but the pain was just as pronounced. These teams should be in extra innings!! All right, here's what happened. In the fifth, a leadoff double and a groundout made it man on third with nobody out. Frankford sr. 2B Jon Bracero then made a sensational play, sprawling to his right, on a groundball toward the middle and his throw to first base beat the runner, no lie, by at least half a step. At LEAST! But some knuck-knuck called the runner safe and THAT runner later scored the second run of the inning. Earlier, this same ump momentarily ruled an out on a play where TWO errors could have been called and the ball was being fired into the third-base dugout as he was making the call. Bruuuuuuuutal! Here's the sequence for the seventh inning run that made it 4-3. Masterman sr. LH Evan Hunt issued a walk, then the next two guys tried to sacrifice but wound up with singles due to assorted circumstances. The first time, the ball was perfectly placed wide of 1B and when Frankford sr. Frank Donato went to field it, Hunt was unable to cover in time. The next guy popped his bunt down the third base line. Dobbins jr. Terrell "Mouse" Barringer came charging in and made a dive for the ball. He was just short of catching it. It bounced in front and also went for a single. A sacrifice fly to centerfield followed. In the ninth, it appeared the Pub was going to go meekly as the first two guys made outs. Then, Central jr. CF Ian Lewis worked a walk and Frankford sr. DH Robinson Rodriguez took a fastball on his left elbow. Ouch!! Up stepped Masterman sr. LF Adam "All My Children" Chandler. In the next booth, I could hear tourney official Larry Conti saying, "He's got the right name for late-game drama." (smile) Alas, Chandler fanned on three pitches and that was it. The Pub still has just one win in tourney history and that came in 1990. This was the second time (also '87) it lost by as little as one run. Northeast jr. LH Brian Susten pitched the first three innings and was reached for just one run (unearned). Classmate Lance Lempert, a RH, pitched the next three before Hunt took over for the seventh. DN ink went to Esperanza jr. C Luis Santos, who looked great in the tryouts, according to those who were there, for his ability to make strong, true, quick throws to bases and block bad pitches. In this one, he also went 2-for-2 with a single to left-center and a single of the infield variety. A native of Manati, Puerto Rico, he has been in Philly for just four years and he was hesitant to conduct the interview in English without some help. So, teammate Harry Davila (Swenson) came over to assist with translation. (Plus, I know a decent amount of Spanish and we all worked as a team -- smile. Thanks for jumping in, Harry.) At one point, Swenson coach Shawn Williams walked over and said with a laugh, in Spanish, "Yo tengo hambre." That means, "I'm hungry." He wanted us to wrap things up so he could go attack a nearby McDonald's, I guess. The Pub's overall highlight was a two-run homer in the fifth by Frankford jr. CF Edwin "Tito" Rohena. On base was Frankford sr. SS Esteban "Shortie" Meletiche, thanks to a K/WP combo. Rohena's blast left the field a shade to the left of the 365-foot sign in dead leftfield. It was only the Pub's second homer in CC history and the first since 1993, when Northeast C Scott Hunter did the honors outta Veterans Stadium. He later played minor league ball and was in attendance for a decent portion of today's tripleheader as a scout for the New York Mets. (I think he was gone by the time Tito went yard, though.) In that same frame, the Pub got singles from Freiling and Frankford sr. RF Jose Burgos (on a grounder that, amazingly, hit the first base bag), but the uprising ended suddenly when GAMP sr. 1B Christian Matticks hit the first pitch into a 4-6-3 doubleplay. By the way, Meletiche struck out twice today after not whiffing ALL SEASON. These come with an asterisk, though. After rapping a double in the first, he injured his left wrist in the bottom half while trying to make a tag on a steal. He was writhing around pretty well at first, but remained in the game. His first K came in the second on a called third strike. He swung on the second whiff. Due to the injury, let's not hold either against him, OK? (smile)

JUNE 9
CARPENTER CUP CLASSIC FIRST ROUND
Berks County 9, Inter-Ac/Independent 3
   In the first few innings, spectators with Philly ties were doing double-takes. Wait, is this the Inter-Ac squad, or the Pub? (No offense, Pub guys. You know what I mean -- smile). The I-A/Indy squad was sloppy and discombobulated and the deficit after three innings was 5-0, with only one of the runs having been earned. Berks (Reading area) added four more runs in the fifth while batting around and none of those tallies was earned, either, thanks to a dropped infield liner. Oh, baby. Highlights? Not many, but at least a few. Malvern sr. RH John Gentile (Lafayette) pitched the last three innings and was outstanding. He fanned the first five guys he faced and finished with seven punchouts. The last came after a pair of singles, sandwiching a walk, loaded the bases with two away in the ninth to sidetrack John's plans for a perfect trey. In the home first, Gtn. Academy sr. 1B Joe Conaway hit a bolt to dead leftfield. It died out at the last second and was caught right in front of the 365-foot sign. With two away in the seventh, Penn Charter jr. 1B Rob Amaro tripled off the base of the fence in left-center. That ball traveled about 370 feet and the sequence was thoroughly enjoyed by his grandmother, Judy, who happened to be sitting next to me in the somewhat cool (emphasis: SOMEwhat) press box after experiencing health problems due to the off-the-charts heat. (She felt OK by game's end. All the best, Judy.) Amaro was chased home on a single by soph RF Ed Rooney (Freinds' Central). One more memorable moment: In the ninth, Malvern jr. CF Chris "Goose" Gosik hit a shot in the same direction as Conaway's. More height, though. Bang! It slammed off the scoreboard for a solo homer. Malvern sr. 3B Chris Cowell reached on an infield single and later scored on an error. CHA jr. DH Brandon Sady showed well with a pair of singles. This game was a disappointment, folks. The Inter-Ac is too good to put on this kind of showing. Oh, well . . .

JUNE 5
PIAA CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINAL
Hempfield 3, Frankford 2
  Well, there's the overall satisfaction of an excellent season, complete with making a positive statement on a state stage. But there's also the disappointment of knowing there could/should have been more, and that will linger a while for the Pioneers, especially the seniors. This game, played at the beautiful facility at Spring-Ford High, started at noon because Hempfield's graduation was scheduled for 6 p.m. (The older folks among us might be interested to know that Hempfield produced ex-Phillie second baseman Tommy Herr. In the earlier part of his career, as a Cardinal, Herr had a truly amazing 1985 season, collecting 110 RBI with the assistance of only eight RBI!) It rained hard last night and the ground crew did a nice job getting the field prepared. The Pioneers left school at 9 o'clock and were deep into BP by the time I arrived at about 10:20 (no traffic problems all the way up the Expressway and 422, amazingly). Though Frankford indeed fought and there were some curious ball-strike calls in the last couple of innings, it mostly had itself to blame for the loss. It received just two hits (and there were 11 whiffs, of 12 total) from the bottom six guys in the order, and the timing was bad on those: back to back by sr. 3B Dave Doggett and soph 2B Gabe Cedeno with two away in the fourth. It also stranded eight guys in scoring position, four apiece at second and third. Total hits? Five, and all were singles. With help from Hempfield, the Pioneers scored singletons in the fifth and seventh. The first scored as sr. RH Esteban "Shortie" Meletiche came rip-roaring down the third base line as sr. RF Jose Burgos showed squeeze. The pitch was low, though, so Burgos pulled back and Meletiche got credit for a steal of home as the ball short-hopped the catcher. Burgos then walked and teamed with jr. CF Edwin "Tito" Rohena for a double steal. Great opportunity for more! Alas, sr. C Robinson Rodriguez fanned on a low, full-count curve and was thrown out at first for out number two. Also, Rohena broke for home and was rubbed out there (though the Fkd folks insisted the catcher was juggling the ball against his chest). A killer of a DP. In the seventh, Meletiche ripped a one-out single to left and LH Brandon Hinkle was lifted with the count 2-0 on sr. SS Jon Bracero, after he'd balked Meletiche to second. LH Mike Schusko came on and completed the walk and all kinds of thoughts of last-at-bat heroics were dancing around in the heads of the Pioneers and their rabid rooters. A wild pitch advanced the runners, then Rohena blooped a single down the leftfield line for one RBI. With Burgos up, both runners thieved and there they were, in scoring position with only one away! Burgos walked to load the bases and, looking back, that might have been a bad thing because it set up a force at the plate. Rodriguez sent a chopper to third. Getting the out at first base might have proven to be difficult. But the fielder's momentum was taking him toward the plate and his throw was true. Two away. Bases still jammed. Sr. 1B Frank Donato hacked at the first pitch. A non-dangerous popup to shortstop resulted. Ballgame. Meletiche went the distance for Frankford. He gave up just two hits through five innings and struck out seven, including the final three batters of the fifth. He looked very strong. But with one away in the sixth, a groundball single to left was followed by a two-run homer to close to dead center. Ugh. The ball was a changeup high in the zone. Shortie said he knew it was a longie right off the bat. Hempfield scored in the seventh on a one-out wild pitch. As we have come to expect, first under ex-coach Bob Peffle (among those in attendance) and now under Juan Namnun, the Pioneers handled themselves with class in defeat. Covering these guys, and listening to/witnessing the passion of the fans, is one of my annual joys. Well done, everyone.

MAY 23
CATHOLIC LEAGUE SEMIFINAL
Bonner 11, Ryan 1 (6 inn.)
  Lots of swirling emotions after watching this one. Part of me was excited because Bonner jr. RH Ryan Haley and sr. RH John Condo combined to pitch a no-hitter and it's always cool to see one of those. The other part was disappointed because Bonner scored eight runs in the home sixth to build its lead to 10, and that meant the game was over. A no-hitter that goes the full seven is more legitimate, I guess you'd say. The other reason to feel somewhat cheated: this game was quite the stinker. It's hard to score 11 runs and post not even one extra base hit, but that was what happened. Plus, sloppy play was dominant. Oh, well. I'm thinking concentration was difficult for two reasons: No. 1, neither school was in session today. No. 2, this was a Friday and the start of the Memorial Day weekend. DN ink went to Haley and Condo. Haley was pulled after 2.2 innings, just after issuing his third walk of his stint. Right before that a pair of infield errors had silver-plattered a run for Ryan. Rough, right? You have a no-hitter going and you depart? Haley said he understood, and that he was disappointed with his performance. Condo received a huge play from his defense right away. Jr. C Jerry Smith hit a grounder deep into the hole. Sr. SS Rob Benedict stayed with it and got a forceout by throwing to sr. 3B Matt "Goo" McGillian. Condo's last three innings were mostly uneventful. Guess what? He threw almost all changeups due to a mixup!! (smile) Assistant Rob Benedict Sr. thought he was calling for sliders. But to Condo, the number being flashed by soph C Josh VanHorn meant changeup. Oh, baby! Ryan gave scoring another whirl in the sixth when sr. SS-RH Nick Ferdinand drew his third walk, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. Sr. RF Kevin Bryan at first indicated he was going to try to bunt for a two-out hit. But he then swung away and popped out to right. Ahead by 3-1, Bonner enjoyed a circus of a sixth. The Friars sent 13 batters to the plate and finally ended it with a walkoff strikeout/WP combo. Ugh. You had to feel for Ferdinand. Last Sunday, he pitched in three innings as Ryan battled North in a pre-playoff. That game was mistakenly ruled a no-contest by CL officials, then Nick went seven more frames the next day as Ryan won, 4-2. PIAA rules call for no more than 14 innings in one calendar week (Sunday to Saturday). Nick did no pitching Wednesday and Thursday as Ryan bested C-E in a two-pronged quarterfinal. Ryan assistant Bob Burke said coach Ron Gerhart's original plan today was to use Ferdinand for the first four innings. That changed and jr. SS-RH Bob Steffney got the start. In Bonner's first, sr. CF Pat Warrington singled to left and Benedict singled to deep SS. They later scored on sr. DH Lou Tomasetti's sac fly and sr. 1B Bill Hollingsworth's groundout. Ferdinand moved to the mound for the third. His velocity was pretty much non-existent and he must have shaken his arm, oh, about 1,000 times. His courageous tour of duty finally ended seven batters into the sixth after an HBP and a pair of walks. Jr. RH Drew Stevens faced the final six; he had no luck, either. The strangest play came when sr. 2B Shane Sweeney sent a blooper right in front of the plate. Smith collared the ball and tried to get a forceout at the plate with a quick dive. He was just late and sr. Dan Haley, Ryan's brother, scored, much to Smith's amazement. VanHorn drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 10-1. Stevens recorded a strikeout for out No. 2 and he then fanned jr. PH Jim Calabrese on a pitch that hit the dirt at the very back end of the plate. It didn't bounce far, but Smith couldn't locate it and Kerins raced (OK, rumbled -- smile) home and that was it. There'd be no seventh inning drama to see whether Condo could complete a full-fledged combo no-no. Amazingly, this was the second combined, six-inning no-no in a CL playoff this week! As SJ Prep bested Wood, 10-0, in a quarterfinal, Kyle Mullen, Kevin Gillen and Pat Carbone worked two innings apiece. Meanwhile, the final on Tuesday vs. the Prep should be a classic. These schools are strong rivals and here's hoping both will have major student turnouts.

