JUNE 25
TEDBITS
  In Daily News boxscores all these years, we have given credit for runs scored to full-fledged pinch-runners but not to courtesy runners. But you know what? The guy who scored the decisive run for La Salle in this year's AAAA state final, centerfielder Jimmy Herron, also did so in the 2012 final. Herron, then just a freshman, was a part-time performer while often serving as the courtesy runner for catcher Corey Baiada. La Salle beat Council Rock South, 3-1, by scoring one in the second and two in the fourth. The latter frame began when Baiada scorched a leadoff double into right-center. Tyler Kozeniewski hit the ball to the shortstop and an attempt to catch Herron was made at third. Didn’t work. Mike Piscopo then sent a hard single to right-center and Herron thumped down his foot on the plate. Colin Pyne’s bunt moved up both runners and Dominic Cuoci followed by stinging an RBI single to left-center . . . Herron, a receiver, also scored the first -- and thus winning -- TD last fall when the Explorers beat Judge, 35-0, in a AAAA semi. And in '12, he scored the second TD (followed by Ryan Winslow's PAT) that gave La Salle all the points it would need in a 42-13 win over Roman, also in a AAAA semi. 

JUNE 22
TEDBITS
  All teams that qualify for playoffs want to storm ahead and capture the championship. But when such joy is not experienced,
all hope is NOT lost. The list below shows that it's quite common for D-12 basketball/baseball teams to win state titles after falling short in league action. (Football is not included because overall titles are no longer possible in the Cath and Pub.)
  Final tally: Nine yes, eight no.

JUNE 19
TEDBITS
  Below are some nuggets Joe Parisi's career. After coaching La Salle High's baseball team for 28 seasons (1986-2003, sabbatical in '04, 2005-14), he has retired. Seventeen of his teams advanced to at least the semis and his overall record was 453-238. He will continue as the school's athletic director and become the CL's baseball moderator for 2015. Best of luck to a class act!

JUNE 13
CLASS AAAA FINAL
La Salle 4, Conestoga 2 (8 inn.)
(At Penn State)
  Hey, the strategy worked the first time, so why not try it again, right? When a kid's a horse, you ride him. In the 2012 final, coach Joe Parisi started sr. RH Kevin Long on three days' rest and he hurled the Explorers to a 3-1 win over Council Rock South. (In the '12 semi, Long needed seventh inning relief help from soph RH Dominic Cuoci.) Today, on three days' rest, Cuoci got the starting nod and claimed the win (seven innings) while sr. LH John Scheffey provided assistance by going the nice-and-easy, 1-2-3 route in the home eighth. Time for elation! Time for a pile of humanity! This one featured some hairy moments for the 'Splorers down the stretch and there were times when things weren't looking peachy. In the top of the seventh, a squeeze play was botched and second-and-third with one away quickly became only-on-second with two away. A foulout quickly terminated the would-be uprising. Then, in the bottom half, a two-out infield bobble enabled Conestoga to get runners to second and third. An intentional walk was issued and Cuoci enjoyed a big-boy moment by retiring sr. C Andrew Turner on a fly to right. Sigh of relief. On to the eighth! Sr. 2B Brad Schneider drew a four-pitch walk and jr. LH Brendon Little was removed in favor of the staff ace, sr. LH Jake Bufo. Jr. CF Jimmy Herron and Cuoci greeted him with singles to center and left, respectively, to load the bases. Though sr. C Nick Dermo grounded into a short-to-home forceout, jr. 1B Brian Buckley spanked a two-run single to center and La Salle owned a nice cushion heading into the bottom half. Due to the PIAA's pitching restrictions (no more than 14 innings in one calendar week), Cuoci needed to forget the mound and find a new home (at third base). Scheffey strolled in from the bullpen and prevented any hint of drama thanks to two groundouts that sandwiched a whiff. Cuoci allowed eight hits in his stint (three did not leave the infield) and both runs were earned. He walked two, finalizing his season's total at SIX, and struck out two. Meanwhile, La Salle's first two runs were unearned. In the first, a two-out throwing error off Herron's grounder enabled Jimmy to reach second. Cuoci then hammered an RBI single to left. In the third, jr. SS AJ Grezeszak and Schneider started things off by milking walks. A pickoff attempt was made on Grezeszak at second, but the ball clanged off his leg as he was sliding back into the bag and dribbled into shallow right. He and Schneider advanced, thus Herron's flyball to deep left-center (maybe 385 feet, the 410 sign was right behind) became a sac fly. For Conestoga, sr. 3B Brandon Ruffenach (a balk put the runner in scoring position) and sr. SS Tommy Richter (a sac did so this time around) stroked RBI singles in the fourth and fifth, respectively. Buckley enjoyed making strong contributions overall. Aside from going 2-for-3 with a walk and the two RBI, he prevented two errors thanks to the scoop of a low toss and a snag/sweep tag off a high, off-target throw. Cuoci finished 2-for-4 with the RBI. Herron scored twice while adding the sac fly. As in '12, the Explorers showed great resolve in the AAAA tourney after falling short in their effort to win the CL championship. The 2012 disappointment was even tougher, I'm guessing, because La Salle lost the final, 5-4, to Neumann-Goretti, in eight innings. I watched this game on PCN after shelling out $7.95, plus tax, for a one-day subscription (ha ha). The broadcast was high quality. Unfortunately, my computer is ancient and there were hiccups every 4-5 seconds THROUGHOUT the game. Talk . . . about . . . frustrating. Luckily, the sound wasn't affected, so it was almost like "watching" a radio broadcast. Anyway, congrats to the Explorers! Lots of great kids and coaches and the good vibrations given off by all were never-ending.