MAY 18
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Red Pre-Playoff
North 2, Ryan 0 (kinda)
  Rain, rain, I hate your guts, at least on days when baseball playoffs are scheduled. The forecast and skies were ominous and the rain began, lightly at first, just after the teams finished their infield-outfield drills. There was then maybe a 10-minute delay before the start and the game wound up lasting into the bottom of the third before the rain intensified and La Salle High's field became too slick/muddy to continue. Carroll coach Fran Murphy, also the CL's baseball moderator, said PIAA rules call for this game to be entirely wiped out. The teams are scheduled to try again tomorrow, 3:45, at La Salle, and since both pitchers did not work into a fourth inning, they'll be eligible to throw, assuming their arms feel OK. North soph RH Ryan Etsell was impressive and his curve/slider was especially on point. He notched three strikeouts and only jr. SS Bob Steffney, on a slicing single to right to lead off the game, truly made serious contact. Ryan's starter was sr. RH Nick Ferdinand. Yes, the same guy who played Saturday night in the DN-Eagles City All-Star FB Game and even recorded a TD catch. The Falcons scored one apiece in the first and third. Frosh C Mike "Zoom" Zolk, a lefty swinger, began the home first with a hard single to right, then stole second and got to third as the result of an infield error. With sr. 3B Chris Morrin at bat, North tried a double steal and Zolk was safe at home on the back end. Even though Ryan's strategy did not work, I LOVED that jr. C Jerry Smith was allowed to throw through. So often, those first-and-third situations result in automatic freebie steals of second. Zolk is a crafty kid, though, and his timing/instincts were perfect. With one out in the third, Zolk hammered a drive to DEEP right. He was thinking triple off the bat and pulled up with just that result, easily. Sr. SS Bob Hopkins then reached out to arc an RBI single to shallow center. With the count 0-1 on sr. 1B Chris James, who played LB in that same all-star FB game, plate ump Bill "Babs" Haines called a halt to the proceedings and it became quickly obvious that no more baseball would be played this day. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. At Wood, Carroll and the Vikings got through one full inning with no score before the shutdown occurred. The pitchers there were jr. RH Bill Stanley for Carroll and soph RH Brian O'Grady for Wood. The next few days could lead to more frustration; the forecasts aren't too promising.

MAY 17
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Chestnut Hill 11, Episcopal 7
  Whoever wrote the late-game script for this ballgame is one mean-spirited dude. With the visiting seventh an instant away from ending, CHA sr. SS Mike Mattei suffered an injury to his "throwing thumb" that could affect his quarterbacking performance tonight in the 34th annual Daily News-Eagles City All-Star Football Game. Mattei, who's bound for West Chester, was eaten up by a hard one-hopper off the bat of fellow sr. SS Pat Mullen. The ball smacked against his thumb and went into leftfield for a game-prolonging single. Trainer Billy Dormer was summoned by base ump Gene Otto, who said later that Mattei's thumb was already beginning to swell in that short a period of time, and that he could also see the stitches imprinted thereon. Mattei talked Dormer and coach Stan Parker into letting him finish the game. And you know what happened. TWO more grounders were hit to Mike. Both were charge plays, and the kind he should have made. He bounced both throws in front of backup sr. 1B Zach Lehrbaum and Episcopal wound up enjoying a four-run inning. As I'm starting this report, it's a shade before 4 o'clock. Here's hoping Mike did not suffer any serious damage that could affect his throwing tonight or, who knows, even prevent him from playing (update: he was fine. threw for three TDs -- smile). The original plan today was Penn Charter-Malvern, only because I felt bad that I'd only seen the champion Friars one time. But that game was pushed back to Monday (and the Malvern-GA late-game do-over has been scrapped, with GA getting credit for what it had originally, a 4-2 win) and this tilt was a perfect fit, mainly because I hadn't seen either team. Now, for the first time since joining the Daily News in Dec. 1977, I can say I've seen every CL and I-A team (all 22 of them) in the same baseball season. CHA's hurler was jr. RH Brandon Sady, a small guy with decent (not eye-popping) velocity and that competitive spirit that every small guy seems to have. He was dominant through five (one run), than momentarily lost concentration in the sixth and got reached for a double to left by Mullen and homer over the leftfield fence by jr. C Mike "Nutty" McNulty on consecutive pitches. He also caused some of his own problems in the seventh walking two of the first three hitters after issuing no free passes all game. There were only two hits in that seventh: Mullen's and a groundball single to right for an RBI by soph RF Chris O'Brien, son of the former La Salle High/Drexel point guard. CHA did major early damage to frosh RH Brian Ruditys, who's expected to be a multi-sport force as time goes on. In the first, jr. C Steel Russell (sox of ex-Phillie John Russell, now the Pirates' manager) smoked an RBI double to right-center, soph 1B Erik Hubbard went in the same direction with more force and length for the same value and one more RBI and jr. LF John Kuneck powered a run-scoring single to center. The Blue Devils tallied four more runs in the second. Mattei, in the No. 3 hole, lashed a three-run homer to dead left and, on the very next pitch, Russell went yard to dead right. Soph RH Ryan Martin pitched 3.2 innings of one-run ball (RBI single for Russell in the fourth) and big'un sr. RH Greg Nealis allowed two unearned runs in the sixth on soph 3B Tom Devlin's groundball single to center. Amazingly, CHA had six lefty swingers in its starting lineup -- soph CF Jon McAllister, sr. RF Bobby Martz, Russell, Sady, Hubbard and Devlin. Only McAllister and Martz also throw lefthanded. Legendary FB grunt Juan Gaskins, who earlier kept the scorebook, was among CHA's pinch-hitters. Despite strong encouragement from his teammates, he went down swinging. Episcopal had three frosh in the starting lineup. Those aside from Ruditys were 3B Taylor Wright (his dad coaches a VERY prominent local college basketball team -- smile) and 1B Ted Gramiak. Parker supervised a nice pre-game ceremony for the seniors, who walked down a line, shaking the hands of all underclassmen, and then greeted parents/other family members. I'm writing this in the empty office (no DN on Sunday, of course). It's possible I won't be able to upload the photos until VERY late tonight, after the all-star FB game. Thanks for understanding.

MAY 13
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 9, Wood 4 (8 inn.)
  The more things change, the more they don’t. This was my first Wood home game in 21 years (phew!) and the base ump was Ed Kerrigan, joined by plate ump Jeff Kerrigan, his son. When I saw the Vikings at home in 1987, they were playing in nearby Munro Park, in Warminster, and the base ump, called into an emergency duty because only one man in blue showed up, was . . . you got it, Ed Kerrigan ("This is my 45th year. It's in my DNA.") The kicker that day was, Wood’s pitcher was lefty Mike Kerrigan, also one of Ed’s sons! We had a picture in the DN the next day with Mike pitching and his dad umping the bases in the background. Today, Ed was one of three guys in attendance with ties to a major leaguer. Ed’s brother is Joe Kerrigan, former MLB pitcher and once the Phillies’ pitching coach. Wood sub Pete Gubicza, a senior, is the nephew of former MLB star righthander Mark Gubicza (Penn Charter ’81). And among the N-G fans was LH Frank DiMichele, a product of the ol’ Neumann who made four appearances for the Angels in 1988. Frank showed up wearing a vintage No. 30 Nolan Ryan Angels jersey and you gotta LOVE that (smile). Had a great pre-game talk with Wood coach Jim DiGiuseppe Jr., a ’92 alumnus who guides the Vikings with his dad, Jim Sr. Those two were instrumental in building the field, at the back of Wood’s campus, that has been in use since the middle of the ’96 season. There is a scoreboard, but the electric is out because a tree recently tumbled down and damaged power lines behind the RF fence (as well as the house in this picture). Anyway, the field was in almost perfect shape – simply amazing, considering how wicked the weather was yesterday -- and the whole setup is nice. Plus, the sun comes at a perfect angle if you want to get pics of righthanded batters. DN ink went to sr. SS Agapito “Aggie” Osano, who’s 6-3, 190, and is playing with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He hurt it last year while pitching and, if you remember his name, you’ll win money in a bar someday because he was the pitcher of record when N-G collected its first win in school history in ’95. He popped out in his first two at-bats, but then went 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI. He bats second. The mild surprise of the day was that N-G’s ace, soph LH Mark Donato, was not on the mound. Coach Lou Spadaccini, with his team already assured of a playoff spot, said he was going to rest Donato this week so he’d be fresh for the playoffs. That sorta happened. Jr. RH Nick Piscitelli went six frames, then Donato pitched no-hit, shutout ball (though he did walk three and plunk one) over the last two to gain the win. Wood’s starter was soph RH Brian O’Grady, who’s Wood’s version of Donato as a sweet-swinging lefty hitter. I have a feeling he pitches only because he’s decent at it, not because it’s his passion, but we’ll see over the next two years. He went three innings, allowing three runs. Next for the Vikes was sr. RH Kyle Schwab, who is bound for West Point. I’d forgotten this from last year, but remembered it as soon as he threw his first warmup pitch. Oh, yeah, this is the kid who looks down at the ground (to his left) while he’s releasing the ball! (smile) Amazing, right? Schwab went four-plus innings, throwing 107 pitches! Talk about walking a tightrope. He allowed one run in the fourth (on Osano’s looping single) and forced N-G to leave ‘em loaded. He then stranded three, two and two over the next three frames, raising his whiff total to eight. The good fortune couldn’t last forever. The Saints broke through for five in the eighth, roughing up Schwab and his replacement, soph RH Matt McAllister. Donato singled to start it, then yielded to CR Anthony Pfettcher. AP stole second and scored on a bolt of a single by jr. C Joey Armata. Soph DH-1B Mike Riverso followed with an RBI double to center and the Saints were feeling frisky. The capper was a two-run double to center by jr. CF Dan Behlau. O’Grady, now at 3B, was involved in two noteworthy plays. First, he made a tremendous diving attempt to catch a bloop hit along the leftfield line. Then, he had trouble with the wicked sun and was unable to catch a foul popup. Wood scored three of its runs in the third. RBI went to jr. LF Jim Heilman on a double and to two guys, frosh 3B-RF Kyle McCrossen (also a lefty swinger) and O’Grady, on singles. The Vikings missed a golden opportunity to go ahead in the sixth. An RBI single by sr. DH Joe Nicholson made it 4-4 and left the Vikes with first and third, nobody out. Schwab twice was unable to get down bunts and then, after he took the third pitch for a ball, Armata gunned to third to pick off Gubicza (who was courtesy running). Schwab then popped up for out No. 2 and, after a walk, Piscitelli notched an inning-ending strikeout. This one lasted 3:13 and made the whole night a sprint. Except for a quick stop at the McDonald’s in Hatboro – No. 2, no onions, at the drive-thru window, of course – I zipped right back to the office and arrived a shade before 8 o’clock. Maybe in another 21 years, like clockwork, I’ll see another Wood home game. And stay in a motel out that way! (smile)   

MAY 8
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Kennedy-Kenrick 10, Carroll 5
  Great day on the trail! Lots of cool elements to the game itself and I even got to see the CL's best grounds crew (smile). Latshaw/McCarthy Field, in Norristown, is also used by Saint Joseph's University and the entire infield was covered with a wet tarp (not TOO much water, though) when the Wolverines arrived. What to do? Work as one to remove it, of course. With first-year coach Tom Sergio (great to see him again!) calling the shots and pitching right in, the tarp was removed and, yes, we soon were ready to go. Tom was a first team All-City infielder for the old Bishop Kenrick and a member of its last graduating class, in '93, before the merger with Archbishop Kennedy, which was in Conshohocken (but was never a CL member). He wound up playing pro ball and advanced as high as Class AAA. In the not-too-recent past, the teams from K-K and Carroll often hated the ground each other walked on. This one was spirited, but tame overall. One moment of cube-busting: After sr. LF Brandon Evangelist, who's not a very big guy, muscled up and powered a solo homer to left in the fifth, a Wolverine could be heard yelling, "That's a REAL fence! . . . This is a REAL field!" as Evangelist completed his home-run trot. Seems that opponents appreciate Carroll's phone booth of a field only when they're hitting cheap homers there (smile). DN ink went to jr. 3B Christian "Ya-Ya" Walker, a strong, play-for-keeps guy who has already committed to South Carolina. In the teams' Tuesday meeting, he was issued FIVE walks -- four intentionally, one as a pitch-around. In this one he went 3-for-3 with a walk, solo homer to dead left and two RBI. He also made good plays and showed great hustle/instincts in the first inning. With two down, after a single, he got a steal sign from "Serg" and was steaming for second when sr. DH Sal Spera lofted a popup into shallow LF. The ball was dropped and Walker came all the way around to score, easily. (By the way, Ya-Ya was hung on him nine years ago by his 1-year-old sister, Emily, who couldn't say Christian. REALLY couldn't say it. Ha, ha.) K-K sent 18 batters to the plate in the fourth and fifth combined (10, then eight; four runs apiece) and sr. 2B-CF Matt Marino provided the highlight both times: a two-run single, then a two-run triple on a sinking liner on which frosh LF Greg DiSanto made an all-or-nothing, coming-forward dive. He even went head over heels. Two other K-K guys totaled two hits for the day. Jr. CF Evan Basile, one of two guys in the game to throw lefthanded but bat righthanded (Carroll sr. LH Andrew Candelore was the other), had two singles and one RBI. Sr. RF Nick Guardino doubled and singled. Howevvvvver, the coolest moment of the day was when sr. Shane Giongo, wearing No. 77 and the day's only lefty swinger, was sent up to pinch-hit to lead off K-K's sixth. Most of you know about the tragedy that rocked Shane's family about five months ago (here's that page). He's a very popular young man and has shown incredible strength through everything. Well, Shane and his Body by Babe Ruth jumped all over the first pitch, sending a rocket off the top portion of the fence in rightfield. He lumbered into second to loud applause and then, showing good baserunning instincts, got to third during/after a groundout. Check out the reaction of jr. 3B Neil Gilman. After the game, it was again fun to watch the Wolverines deal with the tarp. Kids will be kids, of course, and they were diving around on assorted air bubbles. K-K's pitchers were jr. RH Steve Hopwood (four innings), jr. RH Ed Skilton (two) and jr. RH Steve Mahoney (one), who moved in from shortstop. The last two combined for shutout ball. Candelore was yanked one batter after Evangelist went yard. Soon thereafter, K-K's trainer brought over something cold to put on his arm. What was it? Well, the Wolverines neglected to bring along ice (or water, for that matter), so the trainer got some water ice from the stand and put it into a plastic bag. Sergio, coaching third nearby, heard Candelore say, "Is this water ice?" Sergio then said, kiddingly, "Yeah, and we'll put a cherry on top of it later." Earlier, as the Patriots grouped before an at-bat, they concluded the session by yelling "Hits!!" A player deadpanned, "Now that's some words of wisdom." Gilman was impressive with two hits, including a two-run single in the fourth. He shows Walker's gritty tendencies. Soph 1B Seamus Finnegan singled and doubled. In part because coach Fran Murphy is now going with more youngsters, this is likely Carroll's shortest/thinnest group of lineup players in school history. With two games remaining, the Patriots (6-6) are in danger of missing the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. Carroll will finish 8-6 (its last two are against West). Wood is 8-4 with two games against Neumann-Goretti remaining.

MAY 7
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
La Salle 7, North Catholic 3
  Not a horrible game, but certainly no prize-winner. As the Falcons arrived, a couple of them were commenting about how nice it would be to play on a field that's just a litttttttttt-le bit better than Piccoli Playground's. Then the game began and quality fielding was mostly a mystery. I felt bad for these guys because it appears, in some cases, that they expect bad bounces no matter the venue. A gun-shy infielder rarely makes the necessary play. The Falcons committed five of their six miscues on grounders and La Salle scored only one earned run all game. The afternoon began with a trip to Strawberry Mansion for Devon White's press conference. En route, Germantown Academy AD Jim Fenerty called the cell phone to say that GA had offered to replay the "illegal part" of Tuesday's wild and crazy game at Malvern. That'll happen May 20. My thoughts? In general, I think it's a little nutty to re-finish a game that did not involve a protest. But if there's EVER a time to do so, this is it considering how important GA's illegal hopscotching of pitchers was to the outcome. GA is to be commended. And don't forget, Malvern waited and waited and waited for four GA starters (including two starters) to arrive from AP tests before the game could finnnnnnnally start at 5:39, so maybe, just maybe, this is some sort of a gentlemanly payback. Anyway, the press conference at Mansion went well and then I called The Wife at work. "Guess what. You're going to flip a coin three times to decide where I'm going for baseball today. Heads for North-La Salle. Tails for Mastbaum-FLC." I could hear the coin bouncing off her desk. The sequence was La Salle, FLC, La Salle. Next stop, Montgomery County. Right after I parked my car, I could hear some nearby players discussing the GA-Malvern memory-maker. I let them know about the finish-it-later update and down to the field it was. Um, then back up it was. Coach Joe Parisi wanted me to see La Salle's new field, which is in a way-back corner of the campus and will be ready for '09. We hopped in the golf cart and headed over. The field and setting will be beautiful, looks like! Of course, some pics were snapped. La Salle's pitcher was sr. LH Matt "Boot(s)" Day. He went the distance, allowing seven hits and four hits while striking out eight. He did some of his best pitching in tight spots, bearing down and doing a great job of hitting spots (even some slightly off the plate for strikes -- smile). His mates supported him to the tune of just one error. North's starter was soph RH Ryan Etsell, a quick worker (about 8 seconds between pitches) with a long, lean frame and that easy kind of delivery that somehow yields good-zip fastballs. Scouts love guys like this. Here's hoping he doesn't get overworked because his pitch count today was 130. Etsell is also an impressive lefty-swinger. His two hits (one a double) were mashed. North's only RBI on a hit came in the seventh when sr. CF-1B Chris James (of FB-wrestling fame; pretty darn good in baseball, too) powered an RBI double to deep left-center. Another Falcon to watch is frosh C Mike "Zoom" Zolk, another lefty swinger. I liked how he carried himself at the plate, and behind it. All kinds of talent and savvy. (His dad and uncles were athletes of note at Frankford.) Only two Explorers (soph 1B Joe Harvey and sr. LF Jeff Murtha) had as many as two hits. The only extra base hit was a double by sr. 3B Mike Higgins in the fifth. North's new coach is Nick Chichilitti, who was a vacuum cleaner of a shortstop for Ryan's '84 champs. He also played back then for a Bustleton American Legion team coached by Parisi and the two had fun busting each other's chops beforehand. Late in the game, a Falcon fan up behind me (third base side) was complaining loudly/jauntingly about the lack of porta-potties at La Salle's field. "Fifteen thousand for tuition at this place and you can't find a bathroom out here!" he railed. "You gotta go back up to the school. What's with that?" I was sitting on the grass not too far from Parisi at that point. He looked over and noted, dryly, "It's only $14,000." He then told the guy the same thing, in friendly fashion. North had only 12 players in uniform. When Etsell was yanked from the mound in favor of sr. SS Bob Hopkins, there was nary a sound of appreciation from the bench guys. The same spectator yelled something like, "Keep it down over there, all right!" (I didn't write it down, but those words are sticking with me.) He then proceeded to express HIS thanks to Etsell as Ryan moved to shortstop. The day's best pic, all things considered, is this one: It shows serious hops -- well, semi-serious (smile) -- by La Salle's middle infielders, sr. 2B Frank(ie) Pierson and jr. SS Tyler Freeman. Sr. Andrew Wood, who has had some decent hitting days but sat out this one, handled prayer duties. "I gotta find SOME way to get my pic on the website," he cracked.

MAY 2
INTER-AC LEAGUE
Penn Charter 14, Haverford School 7
  Since when have these schools started playing baseball in the lower levels of the Public League? (Well, except for committing numerous errors.) One of my thoughts was to attend Southern-Gratz because I hadn't seen either team. However, Gratz had forfeited just the other day due to a player shortage and that created lots of hesitancy, so off to this one it was. (Gratz forfeited again.) At one point in this one, Steve Koplove, father of PC eighth-grade varsity player Kenny Koplove, asked why I'd chosen to attend. I mentioned that it was the day's only Inter-Ac game and that it was either this one or Southern-Gratz. So, quite late in the game, he quipped, "You might make it to Southern-Gratz. For their basketball game next season." (smile!). Talk about slow-moooovvvvving. The game started at 3:45 and didn't end until 7:03. Because I'm a very smart PC grad, I know that translates to 3 hours, 18 minutes. The clock hit 5 p.m. with one out in the visiting third. The 2-hour mark was reached with one out to go in the home fourth, just as Kenny Koplove relieved PC's starter, sr. RH Mike Carroll. What took so long? Did you have to ask? How about 26 walks, 23 strikeouts and six HBPs. That's 179 pitches even if nothing else had happened on those assorted at-bats!! So, I can only imagine how many TOTAL pitches were fired/flipped. The home plate ump wasn't bad, but he definitely had a penny-pinching strike zone and that only contributed to the length. Some tidbits: Despite scoring 14 runs, PC left 17 runners on base, including three apiece in FIVE innings . . . PC scored five of its runs on bases-loaded walks . . . Jr. SS-RH Mark Rhine, the leadoff batter, posted two hits and four runs scored and pitched no-hit, shutout ball (perish the thought) over the final 2 1/3 innings . . . jr. 3B Rob Amaro, batting second, reached base in all six of his plate appearances, thanks to singles that sandwiched FOUR consecutive walks . . . Two guys -- jr. 1B Steve Harrington and jr. 2B Mike Massaro -- had five plate appearances apiece without putting the ball into play! Harrington had one whiff and four walks; two of the free passes produced RBI. Massaro's sequence: HBP, K, HBP, K, BB. Oh, and in the seventh, Harrington yielded to sr. OF Zach Smith and he, but of course, drew a walk . . . After popping out once and fanning twice, soph DH Mick Foley crunched a three-run homer out onto Lancaster Avenue. He then whiffed again before sending a semi-liner to short . . . HS hit a pair of homers: soph DH Matt Lipson for three runs (to dead left) in the second and frosh 3B Vince Rondolone (same area, low liner) for two runs in the fifth . . . Two Fords -- leadoff man SS-RH Will Katzka and the No. 9 hitter, frosh CF Mike Washington -- reached base three times apiece via walks (two) and HBPs (one) . . . Jr. LF Kevin Eberly was the only Ford with two hits (both singles). Carroll whiffed all three batters in the first, but never was comfortable thereafter and yielded to Koplove, whose first pitch was launched within footsteps of the CF fence (and caught by jr. CF Jack Nazarewycz. Koplove and Rhine exchanged positions three batters after Rondolone ripped his HR. Haverford's starter was soph RH Matt Lengel, who appeared to be throwing quite hard. He also uncorked one of the all-time curves, buckling not only the knees of jr. LF John Ryan (two hits, including an RBI double), but also his entire body. Overall, though, his "control" was non-existent and he pitched just two innings. The next hurler was Katzka. His offspeed stuff was effective at times, but he did surrender seven runs. The mopup-duty guy was jr. Chris Luminais (loom-uh-nay), who HAS to be about 6-6, 280. He's not completely coordinated yet and his body will need some work, but he fired some peas and I guess we'll see how much he wants to make something of this pitching stuff. Meanwhile, it was during the second inning that I got a cell-phone call from DN crime reporter Dave Gambacorta about all of this Marvin Harrison stuff. At THAT time, the indication was that the police were looking at Marvin as the shooter. Man, was that distressing. Through his time at Roman, Marvin was always a gentleman and could not have been more appreciative in later years when he was inducted into Roman's HOF. When the game ended, I called Dave in the office and offered to stop by a bar owned by Marvin on a small street just below 28th and Girard. As I approached the door, a guy stepped outside and identified himself as the bouncer. We had a friendly conversation, he expressed his disbelief at the whole thing and that update was provided to Dave for tomorrow's paper; also some later quotes from Roman basketball coach Dennis Seddon. (Marvin was the Catholic South hoops MVP in his senior season of 1990-91 and I was always told he was a tremendous youth baseball player, as well.) What an afternoon and evening. A crazy baseball game and a disturbing allegation -- again, it's very early in the process; the story will probably change numerous times -- about one of the nicest superior athletes you could ever hope to meet . . . Let's end this on an upbeat note. Check out the photos of HS assistant P.J. Vanni, a former baseball player at O'Hara ('97), and La Salle High FB assistant Brett Gordon, a star QB at La Salle ('98) and Villanova. Tell me they weren't separated at birth (smile).

MAY 1
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 6, Judge 2
  April showers bring May drizzle-plus. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. During baseball season, these are the days I hate. The weather ying-yangs are talking all morning as if the afternoon is going to bring about a visit to Postponement City. But it never quite happens and you get your hopes up and you go to the game and there's just an occasional hint of spritzing and then, just as you're thinking, "We might get through this one with no real effect on the play . . . ", boom, it rains hard enough for folks to break out their umbrellas and, perhaps, just maybe perhaps, to influence the outcome. Here's the deal: It began to rain shortly into the home fifth, with Prep sr. 2B Brett Tiagwad on second (bunt single, steal) and sr. 1B Aaron Haas at bat. Judge sr. LH Steve Stout whirled to second in a pickoff attempt and fired the ball into centerfield. Did the wetness cause the miscue? Couldn't have helped. Haas went down looking, then sr. SS Tim Edger smashed a hard groundball to left, tying the score at 2-2. Jr. 3B Jeff Lynch followed with a sinking liner to center. Sr. Matt "The Juggler" McLaughlin was in the vicinity, but it was one of those better-play-it-safe jobs and the ball hit almost at his feet for a single. Edger and jr. pinch-runner Ryan Eden moved up on a wild pitch and Stout then walked sr. DH Pat Malloy. (Again, were moist baseballs part of this? The WP and BB were only his second of the game in each category.) With the bases loaded, jr. RF Perry Russom hit a chopper to sr. 3B Tim Ashenbrenner for a force at home and out No. 2. Jr. CF Dan Turner followed with a hopping rocket toward sr. 1B Dave Walkovic. It ate him up. Might have even taken a wicked hop because of the wetness. Anyway, it went through untouched for a two-run double and a wild relay throw (wetness conspiracy theory again, anyone?) allowed a third run to score. Sr. C Dennis Murphy followed with an infield single for an RBI (and run No. 5 of the frame) and Stout was replaced in favor of sr. RH Jim DiLisio, the starting RF. Jimmy D, by the way, retired all four batters he faced. Stout, who can't be more than 5-7, toughed his way through some early trouble, forcing the Hawks to strand four guys in scoring position through four frames. Tiagwad (hard single, two steals) had scored a first inning run on Lynch's groundout. Prep's pitching was done by jr. Kevin Gillen (five innings) and soph RH Tom Carbone. Gillen, who's slight but crafty and just quick enough, was up in the zone early and was fortunate not to suffer more early damage. In the first, Ashenbrenner's two-out double to left and a likewise-smoked single to center by soph DH Kevin Conroy plated a run. In the fifth, sr. SS Nick Petroski fired a blast to deep center. It's tough to be sure when you're so far away, but Turner, who also throws lefty, appeared to think he was going to get it as he ran toward right-center. Never quite got there. Ashenbrenner was issued an intentional walk and Conroy followed with another rocket. This one -- again, at least from where I was stationed; far end of the third base dugout -- had the look of a hit off the bat. It was, for an RBI double. Gillen brassed his way out of the inning just fine, fanning DiLisio and sr. 2B Tom Carey. Carbone, who wasn't on the squad earlier this season (maybe he's a JV callup?) showed decent size and strength and the day's best heater. Four of his six outs came on whiffs. Yes, he'll bear watching. After spending the first three innings on Prep's side, I then moved to Judge's and neglected to take along my jacket. So, shortly after the rain came, I looked over to Prep's side and saw maybe 5-6 bats leaning against the outer wall of the dugout. Guess what was draped over them, for protection-from-the-rain purposes? Yeah, my jacket! (Look in the background of this photo.) Glad to help, guys. When I retrieved it after the game, it smelled like aluminum (smile).

APRIL 30
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Dobbins 12, University City 11
  Toward the end of this one, a UC player walked over and said, "This is the best game you've seen all season, right?" Well, it was hardly the best played, but it was the most entertaining -- for MANY reasons -- and most enjoyable and it appeared that all of the players had fun. What a great afternoon! It began at St. Joseph's Prep with the goin'-to-Penn State press conference for T Mark Arcidiacono, and that was purely wonderful. Mark handled himself in perfect fashion -- I still get nervous talking in front of two people; can't imagine what it's like in front of maybe 75 -- and his large, energetic family added a great ingredient. After a short visit with hoops coach Speedy Morris and Lebanon Valley-bound point guard Joe Meehan, who was hanging out in Speedy's office, it was off to baseball. But where? I had three games in mind. On the way to my car, a couple of Prep's baseball players yelled out and requested coverage of their tilt at Judge. I was thinking of that one or O'Hara-North, and I even went about 7-8 blocks north on 18th Street before . . . can't do it. Something was drawing me to Dobbins-UC. Made a left turn. Out to 29th. Down to Girard. Turn left at the zoo. Maneuver over toward 48th and Grays Ferry, UC's home field. "Field" used loosely. The place was a mess. In the infield alone, there HAD to be a couple thousand dandelions. At least. There were no lines and there were large puddles near third and first. UC coach Rich Mitchell said the rec center's leader disappeared about two weeks ago and no one has come to replace him. Kudos to Dobbins coach Glen Goldberg, who ordered his players to begin using their gloves to carry load after load of dirt to the third base area to try to cover the water. Finally, UC's guys joined in, and then a combination of dirt and mulch (there was a pile behind the backstop) were used to repair both areas. When he first arrived, ump Jim Scott was thinking of postponing the game because of the poor conditions. He finally relented (he had to work alone) and the game got rollin' at 3:40, 25 minutes late. About four-fifths of the way through the cleanup process, one of UC's guys appeared with a rake and broom, which he said he'd gotten from a guy up the street. The rake got broken and the guy was a little disturbed when he showed up to claim his items. Someone gave him $10 (Goldberg, I think) and he was satisfied. He also hoped the players would learn a valuable lesson about the importance of returning borrowed items. So . . . the game started and there was almost a tripleplay right away! With jr. 1B-C Terrell "Mouse" Barringer on third and jr. 2B Ralston Thomas on second, frosh SS Fred Jones sent a liner to center. Jr. CF T.C. Muse made the catch and easily doubled Thomas with a throw to jr. SS Kadeem Wood. Meanwhile, Barringer had neglected to tag in normal fashion. He finally ran back and tried to score and Wood's peg to jr. C Matt Lowery had him! One problem. Barringer's hard slide caused the ball to trickle out. Yup, it was going to be one of those games. Thank goodness! Crisp and clean? Hardly. There were 13 walks, 14 errors and 19 stolen bases, but there were also some good plays and clutch, ringing hits and funny occurrences/one-liners were a constant and I could have watched this game deep into the night. It was just SO MUCH FUN! After a Mustang was picked off, UC jr. 1B Kevin Garris drew major laughs when he roared at the kid, "Go to your room!" (Kevin's dad, Tyrone Garris, was a ballsy point guard for William Penn and later a D-I star for the University of New Orleans.) As the UC seventh was about to begin, soph LH Demetrius "Meech" Robinson turned toward the outfielders and said, "Outfield, be on y'all horse!" In the half-inning before that, Dobbins sr. 3B Toyre Fredericks -- a lefty thrower, by the way -- asked coach Mitchell, "What inning is it?" Mitchell said, "Bottom of the sixth." Fredericks said, "I don't even know why I asked. I don't know what that means, anyway." Counting what was nearly the TP, UC turned FOUR DPs behind frosh RH Nasir Mitchell. Wood, a frisky kid with ability and personality, was involved in all of them. Dobbins' best player is Barringer. He'd been having arm trouble recently, so he started this one at 1B. He can run and hit and he displays all kinds of savvy and he can DEFINITELY play college ball. His dad comes to the games to shoot video and tapes will be available for all who want them. On size, he probably projects as a college second baseman. (Bloomfield College, in New Jersey, is already showing an interest, and he has one year left.) Mouse had two doubles in this one and also hit a rocket to deep LF. As the seventh began, UC owned a 10-9 lead. Robinson opened with a grounder to Wood, and he was ruled safe at first on a very close play. Soph C-RF Brian Gibson, the No. 9 hitter, then clobbered an RBI triple to center. Barringer followed with his shot to left and . . . oh, baby, Gibson ran right home. Goldberg had just explained to him -- about 27 times! -- about the need to tag up on a ball to the outfield. One out to go for a UC victory. Thomas managed an infield single and went to second on a tacked-on error. Boom! Jones powdered an RBI triple to center. Soph DH Iziah King lofted a popup in front of the plate. It was dropped and that made it 12-10. On to the home seventh. Jr. RF Ekeem Thompson and soph 2B Jimar Hill (4-10, 86 pounds) reached on consecutive infield miscues, creating a first and third situation. Hill then stole second, and Thompson was able to frolic home when the Mustangs botched the situation. Lowery fanned and Muse popped out to shortstop. Two down, Hill on third. Goldberg then made an incredibly bold decision, calling for intentional walks to Wood (two hits already) and sr. LF Jermaine Kamara (two hits already for three RBI). "They hit the ball hard all day," Goldberg said. "We had to NOT face them and take our chances." When I asked if he'd pondered the decision, oh, about seven times, he said with a smile, "About 150 times." With the bases now loaded and the WINNING run now in scoring position, Garris sent a high popup toward first base. Ballgame! Huh? En route to second, Kamara had jostled jr. 1B Darryl Clark and Scott called him out for interference! It was a tough way to end it, but Kamara was definitely guilty. One last time: This was a treat. Good luck to all the kids involved (here's Dobbins) and thanks for the fun 2 1/2 hours, roughly.

APRIL 29
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 9, Conwell-Egan 2
  How frustrating was the '07 season for N-G? Well, the Saints did enjoy three wins in the ol' Southern Division (RIP), but they all came against a team, West Catholic, that is now riding a 63-game league losing streak. At least the Saints were going with youth, and at least that youth was showing promise, and at least a star from another school decided to transfer because he missed his grade-school/youth-ball buddies and he no longer felt like making the daily trek to Broad and Vine. Yes, Roman's loss has very much been N-G's gain. Soph LH Mark Donato happens to be one of the area's top youngsters and he was showing impressive skill even in the summer after eighth grade while playing in the semi-pro Pen-Del League. Though he still likes hitting the best -- the 6-1, 195-pound soph bats and throws lefthanded; he plays 1B when not on the hill -- and holds down the No. 3 spot in the order, he's most valuable as a pitcher. Any time he starts, the Saints are hopeful of marching to victory. And not faintly hopeful, either. Donato is pitching with a tender upper left arm and, as examined in my DN story, has been advised to shut things down for three weeks to a month. The soreness is resulting from shoulder tightness, he has been told. His velocity today was only 83-84 (two MLB scouts were on hand; well, briefly), but he has been known to reach the high 80s. Unsettled by a strong wind that was blowing pretty much straight across from first base toward third, he started off in shaky fashion, walking two of the first three batters and even uncorking two wild pitches. He was impressive thereafter, though, relying largely on a late-count curve that had serious bite (and was helped by the wind). Donato gave up four hits (only one was thumped) and three walks while striking out nine. Oddly, six of his Ks came against the two guys at the top of C-E's order. The one noteworthy frame in this one was the visiting second. N-G sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight times. The victim was sr. LH Kevin Cahill, who, honestly, was only partially responsible. Yes, Cahill walked three in the inning and served up some hard-hit balls. However, the Eagles committed three miscues and at least two more plays could/should have been made. This was VERY unEganish baseball, troops. Jr. C Joey "The French" Armata started things with a ringing triple to right-center. His second time up, he lofted a popup near 1B. Due to the wind and a minor stumble and who knows what else, it wasn't caught and it went for an RBI single. Soph 1B Mike Riverso then got the eighth run home with a bolt of a double to deep left-center. Other RBI hits were delivered by soph 3B Al Baur (single for one) and Donato (single for two). Jr. LH Steve "Summer" Verano got the last out, then pitched three scoreless frames (Donato and Osano reached him for doubles). Osano's seventh inning RBI double soured the two inning stint of jr. RH Andrew Schaefer, who did pick off Osano right afterward. C-E's best at-bat of the day was turned in by sr. LF Chris Bartuska, who appeared off the bench and did a nice, hang-tough job before sending a medium-hard single to LF while leading off the sixth. Frosh C Daulton George then followed by ripping a single to center and both runners moved up on Schaefer's chopper. Donato escaped with a strikeout and another chopper right back at him. N-G's lineup included one freshman (RF Dom Riverso), four sophs (Donato, Baur, M. Riverso, LF Reno Regalbuto), two juniors (Armata and 2B Billy Fulginiti) and two seniors (Osano and CF Dan Behlau). Hard to believe, but N-G/Neumann has not had a winning CL season since at least 1999 and has not appeared in a regular playoff since '97. The program is on the serious upswing, though, which is a credit to coach Lou Spadaccini (a headliner during the school's last glory period; he earned first team DN All-City honors as an OF in 1991 and '92) and his staff. As for C-E, well, there won't be much of a wait for a chance at redemption: The teams battle again Wednesday afternoon at the site of the former Neumann. On the photo trail today, I kept going in one direction and good opportunities kept presenting themselves in the other. And the plate ump got in the way a couple times. Grrrrrrrrrrr. But if you want a chuckle, check out the sunglasses that were being worn by C-E's manager, Arie Berry-Johnson. She added the artwork herself. Next stop: getting a patent for these babies, then marketing them!! (ha ha)

APRIL 24
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Frankford 6, Northeast 0
  On the day the Frankford football (and overall) community honored legendary coach Al Angelo one last time with a wonderful, well-attended funeral service a short distance away at St. Martin of Tours, the baseball squad also did itself proud in this battle against a long-time rival. Because of this game, attending the burial and making it back in time for the start would have been iffy. But I did drive to Frankford right after the service with the desire to see the procession of cars (maybe 50?) pass by the football stadium, as was one of Al's desires. Watching that was pretty emotional and it's assumed people noticed the black bunting draped across the iron gates at the entrance. After changing from appropriate funeral-attending clothes to my usual street-person look in the locker room, I made a quick trip to the nearby McDonald's for a No. 2, no onions (it's one of the few McDonald's not nestled into a city block WITHOUT a drive-thru; believe me, I know 'em all -- smile) and was stunned to see inside a guy who was an exact facial double of John Marzano, another famous sports person (our DN City Player of the Year in '81 for Central; later a major leaguer and media stalwart). Back at the field, there was an early wacky moment when a guy yelled from a passing car, "You suck!!" That was it. Just those two words. Not sure if he meant Frankford or Northeast. Or, maybe he was some guy from, say, Lincoln, who hates both schools (smile). While standing earlier outside the football stadium, baseball boss Juan Namnun mentioned that his starting pitcher would be RH Edwin "Tito" Rohena, returning from a recently injury that dislocated his right pinkie. Juan said Tito would be monitored closely and might not wind up pitching THAT long. The reason for concern was unfounded. Rohena, mainly due to a hopping fastball, sliced and diced the Vikings to the tune of a two-hitter with just two walks. After star SS Esteban "Shortie" Meletiche made a wild throw for a two-base error on the first play of the game, the Pioneers then played mistake-free ball. And no Vikings advanced even as far as second base thereafter. The two hits were a smash off Rohena's spike in the first inning by lefty Brian Susten in the first inning and a well-placed, deadened-perfectly bunt by SS Jose Delgado in the third. Rohena fanned seven and helped himself several good defensive plays. In the second, lefty RF Hayden Underland sent a grounder toward 1B that took a bad hop off the body of Frank Donato. The ball bounced toward 2B Gabriel Cedeno, who gathered and fired to a covering Rohena. Great play! With Delgado (walk) on base to lead off the sixth, Rohena gloved 2B-relief P Lance Lempert's bunt and lasered to first for a doubleplay. Frankford scored one apiece in the first, third and fifth and capped the day with three in the sixth. Meletiche, leading off, went 3-for-4 with a fielder's choice and three runs scored. Big hits: C Robinson Rodriguez' RBI double in the third, RF Jose Burgos' double to lead off the fifth, Donato's two-run double in the sixth (he was out stretching) and Rohena's ringing triple to dead CF right after that. Rohena rounded third on the play and was almost gunned out by C Tim Freiling. And that, folks, provided a chance for a vintage funny. Watching from the area behind Northeast's bench, sub Seth Lempert thought the call was incorrect and exploded up off the little chunk of wood that fronts the small hill. He ran toward the fence fronting the bench and, whoa, caught his feet as he tried to hurdle said bench. He stumbled hard into said fence and those in the area laughed heartily. As did Seth. Well, after knowing for sure that he was OK. Just messing around, I told the subs and managers I got a picture of it. Several attempts to get Seth to try a reenactment so we COULD get a photo -- you know, for posterity's sake -- were declined (smile). We did get photos of manager Lindsey Ryan wolfing down a pre-game hoagie and of another manager, Megan Sariego, checking her makeup (and confirming her beauty). Their attempts to get us to not post the photos had no chance of succeeding (ha ha). Northeast's starter, Susten, was yanked after walking Rohena to start the third. Quite the quick hook, but he had walked three and surrendered three hits to that point and had saved himself major damage by logging two pickoffs. The first run should not have happened, as Freiling well knows. With the bases loaded in the first, Rodriguez sent a chopper to 3B Alan "A.J." Logan that could have yielded a doubleplay. One problem: Freiling had that exact same thought to such an extent that he neglected to catch the ball before trying to gun it to first. Hey, it happens. A late-game highlight occurred when Robinson sent a wicked foul ball directly at Namnun, who was coaching at third base. Juan showed good vertical as the ball whizzed right beneath him. Another injured Pioneer, Jon Bracero (two smallest fingers on his right throwing hand), made a late-game appearance, drawing a walk, stealing second and later scoring. Among the legends in attendance: basketball point guard (and future Hollywood megastar) Malik Ballard, and alumnus Kenny Miller, who posed for this classic photo in '05 with two schoolmates (right at the top of the page).

APRIL 23
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Phila. Academy Charter 7, Furness 0
  No wonder Dave Pachucki, a 5-10, 185-pound senior lefty bound for Eastern University (he also plays CF and bats leadoff) was not THAT excited after this one. In only the last year-plus, this was his SEVENTH no-hitter counting four for these guys (two each season) and three last summer for a Legion team in Lower Southampton. Early, it appeared Pachucki would sail through this one with not even a hint of a problem and face the minimum 21 batters. And that would have been a weird coincidence because the Furness players, in lieu of their regular tops, were wearing black T-shirts with No. 21, in white, over the heart area. They did so to honor the memory of Tony Brown, brother of jr. RH Sam Byrd, who died in the past few days. Sam said Tony never played high school sports, but wore No. 21 on assorted basketball/baseball rec league teams. By the way, due to the usual issues that sideline kids, Furness had just 10 players in uniform for this showdown of Division D unbeatens, played at Conwell and Roosevelt Blvd. As Pub followers know, D is quite the barren area when it comes to top-quality players (not enough kids truly have an interest in baseball, and those who do can't find playmates and/or get too late of a start), but PAC is respectable and Furness can hang, especially with Byrd on the mound. Pachucki was overpowering. And scary. Falcons were backing out of the box pretty much from the outset and those who did hang tough were often just flailing away at pitches everywhere/anywhere. Pachucki realized this, of course, and many times used the take-'em-up-the-ladder approach. The first 11 Falcons struck out and no foul balls were even hit until RF Shayne Aviles, the No. 8 hitter, managed to fight one off. Furness made contact just eight times and four of the foul balls did not leave the cage. The non-K outs through six innings: Byrd ended the fourth by popping out to frosh 2B Trevor Newcomb; frosh 3B Ryan Gonzalez (walk, SB on what should have resulted in a pickoff out) was gunned down at third by sr. C Bobby Ropars to end the fifth after coach Eric Weinstein figured he'd better hope for a bad throw and mad dash home rather than expect a hit near the bottom of the order (the play was close; Gonzalez MIGHT have beaten the throw); and soph RF Dijon McNeill chopped out to jr. SS Taylor Vanderwoude to end the sixth. Here's what happened in the seventh: jr. SS Naim Fox whiffed; sr. C Anthony Traverse drew a four-pitch walk; Byrd sent a hopper to Newcomb that MIGHT have wound up as a game-ending doubleplay if he had not bobbled; Gonzalez fanned; and with soph CF Montez Brown batting, Pachucki whirled and rubbed out Traverse on a pickoff throw to Vanderwoude. All things considered, even the overall response to the no-no was rather tepid. Maybe it was too easy? Maybe the 20-odd spectators didn't realize what had happened? Who knows? PAC is accustomed to crunching its opponents, witness that not until this week (also vs. Overbrook) was it forced to go the full seven innings this season. Meanwhile, I am NOT accustomed to seeing no-hitters, especially seven inning versions, so this was a treat. It had been almost five full seasons. In that one, La Salle lefty Dan Waters twirled a no-hitter against Carroll in a Catholic League semifinal. In all these years, I can remember having seen just one other full-length no-no and that occurred on May 13, 1983, when St. Joseph's Prep righthander John Calabrese, a senior, shut down Bonner, 2-0, in a game at Lighthouse Field, Front and Erie. It was a makeup that occurred on a Friday afternoon and was the Hawks' third of the week. To that point Calabrese had pitched just eight innings all season for coach Joe Malizia, exclusively in relief. He had a perfect game for 6 1/3 innings; that was ruined by a throwing error on a grounder. The final out of the game was made on a popup by Mike Sundo, now an assistant at O'Hara. Anyway . . . as for today's runs, PAC scored one apiece in the third (Ropars' sacrifice fly) and fifth (a single to left/error combo off the bat of jr. 3B Tony Summers), and then burst through for five in the sixth as Byrd tired and hurt himself with four walks. One to Ropars forced in a run, and it happened after he was almost struck out on a two-out, two-strike curve that was judged by plate ump Joe Lieberman to have circled the dish. At that point, Weinstein lightly kicked over a large trash can and a PAC sub said from the bench, "It's called anger management." (smile) Summers followed the walk with a ringing, three-run blast to left and Vanderwoude later scored at the back end of a play that began with a caught-stealing at second. The day's best defensive play was made by Fox, who ran into shallow left-center to snag a popup with his back to the infield.

APRIL 21
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Judge 7, O'Hara 2
  One question: Why is the scoreboard at O'Hara's new field painted green? You think Bonner would paint its scoreboard red and/or blue? (smile). Another question: What's with the intensity of the wind currents at this place? The new field is WAY at the back of the property. There was hardly any wind in the parking lot, but as people walked back and back and back, they experienced winds that were stronger and stronger and stronger. This sounds like a story for Sue Serio (ANYbody but Hurricane Schwartz). With the wind blowing straight in from center, or sometimes from left toward the first-base line, this one figured to be low-scoring. Since I'd never seen him before, it was impossible to figure soph Kevin Conroy into the equation. Judge coach Tim Ginter indirectly likened Conroy, a pitcher-shortstop, to the Phillies' Chase Utley, in that the ball just happens to sound different coming off his bat. Batting cleanup, Conroy fired a pair of right-through-the-wind triples to center and right and the latter was the highlight of a five-run fifth. Conroy walked and notched an infield single in his other two plate appearances. This was his first pitching start and he fared well in that endeavor, too. Under a limit of four innings or 75 pitches, Conroy talked his way into going five. He allowed three hits, with a bunt and an infield roller among them, and struck out six. He helped himself with an easy pickoff (sr. 1B Bob Zanneo did the run-him-down duties) and jr. C Kyle Levocz provided assistance with a strong throw to wipe out a would-be basestealer. O'Hara's starter was veteran lefty Joe Sessa, a sr. The Crusaders were on him just enough to retain confidence, and enjoy some production, through the early frames, then they pounced in the fifth -- with MUCH help from O'Hara miscues. Zanneo opened with a looping single down the rightfield line and sr. CF Matt McLaughlin tried to bunt him up. Sessa had a sure out in front of him, but bounced the throw to second. After jr. SS Nick Petroski sent a flyball to center, sr. LF Andrew McHale (recognize some of these names from other sports??) milked a walk to load the bases. Sr. 3B Tim Ashenbrenner grounded to jr. 3B Kevin Sack. Sack's throw for a force at the plate was slightly offline, but jr. C Bill Pace should have caught it, as he acknowledged. (His own glove had broken, so he was using a teammate's.) Conroy followed with his three-run rocket and sr. 2B Tom "Hidden Ball" Carey later added a sac fly. (Click here to see why Tom "earns" this nickname. Some day, we'll get the REAL story out of him -- ha, ha, ha.) Sr. RH Dave Walkovic pitched the sixth and seventh for Judge. O'Hara hit two shots in the sixth, but McHale, headed to Albright for football, used his speed to make an easy catch on one of them (well, the wind helped, but the ball appeared to be a sure hit off the aluminum). O'Hara scored in the seventh on an infield single/error combo for sub jr. RF Evan Higgins, which was followed by Coogan's hard single to left. OK, one more question: Which of the guys mentioned above accounted for O'Hara's fourth inning run with a sacrifice fly? Go ahead, take a guess . . . Kevin Sack, of course. As in "Sack-rifice fly."

APRIL 17
UPDATE ON KRISTEN'S TICKETS . . .
  The tickets Kristen (see below the Edison-Lincoln report) won on the radio are for Bunnystock, at Campbell's Field in Camden.
  Here's a link to the website about it.
  (Well, as it turned out, Kristen nixed the tickets. The station wanted her to drive to Bala Cynwyd to pick them up. Wasn't worth it.)

APRIL 17
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Edison 15, Lincoln 3 (6 inn.)
  Even if the game itself is ugly, there's no such thing as a bad experience watching Edison baseball. The team always is filled with characters and I enjoy translating their assorted, rapid-fire Spanish sentences into English -- well, except for the occasional curse words (smile). High on the list of this year's wacky guys is soph 1B Brian "Chubz" Santiago, who gets that nickname from his beefy body. He also has quite the elaborate haircut and after I took a pic of the left side of his head, he added, "Yo, what about the right side?" When that was finished, he nudged a teammate and said, "The papparazi are after me." Ha, ha, ha. Good stuff! In an oddity, three of the starting Owls wear glasses. Not sure I've ever seen that. Coach Larry Oliver's squad is regrouping after the graduation of some quality seniors. The lineup includes four sophs and two juniors. One of the seniors was the starting pitcher, RH Alex Lajara, who has a Body by Chubz (almost) and uses his strong legs to get decent pop on the ball. He went the first five innings and could have ended things there, but he yielded a two-out RBI single to sr. 1B Adam "Pop" Goncharksy (he looks about 30 years old) and that made the score 11-2. Lajara was running out of steam by that point; he walked three in the inning. Lajara allowed four hits while fanning five. Soph Elias Crisostomo finished up. Lincoln's pitchers were jr. LH Sean Cross (1.2 innings) and soph RH Joe Boerner (rest of the way). Cross redefined soft-tosser and Boerner was one of the slowest workers in world history. Even with no one on base, he was taking 18-19 seconds between pitches. Phew! The Railsplitters are going through a challenging period right now because Charles Boyd, the football QB as well as a varsity basketball/baseball player, is in the hospital with injuries suffered in an auto accident. In tribute, the players are wearing yellow No. 9s on the sleeves of the shirts beneath their black sleeveless jerseys. Get better quickly, Charles! Edison hit some hard balls, but Lincoln contributed greatly to its demise by committing six errors; most came at inopportune moments. The top of the order paced Edison: Crisostomo, who began the game at third base, went 2-for-4 with a double, sac fly and three RBI; soph C Orlando Rodriguez slammed a pair of two-run doubles (both of the ground-rule variety); and soph SS Jonathan Colon (also decent with the glove-arm) collected two RBI (admittedly on groundouts, but at least he did his job). Sr. OF Joel Hernandez also had two hits. The game ended in true-downer fashion for Lincoln. With the bases loaded, a runner was picked off second as Crisostomo gunned to Colon. Oh, baby. Meanwhile, let's play the Relative Game with Lincoln's guys. Jr. SS Michael Ulmer (RBI single, mostly solid defense) is the grandson of the man who's likely the most famous fast-pitch softball player in Philly history, George Ulmer. Now retired and living in Florida, George was the TRUTH as a pitcher. He's nationally famous, in fact. Sr. OF Kevin Adamson is the brother of Bryan Adamson, a first team All-Pub OF for Northeast in '04. Kevin is hearing impaired and attends Lincoln because the school has a special program. Goncharsky's uncle, Mike Goncharsky, was a third team All-City DH for Northeast in '90. Lincoln's most impressive player aside from Ulmer was soph C Dylan Gallagher. He was into the game throughout, both mentally and verbally, and really took a shot on play at the plate, holding onto the ball for the out (throw by jr. RF Michael Vazquez). This game was played at Max Myers Playground, along Bustleton Ave. a shade above Roosevelt Blvd. (and it's where George Ulmer did most of his best work in Philly's main softball league). Lincoln's field no longer exists because the new school is being built on that part of the campus. Edison's scorekeeper is Julio Lajara, Alex's brother. Their dad, Alex, was also on hand, which was nice to see. Alex was wearing a long-sleeve shirt (not white, but cream-colored; close enough) under his game jersey and was told to take it offf by plate ump Bill Hall, at the request of sr. DH Gary Hutchinson, just as the home third began. Edison's overall leader is sr. OF Antonioray "Sunshine" Rodriguez, who's also a character. During football season, I took a pic featuring Sunshine and female player Christiana Morales and kiddingly said in the caption that Sunshine was Christiana's "future husband." Sunshine said his real girlfiend gave him a hard time, playfully. He then added with a laugh, "And she's never going to forgive YOU." Many folks in that club (smile).

APRIL 17
FAMILY TIDBIT
Luck of the Latvians
  Kristen, my daughter, called at 9 o'clock this morning and was very excited. "Dad, I won tickets on the radio!" Of course I asked her, "For what?" And her response was, "Ha, ha, ha. That's the thing. I don't know!!!" Shortly before arriving at school, she happened to turn on Wired 96.5 and these were the first words she heard. "Call in now if you want to win the tickets." She did. And did. The guy never said what the tickets were for, and she was too embarrassed to ask (smile). Kristen told me, "They said they don't even have the tickets yet, but they'll send them out when they do." I tried calling 96.5's listed number for requests for about 45 minutes, off and on, to see if someone could provide an answer. It just rang and rang and rang. So, anyway, Kristen is a winner. And we're at a loss to tell you specifics.         

APRIL 16
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 11, McDevitt 2
  Daulton George owes everyone about 35 minutes. Only a freshman, George is good enough to be on C-E's varsity and we'll assume he'll have an excellent career for the Eagles. But with this game an instant from ending due to the five-inning, 10-run rule, George made an unwise decision and his error wound up causing the game to go the full seven and another half hour-plus. George was playing catcher in relief of jr. Pat Sevick. With C-E up, 11-0, repeat, 11-0, and the bases loaded with two out, repeat, two out, George tried to pick a runner off FIRST base. Oh, baby. The ball skidded into rightfield, allowing soph P-INF Drew Siegfried and sr. 3B R.P. Boyle to frolic home and reduce McDevitt's deficit to nine runs, of course. Sr. RH Andrew Sinon was on the doorstep of concluding a five-inning one-hitter with 10 strikeouts when the boo-boo occurred. Much later, I kiddingly asked Sinon whether George had yet offered a public apology. "There will be no acceptance," Sinon cracked. That was not the only head-scratching development. With McDevitt down, 8-0, in the home first, Siegfried led off by reaching first on an error. Then, he was thrown out trying to steal. Yes, with his team down, 8-0. I doubt Drew would have been allowed to run on his own there. Truly mystifying. Now, let's move to the very end of the proceedings. One thing George's error did was give a late foul ball an opportunity to plunk down on the roof of a house directly across a small street from McDevitt's field in a small section of Glenside/Edge Hill that's actually in Abington Township. As the teams gathered for their post-game talks, the umps walked to their cars and were confronted by a woman who lives in the house. She was irate about the foul ball and wondered why the umps were allowing that kind of stuff to happen. Understandably, the umps were not real interested in being blamed for this. (My car was not far away. I heard/saw pretty much the entire exchange and even took a picture.) The woman was African-American and claimed the umps were being short with her -- her perception, of course -- because of her race. The woman and one of the umps went at each other with voices raised, big-time. Thankfully, all died down and the woman had to walk past my car to head back to her house. We talked for several minutes and all was calm. She is VERY frustrated because she said her house has been pelted for 13 years. I suggested calling McDevitt, the Archdiocese, even the township to extend the fencing above and around the cage. Lucky for her, most batters hit righthanded. Her house is primarily susceptible to lefties' foul balls. I feel sorry for this lady, but there was no way the umps should be charged with the responsibility of protecting her house. She must not be very familiar with the ins and outs of sports, or she would have known that. Here's hoping she gets some relief despite her off-the-charts display, especially her "charge" that appeared to be TOTALLY baseless. Meanwhile, Sinon was gassin', folks. He showed the best fastball I've seen so far this spring. He was recently clocked at 84-86 and had to be at least in that neighborhood today. He also showed a knee-buckling curve. Drawbacks: he often worked behind in the count and did walk six, including three in the fifth. He struck out 10 and allowed only an inside-out single to sr. CF Matt Davis (yes, of website writing fame!) in the third. Davis, the No. 9 hitter and basketball point guard, throws lefty but hits righthanded. He was late on a couple of earlier fastballs, causing a teammate to tell him, "You're on him! . . . Kinda." The base hit followed. Another of McDevitt's players, jr. RF Luke Sawick, has also written for this website. He's the Lancers' QB (and the basketball manager) and his good fortune did not match Davis'. At one point he came over and said with a smile, "I'm beginning to think you're bad luck. This was my first strikeout today. And in football, you came to the game when I threw my first interception." Hey, I do what I can (smile). Meanwhile, good luck to Luke's brother, T.C., a former website writer and McDevitt product. He's about to join the Marines. Siegfried, who led the Lancers' FB squad with six interceptions, was hit hard. No excuses. He just was. The Eagles sent 12 guys to the plate in the first and collected eight hits. At least six were shots, as was a sac fly to left by Sevick. The first two batters, jr. SS Sean O'Hara and jr. CF Ben Keller, had two hits apiece in that frame. O'Hara produced a triple and a two-run single. Keller bagged an RBI on an infield single and two more with a triple to right. Sr. DH Chris Bartuska and sr. 1B Rick Horn stroked singles for RBIs. C-E's other highlight was Horn's two-run homer to right in the second against sr. RH Matt Fisher. Sawick got turned around on the play (more fuel for the jinx theory -- smile) and the ball kept rolling and rolling. As C-E's fourth was about to end, McDevitt pitching coach Dorn Taylor, a former major leaguer (27 games total for the Pirates/Orioles) and product of Upper Dublin HS, called time and went to the mound with the idea of removing Fisher due to a sore shoulder. Fisher talked Taylor into letting him finish and he did get the last out on one pitch. Soph RH Vince Raffaele (one inning) and sr. RH Sean Doyle combined for shutout ball thereafter. Because of rules involving the DH, Fisher was forced to play 1B in the fifth. Boom! Wouldn't you know it? He had to glove a wide throw and Keller plowed into him. Luckily for Fisher, he was hit on his left side; appeared to be OK. At one point I asked Taylor what he thought of Sinon's performance. "He flies open a little on his fastball. If he slows down his delivery, he could be very good. Especially since he has that nice curveball." Dorn then pointed to McDevitt jr. RH Steve Harris, who was sitting on the bench in street clothes, and said, "That kid doesn't throw as hard as Steve." Say what?! Harris, an early-FB-season transfer from Judge, wound up being McDevitt's leading receiver and No. 2 in picks behind Siegfried. He underwent an operation on his left shoulder after the season ("It happened when I was in ninth grade; should have had it taken care of before this") and has not yet received medical clearance. He said he hopes to have it in time for next week's games. If he truly does throw harder than Sinon, watch out. One last tidbit: McDevitt's No. 5 hitter was frosh C Matt Conroy. McDevitt AD/FB coach Pat Manzi said Conroy has a good chance to also start in FB and basketball next school year, and that he's an excellent hockey player as well. Oh, wait. One more "last" tidbit (promise): Thanks to Davis and Sawick for agreeing to pose for a photo showing them ready to bunt with pencils. Pencils. They're writers. Get it? (I'm a kid at heart. Always up for something goofy -- smile.)

APRIL 14
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Franklin Towne 4, Phila. Elec. 2
  Yo, call the cops! Nah, it wasn't that bad -- well, not completely -- but things did get a little messy at Vogt RC, in Tacony. Two adult PE fans, upset by some calls that went against their squad, gave plate ump Bernie Spano and then the base ump (Marlon Tatom? not positive on his name) a hard way to go verbally. And then, as the sixth inning was about to begin, one of the guys walked down the small hill behind the cage and pressed right up against the chain-link fence, giving Spano more grief close range. Spano roared, "You're in my territory now!" He then placed a cell-phone call to police. He did not, he said, report the problem as an emergency. He merely mentioned he'd appreciate it if someone would come by in case further trouble developed. No one showed up by game's end. Neither did any more problems. So, what set off the two guys? First, in the frosh DH Sam Petrowski, the No. 3 hitter, mashed a two-run triple to right-center but then was called out by Spano for missing first base. Oh, baby. I asked PE coach Mark Olkowski after the game if he'd asked Petrowski whether he missed the bag. "He said he thought he hit it," Olkowski said. The Chargers were hot. Without success, of course, they tried to argue that the base -- FT has "loosies" -- was not in the correct location as Petrowski arrived in that area. Spano wasn't havin' it. Soon, when Spano mentioned that he'd soon need a fresh baseball from FT (as the home team), one of the PE fans hollered, "You need another set of eyes!" There were some other biting remarks, then more later on when a call at second base on a would-be forceout went against PE. That one was made by the base ump, who happened to be wearing sunglasses. He might have heard about that a few times (smile). Even way back in the first inning, a close call had gone against the Chargers. With sr. SS Luke Moscinski on third, Petrowski sent a flyball to sr. Keith Rycek. Rycek's throw was decent and true (though he tweaked his shoulder on it) and Moscinski was tagged out by sr. C Joe Gilbert. Tough to be sure from the pic, but Moscinski could have helped himself with a more evasive slide. DN ink went to Rycek, who ranks third in his class and is bound for Temple with designs on becoming a college math professor. Nice! He was the ultimate hero in FT's three-run sixth, which went like this: sr. LF Mike Croft reached base on a scratch single and stole second; jr. 1B Mike Confair fanned; sr. 2B Jim Dailey scored Croft (he came in limping due to a pulled hamstring) with a single to center and took second on the throw; jr. RF John Meyers reached on a bobbled grounder, then stole second; Rycek brought them both home with a well-struck single to center. Moscinski lunged for the ball, but couldn't quite get it. Rycek was rubbed out in a rundown, by the way. The pitchers were FT jr. RH Jason Krajewski and PE soph RH Chuck Fitzgerald. Both runs against Krajewski, who showed some zip, were unearned. He allowed five hits and two walks while fanning eight. He hurt himself by making a low, unauthoritative toss on a first inning comebacker and it enabled PE to jump ahead, 1-0. He made amends with a smoked RBI single down the leftfield line in the fifth. Fitzgerald surrendered seven hits and three walks (all in the first six batters) and toughed up enough to force PE to strand seven guys in scoring position. Though the PE folks were upset with Spano, he did cut the Chargers some slack. In the sixth, soph LF Carl Dansi ripped a shot to right that became a single and three-base error. As he crossed the plate, the excited Dansi whipped off his batting helmet and fired it off the cage. Spano could have ejected him. Perhaps knowing how much trouble THAT decision could have caused, Spano merely advised Dansi not to do it again. FT tries to start its home games at 2:45, but PE was nowhere close to on time. The Chargers hustled through infield-outfield, then were gracious enough to pose for the team pic right before the ground-rules session. Thanks, guys. PE's coaches are Mark Olkowski (head), Matt Pooler and Chris "Gator" McCoy (assistants). All three are Huck's buddies and The Huckster asked me to make sure I took a picture of them. But of course! FT's players almost always call each other by their last name, and even call coach Kyle Riley just "Riley." Yo, where's the respect, troops?? (smile) When Rycek was batting one time, I said kiddingly to Skinner, the on-deck batter, "That's your buddy, right? You can call him Keith." Mike responded with a laugh, "That's how we do it, Ted!" At least he didn't call me Silary (ha ha). Just to make me feel good, he did throw in a Keith while continuing to encourage Rycek. Considering everything that occurred, this was, so far, the most interesting Trail stop of the '08 season. Let's have more! (Let's NOT have near-involvement by police.)

APRIL 11
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Furness 16, Lamberton 1 (3 inn.)
  Well, folks, it was back to South Philly today and we had a rerun. Not of the major police activity that took place yesterday during the Dougherty/Neumann-Goretti game. The rerun happened on the field as Furness, like N-G, uncorked a 10-run first inning. By the way, this game was played at 25th and Jackson, just three blocks south of N-G's field. Must be something in the water. Baseball at the lower levels of the Pub is routinely brutal and this one was hard on the eyes, not to mention one-sided. Lamberton has only 11 players and many are soaked (not just wet) behind the ears. The coach, Lou D'Alonzo, is a GREAT guy and formerly was the head football coach at Olney and Southern. He's now the defensive coordinator at Marple-Newtown, in Delaware County, while still teaching at Lamberton. He remained upbeat through the butt-whipping and said, "You just try to squeeze any hints of positives from this that you can. Like that catch in rightfield. That was nice, right?" As Lou well knew, it was routine. But that's the point: In the Pub's lower levels, the making of routine plays is often cause for celebration. Lou mentioned that his players are all quality kids and give him no problems, so there's much to be said for that. His catcher had to work after school today, which necessitated moving the usual SS, sr. Andre Graves, behind the plate. That meant an inexperienced kid to play the infield's most important position and, well, he struggled badly. Furness' scoring went 10, 0, 6 and there were no outs in the third when the game concluded. All of those runs were accumulated on just six hits. Only sr. C Anthony Traverse had more than one: an RBI double his second time up in the first, and a single to left in the third inning. Also in the first, jr. 3B Sam Byrd ripped a misjudged RBI double to CF and soph SS David Izzi brought in three runs with a single/error combo; he got credit for two RBI. Oddly, despite the score, Lamberton soph RH Nigel Wilson notched five of his six outs on whiffs. Wilson walked six and plunked two and the Blue Devils were guilty of 10 errors. The last ended the game as soph CF Montez Brown trotted home from third base, following an overthrow. Moments earlier, he'd rocketed a true blast to right for a two-run triple. Furness' pitcher was frosh RH Ryan Gonzalez, who began the school year playing football for Southern. He had little trouble pitching a no-hitter as most of the BDs just not did not have smooth swings; most displayed those choppy, hesitant hacks that often come a split-second late, even on pitches that aren't that fast. Gonzalez struck out seven and only one ball was put into play. With one out in the first, soph SS Basil Garcia walked, went to third on an SB/E-2 combo and scored on Graves' groundout. The only other baserunner, soph RF Tyree Hudgins, was picked off after getting hit by a pitch. That play went 2-3-6 as Traverse fired to soph 1B Charles Hayden, who then flipped to Izzi. Furness jr. 2B Naim Fox was hit with a pitch in his first at-bat -- in one of his many braids. "Nah, it got me in the neck, too," he claimed with a laugh. Late in the game, 5-2 frosh Chris Trainer was summoned to serve as a pinch-runner and trotted out to first base. One problem. As many yelled out to him, the runner had been on SECOND base (smile). One of Furness' subs, soph Dijon McNeill, is the son of ex-Franklin point guard Thomas "Reggie" Faison, who earned second team DN All-City honors as a senior in '82. Furness' coach, Eric Weinstein, teaches at Southern. Lou mentioned that Marple Newtown has an impressive football website. He wasn't kidding. Check it out: www.marplenewtownfootball.com. While Lamberton was getting organized before the game, two Furness players seized the opportunity to stretch out in the stands and I, of course, seized the opportunity to take their picture.

APRIL 10
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Neumann-Goretti 12, Dougherty 1 (5 inn.)
  Not all of the loud noises in the western part of South Philly were being made by aluminum crushing cowhide. At roughly 5 o'clock, there was gunfire a few blocks from N-G's field (located at the old Neumann site, 26th and Moore) and MANY police cars came speeding past north on 25th (under the railroad overpass) and/or west on Moore. At least a dozen. In all, maybe 20 police cars came past by the time the late arrivals got involved -- this time at normal speed, with no sirens -- 10 to 15 minutes later. The incident did not happen close enough to the field to cause much concern, but all of the noise and urgency did make for some entertainment. Meanwhile, let's say you're N-G coach Lou Spadaccini. Are you thrilled that your team scored 12 runs in five innings, or disturbed that it left 11 runners on base??!! That's right. The Saints stranded two in the first, then three apiece in the second, third and fourth. While it's tough to make TOO definitive an evaluation off this game, considering that Dougherty remains a have-not despite the best efforts of coach Steve Carr and his hangin'-in-there players, N-G appears to be headed VERY MUCH in the right direction. The headliner is soph 1B Mark Donato, a sweet-swinging lefty with serious pop. He's a transfer from Roman and even starred last season. He's also N-G's top pitcher and shows much promise in that area as well. Today's starter, RH Al Baur, is also a soph. His dad, Al, was a first-magnitude RH for Southern in the mid-80s and spent some time in the Phillies' farm system. Al Sr. goes about 6-6 and Al Jr. is now about 6-2. "He used to be short and pudgy. Now he's growing like a weed," Dad said. Two more soph lefty swingers, Reno Regalbuto and Michael Riverso, play LF and RF, respectively. With all of that being said, the Saints' spiritual leader, for good reason, is jr. C Joe Armata. I like his arm, but more so his presence. He nurtured Baur and truly ran the show. Plus, I always LOVE it when a catcher shows off his arm early and Armata twice tried pickoff throws to first when the game's third batter, jr. LF Bill Eberhart, reached base on an infield error. Neither one was successful, but he might have been playing a slight game of possum. Eberhart tried to steal and was rubbed out easily. Armata later posted another gundown. N-G dropped a 10-spot in the very first inning against sr. RH Steve Halbherr, sending 15 batters to the plate. Phew. The highlights were two-run singles by jr. 2B Bill Fulginiti, sr. CF Dan Behlau (the leadoff hitter, he'd started the proceedings with a walk) and Donato. In his first at-bat, Donato sent a rocket to the WAY-back part of RF. Sr. Dave Boginsky made the catch in front of a large bush. Mark's grandfather, Walt Grady, who happens to be my wife's first cousin, came over and said with a smile, "Stick around, Ted. Later, he's going to put one on the building." Not today, but I wouldn't bet against it down the road (smile). Steve Halbherr departed after the 13th batter in favor of his brother, Joe, a soph LH who'd been playing 1B. He wound up pitching 3.1 innings. He allowed two runs, four hits, walked six and plunked two, but as previously mentioned, he stranded ELEVEN. Gotta love that. Is that a city record for four innings?? The tough-luck batter of the day was sr. 3B Aggie Osano. (His real first name is Agapito, but he prefers "Aggie" and it rhymes with foggy.) He SMOKED three balls, but two were caught. The last was a sinking liner to CF, on which sr. Joe Gallagher made a nice lunging catch. Baur's line showed four hits, five strikeouts and one walk. He worked ahead and actually PITCHED and his velocity will no doubt increase as he fills out. Sr. C T.J. Dormer reached him for two of the hits. At one point, Huck called my cell phone with a question about the rules concerning DHs. He'd been called by someone at the Bonner-Judge game. Gene Otto, the supervisor of the umps, was handling the bases in this one and, since our game was between innings, I called him over and handed my cell through the fence. Gene in turn gave the phone to the plate ump, Pete DeIuliis, who Gene credits with being the rules authority. Pete talked to Huck for a while and the pitcher got to throw a few extra warmups. Sorry for delaying the game, troops, but if you have the technology and "ingredients" to avoid a problem, might as well do so, right? In the photo set, you'll find two pics of Dougherty's manager, Jena Huynh. She didn't want the second one posted, where she's holding a bat, but the players overruled her. Sorry, Jena. Majority rules (smile). Here's the other one.

APRIL 9
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
SJ Prep 6, La Salle 1
  Wait, isn't this against the law? A complete-game performance with hardly any hits/walks? Don't all faint at once (smile). Doing the honors was sr. RH Aaron Haas, also the football QB. Early in the game, it did not appear that Haas was throwing THAT hard (no scouts with radar guns were on hand) and his success was somewhat puzzling. But he just kept rolling and rolling along, always pitching ahead in the count and doing a great job of hitting spots while changing speeds. His outing wound up being quite the no-muss, no-fuss clinic and it was a pleasure to watch. He recorded "only" five strikeouts, but walked just one and that came in no-harm fashion (two out, nobody on) and surrendered only two hits, a shot to right-center for a single by sr. DH Andrew Wood in the second and a solid single to center by sr. 2B Frank Pierson in the sixth. Sr. Stefan Longo, just inserted in CF for -- you got it -- defense, bobbled the ball and Pierson got to second; he still got credit for an RBI. Sr. Tim Edger, a natural CF now playing SS because jr. Stephen Bruno is no longer part of the program, had opened the gate by making a low throw on sr. CF Matt Abel's inning-opening groundout. (Fact is, Bruno, a first team Daily News All-City honoree in '07 -- we put him at the DH spot -- is no longer part of the school. The Audubon, N.J., resident has just enrolled at Gloucester Catholic, a long-time powerhouse. We wish him good luck there.) Overall, Edger had an excellent game. He fielded three other balls cleanly and showed a gun on his throws and at the plate he went 2-for-3 with a walk, double, triple and two RBI. He did contribute a "funny". In the second, with one out and Wood on first, sr. LF Jeff Murtha fanned on a ball in the dirt. Murtha, of course, was automatically out. But as he ran toward first, Wood was rumbling to second. The throw by sr. C Dennis Murphy was in plenty of time, but when Edger made the snag, he just stepped on the bag, as if he thought the play would be a forceout. Uh, no. As a true CF just helping out his squad, he's forgiven (smile). La Salle's pitcher was jr. LH Shawn O'Neill. He appeared to be really BRINGIN' it early, but too many pitches were in the preferred hitting area and the Hawks were in tee-off mode. As La Salle coach Joe Parisi noted in a late inning, "Our guys are taking first pitches for strikes and their guys are hacking them into the gaps. Our guys have been told about it, but . . . " O'Neill, whose father, also a lefty named Shawn (and quite a fun-to-be-around character), was the pitching stalwart for Judge's 1976 City Champs, is an incredibly quick worker. Even with guys on base, he was delivering pitches about seven seconds after taking return throws from his catcher. Phew! O'Neill went six innings, surrendering six hits (four for extra bases) while fanning four and walking three. He has a tremendous pickoff move, and it enabled him to nail two guys. Sr. 2B Brett Tiagwad, in the leadoff spot, went 1-for-2 with a double and walked twice. Haas had no hits, but collected two RBI on a groundout and sac fly. The Hawks added a three-spot in the seventh after RH reliever John Bernhardt issued three consecutive walks to start the frame. Dennis Hart, who coached third for Hawk boss Chris Rupertus, is quite the fortune teller. With Russom on second in the sixth, Hart yelled out to him, "Here comes one in the dirt! See it out of his hand!" The very next pitch indeed was in the dirt and Russom scampered to third. A slide was unnecessary, but he uncorked one anyway and a certain amateur photographer was quite appreciative (smile). Next, Russom ventured too far off the bag and survived a mini-rundown. Finally, he WAS rubbed out when Turner (brother of Eddie, the 1B coach) inside-outed a screaming liner to jr. 3B Tyler Freeman, who stepped on the bag for a doubleplay. At one point, after O'Neill made a pickoff throw to 1B, a Prep sub yelled out to the baserunner, "Get dirty!" He was smiling, witness that a teammate added, "It's hard to get dirty when you're a step off the base."

APRIL 7
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Roxborough 14, Saul 4 (6 inn.)
  Both schools are located in Roxborough and many of the players know each other, so this one figured to be fun from that standpoint alone. Plus, some of Roxborough's better football players also play baseball and they're personable, quality kids, so that was another reason to attend. Both starting pitchers were sophs and, early at least, they threw rather hard, especially for a Pub division not called A and considering the temperature  was still quite nippy. They should experience some success over these next two seasons. Roxborough has more pure hitters and, in time, imposed its will to bring the tilt to a halt with one out in the home sixth, thanks to a four-spot. DN ink went to frosh SS Chris Sponsler. I wouldn't ordinarily write about such a young buck, but the 6-foot, 170-pound Sponsler went 3-for-3 with a double, sac fly and three RBIs out of the No. 3 hole. Also, I remembered that Chris' brother, Doug, an '07 grad, had been home-schooled during his time as an Indian and figured that maybe Chris was doing the same and that it could make for an interesting story. As it turns out, Chris "attends" a cyber charter school (as did Doug as a senior). Legendary, eh? The pitcher, LH Andy Shields, went all six. His concentration appeared to drift at times and his breaking stuff wasn't always sharp. Not bad, though. Not bad at all. He struck out 11 while yielding five hits, three walks and three plunks. A good sign was, he forced Saul to strand four in scoring position. A lefty swinger, he batted cleanup and went 2-for-3 with a sac fly and a pair of RBI singles. The FB headliners, all seniors, are 3B Adrese Hicks (leadoff), CF Stephen Tucker (second) and C Amir Boler (ninth). All three strike me as the kind of kids you'd be happy to have on any team you ever thought of coaching, in any sport. Hicks had just one hit, but scored three runs. Tucker slammed an RBI double about two-thirds of the way up the screen in dead left. Boler made an authoritative catch and tag on a play at the plate and ended the game with a two-run single to left. Roxborough's team has 13 players, seven whites and six blacks. When we took the first of two team pics, Boler and Tucker were next to each other in the front row. Then, Stephen quickly switched places with Shields after noticing, and mentioning, that doing so would make the photo perfectly balanced (racially). He even said lightly, "Make sure this is the one you post." Maybe the School District can find a way to honor this young man (smile). Tucker is a big fan of the website pics. He even noted that I've posted photos "of birds just flying by." Ha, ha, ha. Guilty as charged. Speaking of photos, sr. 2B Fran Filewicz (2-for-4, double, two runs scored) hopefully now has something he can post on MySpace. And soph RF Mackenzie Whalen is probably still rubbing assorted spots on his body; he was drilled three times by pitches. Saul scored a first inning run on a groundout by sr. 1B Ian Cogan. It was a weird play. He sent a ball up the middle. It hit the rubber and bounced straight up, enabling Shields to get the out. Soph RF Tim Herrmann also had an RBI on a 1-3 groundout. RBIs via hits went to sr. SS Jon DeMalavez (single) and jr. 2B Steve Reyes (double to LC that probably should have been caught). RH Matt Horvat is a big-'un. He'll need to redefine his body to some extent and just flat-out learn more about pitching, but there ARE possibilities. The other Saul hurler was RH Herb Steinberg, who is quite small. He had a nice pre-game talk with Rox sr. 1B Pat Cummiskey, who said, "We've known each other since we were 1 year old." Later, I happened to mention to Horvat that Whalen had been plunked three times, he smiled and said, "The worst thing is, I did it to him twice and he lives right down the street from me." During Saul's BP session, Cogan, while pitching, was drilled by a line drive right in his back. He declined the offer of a rubdown from one of Saul's managers, Joseph Rodriguez. Later, I heard Ian tell a teammate, "It felt like a body shot from Mike Tyson." (smile) Chris Schroeder, star P-SS for the '07 Injuns, was on hand to coach first base. Saul is again being coached by Rich Eanes, who stepped aside last year (in favor of Rich Weiss) to help relatives with severe health problems. Weiss still cares about the Razorbacks. He sent an email at 8:28 wanting to know the link to the website report. Yo, calm down, buddy!  Here's the usual sequence of duties: story for DN, game recaps for DN and site, game pics for site, story for site, team pics, etc. It's now a shade after 11. I'll send Rich the link momentarily. If he's asleep, he can catch up tomorrow (smile).  

APRIL 3
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Bonner 8, Ryan 7
  We're gettin' there, gang. At times today, the baseball was as good as it gets. We were treated to quality pitching for a decent portion of the game, plus there were some three-star fielding plays and more than a few clutch at-bats. One problem: where can I buy some new fingers? A few of them snapped off my frozen hands (smile). Compared with weather conditions for this one, which happened to be the first game on Bonner's impressive new field, yesterday's La Salle-Roman tussle felt like mid-July. Man, was it chilly! The sun declined to appear and every so often, reasonably strong winds blew in from dead leftfield. Kudos to all of the players for hanging in there and putting on an entertaining show, especially since the game somehow lasted just short of 2 hours, 45 minutes. (Part of the reason: The starters, Bonner jr. RH Ryan Haley and Ryan jr. LH Tom Neely, are slow workers, even when no one's on base.) Haley has worlds of potential, especially in life. He's said to rank No. 1 academically in the junior class, so you can bet the Penns and Harvards, etc., will be all over him. He's thin, but goes about 6-4/6-5 and throws medium-hard right now (low 80s?), so as he fills out, watch out. Haley, who comes from a GIGANTIC family (close to 90 first cousins!), mowed down the first 10 batters. The 11th, jr. CF Jon Schmidt, fired a double down the leftfield line and scored two batters later as sr. LF-SS Nick Ferdinand sent a hard single to center. Up to 95 pitches, he departed with two away in the fifth after soph 2B Mark Golic lined an RBI single to center over the head of sr. SS Rob Benedict. Soph RH Matt Ruggieri got a looking K to end the frame. Bonner also scored one apiece in the fourth and fifth. An error allowed run No. 1. Benedict sent a sinking single to center to account for the other. OK, so we're through five and the score is 2-2. The sixth and seventh were crazy!! Bonner's next pitcher was sr. RH Matt McGillian, who moved in from third base. He flirted with danger in the sixth, but Benedict bailed him out by making a sensational, sprawling-backward snag of a popup. Inspired, the Friars hustled in and posted a six-spot. They sent 10 batters to the plate against Neely, jr. RH Rick Schoultz and jr. RH Bob Steffney (in from SS) and three guys contributed base knocks worth two RBI apiece -- double for DeBarberie (his dad, Joe, is Bonner's new coach), single for soph C Josh Van Horn, single for sr. 2B Bob Callan (his mom, Mary, is the Friars' highly efficient scorekeeper) after he fouled off a squeeze. Three outs to victory. Um, not so fast. Ryan also sent 10 guys to the plate and came up with a five-spot. All were unearned, due to a bobble by Benedict. Actually, the play was borderline as the ball took a bit of a bad hop late in its journey. Benedict's body language showed that HE thought he deserved an error, so an E we called it (smile). Ryan scored four of its runs in two-at-a-time fashion as Ferdinand ripped a single down the leftfield line and Smith rocketed the game's best shot to left-center for a double. Sr. 1B Matt Edelman then walked and a wild throw on what could have been the game-ending groundout made it 8-7 and put runners on second and third. Ryan was poised to not only tie, but perhaps go ahead! But Steffney followed with a grass-cutting grounder to jr. 2B Dan Williams and, phew, that was it. Overall, Benedict and Steffney, kids with strong arms despite VERY thin builds, were impressive at SS. Strong performance, men. About the field: Niiiiiiiice. It's located on what used to be the football practice field and is laid out just like the former baseball site. Now, though, the school building is in dead centerfield. The fence, for now, is that rubbery mesh stuff and there wasn't enough to go all the way to the edge of rightfield, so some screens complete the job. The grass, also for now, looks more like straw, but should turn fully green shortly. With both starting pitchers throwing hard, and with most batters righthanded, there were numerous late swings and, believe me when I tell you, roughly TWO DOZEN balls soared over the fence behind the visiting dugout and landed far below in a park area. Eventually, Bill Hollingsworth, father of sr. 1B Bill Hollingsworth, scrambled down the hill and began collecting some of the balls. With a laugh, he said he was going to sell them back to Bonner and try to make some money. He later said he'd gotten nine-10 balls. Meanwhile, best wishes to Ryan sr. OF Andrew Lacovara, one of the area's top returnees. The Ryan guys said Andrew hurt his shoulder making a throw in Wednesday's game vs. Bonner and was missing because he was getting a MRI. Like Huck did Wednesday at Prep-O'Hara, I spent most of this one hanging out with ex-Bonner assistant John "Lefty/Blade/J-Mac" McCauley, father of Huck's best buddy, Matt "Cauls" McCauley. John Fleming, Bonner's most recent head coach and now an assistant at Widener, also made an appearance. Good company! Of course, you should check out all 88 pictures since only about 65 of them feature guys batting (smile), but if you want to limit your viewing to one, here's Haley making the game's first pitch to Golic. No selling on eBay, please!! Ha, ha.

MARCH 31
CATHOLIC LEAGUE
Conwell-Egan 11, West Catholic 3
  No recollection how March came in, but it went out in dreary, soggy fashion. There were mass postponements today in the Cath and Pub and it was impossible not to have doubts about this one. It was a go, though, and that was cool because it provided the opportunity for a first look at Sunoco Field. (Well, I'd driven past it once, but had not seen a game.) The facility is located at 35th and Moore, west of the Schuylkill Expressway in that section of South Philly where oil refineries are here, there and everywhere. The surroundings are far from postcard material. The field itself is VERY nice. The guardian, so to speak, is Steve Koplove, the father of former Arizona Diamondback pitcher Mike Koplove, a Chestnut Hill Academy product. (Mike is still active. He was just sent back to AAA by the Dodgers after making an appearance Saturday night in that exhibition game vs. Boston at the LA Coliseum that drew 115,000 people!) Steve said adjustments were completed to Sunoco Field as late as yesterday morning: the fence in leftfield was raised from 8 feet to 20, the rightfield fence was pushed back 20 feet, and a batting eye was added in dead center. The playing surface is basically perfect. As you probably know, CL baseball is now color-coded. Yes, in Red-Blue fashion, just like football. Because of greater travel distances, games now start at 3:45 and because this one took roughly 2:30, Lord only knows what time the Eagles got home. Welcome to the new-fangled Cath. Isn't this PIAA involvement wonderful? (smile) Though the Eagles were in control throughout, they did not fully frolic. That's major news for West loyalists! The Burrs -- let's be honest here -- were pitiful in recent seasons and their league losing streak now stands at 56. But there's hope under rookie coach Kevin Manning and even just playing the full seven innings was something to build on. DN ink went to sr. RH Andrew Sinon, who worked the first four innings. He allowed four hits and as many walks while striking out seven. His lowlight was a two-run homer by jr. SS-P Ed Colon. It wasn't quite a popup, but it was an average flyball that carried just far enough to clear the friendly fence. Smallball got the other run home. In the fourth, sr. 2B Chris "Not Huck" Palmer drew a leadoff walk, was bunted to second by soph P-INF Kevin Sessa, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly by soph RF Jake Grogan. About the bunt: West was down, 6-2, at the time and the final two guys in the order were due. Not conventional strategy. A strong guess: Manning is trying to focus on fundamentals and figures paying attention to detail will best serve his squad in the long run. No argument here. The second C-E pitcher was jr. LH Steve Verano. He had some good moments last year, and cruised through this outing. He fanned six and just one ball left the infield -- a ripped single through the box by frosh CF Al Campbell, the No. 3 hitter. West committed "only" four errors, but they caused the first eight runs to be unearned. Big hits were delivered by frosh LF Matt Petrizzi and jr. 3B Ben Keller; each thumped two-run doubles. Sinon went 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI and HBP. Jr. C Pat Sevick was a shade discombobulated hitting-wise -- three of his four at-bats produced popups; the other yielded a groundball single to left -- but twice he gunned down would-be basestealers with true, strong throws right to the bag. One took a very short hop and jr. 2B Chris Fischer stayed with it to make the tag. West has two sets of brothers -- sr. Tom Sessa and Kevin; jr. Mike and soph Rich Henderson. Both Sessas pitched and they're cousins of O'Hara LHP Joe Sessa. Also seeing some late mound time for West was sr. LH Eric Brennan, the former QB who has won a D-II basketball scholarship (Lock Haven). Brennan is still shaking off rust (he hasn't played baseball since age 12? something like that), but could become a factor in time. He's a lanky kid with strength, so who knows? He mentioned late in the basketball season that he might try out for baseball. It was nice to see him follow through.  More kids should broaden their sports horizons.

MARCH 26
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Olney 12, Bok 9
  Things'll get better. I still promise (kinda) . . . This one lasted 3 hours and 2 minutes and base ump Jerry Kleger asked at one point, "Is it Thursday yet?" At least. If not Friday. But like always at Pub tilts, especially one played at Olney, there was much to entertain from the yapping of passersby to the incessant beep-beep-beeping of car alarms (and even a school alarm, it sounded like) to the attempts of bench players to curry favor with girls they spotted out on Front Street (and Duncannon, for that matter). With Barry Strube again serving our country in Iraq, Olney is being coached by Greg Bloom, also a FB assistant. Bloom is fluent in Spanish and uses that language, for the most part, to communicate with his players. The Trojans are young and the starting lineup included five sophs and a freshman. Beyond that, the team's best player, soph Jose DeLeon, was unavailable because he trekked to the Dominican Republic for last week's vacation period and has not yet returned. The most impressive moment came early when frosh 2B Felix Torraca and soph SS Benji Cruz turned a doubleplay on a grounder. Smooth stuff! Then, in the home half, soph CF Teofilo Bonilla, who's also quite small, led off by CRUSHING a triple to dead left field. Other highlights: RBI double to right-center by sr. C Felix Llanos; four more clean pickups (with good footwork) at second by Torraca and the six strikeouts recorded by Cruz in his two-inning relief stint to end the game. Bok's pitching was done by a pair of jr. lefties, Julian DiPietro and Joey Ferlaino. They combined to issue six walks in Olney's five-run third and Ferlaino later fell victim to wickedly messy glovework by his infielders. Bok had just five hits and two apiece came from DiPietro (RBI triple to CF, RBI single to right) and sr. SS Kendall Johnson (matching RBI singles to RF). The other safety was a looping single to LF by jr. 3B Luis Vargas. In the sixth, Bok had a great chance to cause the Trojans concern as they scored twice and still had the bases loaded with no outs. But Cruz "cruzed" the rest of the way, mowing down the next three batters in that frame and all three in the seventh. As the season goes on, hopefully we'll again receive some reports from Bok sr. C Anthony "Riv" Rivers. He showed some great insights last year and it's interesting to watch the command, in a captain's role, he has of his ballclub. Overheard along Olney's bench, from a PLAYER: "How many points Bok got now?" Um, last I heard, in baseball they still call them runs (smile). Check out this pic of Ferlaino, who'd just been hit by a pitch.

MARCH 25
PUBLIC LEAGUE
Esperanza 19, King 0 (3 innings)
   Things'll get better. I promise . . . For further proof that money is the root of all evil, let it be noted that a quarter directed me to this lack of a game. Northeast-Central was the headliner on the Opening Day schedule, but the instructions from the DN bosses were to keep the story short and make do without a photo. With that in mind, the decision was made to hit the lesser-lights portion of the trail. Where to go? Lincoln-Edison or this one? Out came a quarter. Best of five. Heads for Edison. Tails for King. King won, 3-1. Didn't even need a fifth flip. By the second inning, I needed a stiff drink and I don't even imbibe. (Well, VERY rarely anyway.) To make matters worse, Lincoln-Edison was a classic. Edison won, 14-13, on a two-run double with two out in the home seventh. Oh well. For the moment, King is in something close to disarray. At least three players came up to coach Jim Johnson just before or during the game to inform him that their medical forms had just been submitted to AD Margie Stinson. Phew. Talk about waiting until the last minute. Also, guys arrived at all different times beforehand, with only some of them in uniform, and infield-outfield was quite the disaster. (The school does not provide a bus for home games because the school is only about two blocks away from Simons Rec. Also, Johnson teaches at Northeast and it's hard for him to arrive too much before gametime.) Annnnnnnyway, King's starter was sr. RH Richard Dixon, a star FB lineman. His control was only a rumor and even a double-the-size strike zone would not have helped much. As Dixon knows, he needs to make his body work to his advantage and drive toward the plate. Hopefully, that'll happen down the line. He yielded 17 runs in his two-inning stint while walking 11. Sloppy fielding (even on the simplest of plays) didn't help. After issuing three consecutive bases-loaded walks to make it 4-0 in the first, at least Dixon had the pleasure of posting two looking Ks to end the inning. He was also involved in strange ones as the second inning ended. On a two-out chopper, he tried to get the third out at home. Understandably, soph C Donavan Bowman was caught off guard and the tag was late. Then, maybe even on purpose, just to get the inning over with (?), jr. 3B Angel Rivera wandered off third and was tagged out by Dixon to conclude a short rundown. Jr. RH Mike Boyer pitched the third. He surrendered two runs. Esperanza's hurler was jr. RH Ayron Forty, who's said by coach John Grone (former Mastbaum QB) to be the team's No. 3 starter. He struck out six and allowed just one hit, a scratch infield single by jr. CF Anthony Wright, who showed at least a hint of baseball savvy. Esperanza started just one senior, RF Edwin Lebron. He singled and walked twice in four plate appearances and scored three times. The big hits in the 13-run second were provided by soph C Luis Santos (RBI triple to right), jr. LF Reinaldo Benitez (two-run ground single to center) and jr. 3B Angel "Squeak" Rivera (same thing). Jr. 2B-C Angel Lopez had an RBI single in the third. During infield drills, it was hard not to notice the size of backup SS Will Vangas, a freshman. He says he's 5-foot, 100 pounds. Mayyyyyyyybe. I mentioned to Grone that I wanted to take a pic of Will with his biggest teammate and John called him over. Will knew the deal, as he said immediately with a smile, "Are we doing a big-guy, little-guy picture?" By the way, Forty is only 5-11, 185, so it was not as if the contrast was striking (smile). A shade before gametime, a King fan saw the composition of Esperanza's team and said to his buddies, "How much you wanna bet they have eight guys named Jose?" Wellll, of the 15 that played, the total of Joses was . . . None! More than once, Bowman muttered toward the bench, "We're like the Bad News King Cougars." At least he was smilin'. A little. King basketball star Antonio Wormley was among the spectators. You knew there'd have to be one on somebody's team: The nickname of Esperanza sub Alex Ortiz is "McLovin." Here's his pic.