JUNE 13
TEDBITS
  The list below shows all Pub/Cath guys who have been starters for multiple state champs. So far, no one in football or baseball has accomplished the feat. That could change today when La Salle meets Conestoga, 1 p.m. at Penn State, for Class AAAA diamond honors. Dominic Cuoci will start (on the mound or at third base) for the Explorers. He was the starting shortstop for the 2012 state champs. (Note: Wood's AAA football champs in '13 had no starters still around from '11.)
  UPDATED: Dominic Cuoci is the first baseball player to make the list!

JUNE 12
TEDBITS
  Below you'll find La Salle's postseason results (6-2 record) and statistical totals for those eight games. Thanks to coach Joe Parisi, scorekeeper Rob McLaren and DN reporter Aaron "Ace" Carter for their help! The Explorers will play one more game . . . tomorrow, 1 p.m., at Penn State for the PIAA Class AAAA championship. Their opponent will be Conestoga.
  UPDATED through end of season.

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JUNE 11
TEDBITS
  Below you'll find Neumann-Goretti's postseason results (9-2 record) and statistical totals for those 11 games. Thanks to assistant Joe Messina for his help! In the last at-bat of his career, first baseman Josh Ockimey, last week selected in the fifth round of the draft by the Boston Red Sox, notched RBI No. 100!! Congrats!!

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JUNE 10
TEDBITS
  This is year No. 6 for Catholic League teams in PIAA competition. Though no pitchers have twirled a no-hitter, or allowed just one safety, four have limited the opponent to two hits. La Salle sr. RH Dominic Cuoci joined the list yesterday, in a 3-0 win over Spring-Ford. He fanned nine. The top effort in that category belongs to Neumann-Goretti's Mark Donato (11 in his two-hitter listed below).

JUNE 9
PIAA CLASS AA SEMIFINAL
Loyalsock 4, Neumann-Goretti 3
(At Northern York High, in Dillsburg)
  The wounds left by this loss are not going to heal for a while. Perhaps never for those Saints who truly care to the highest possible degree. With all due respect to Loyalsock, the defending state champion, this game should have been played on Christmas morning because N-G presented some giant-sized gifts. We'll jump to the latter stages, then wind our way back. In the fifth (vs. jr. LH Pat Doudican, the starter) and sixth (vs. sr. LH Charlie Jerla), Loyalsock scored one run apiece thanks to blatant errors to leave behind a 2-2 tie. And then, in the visiting seventh, a baserunning miscue cut short a stirring moment and caused the game to end, right then and there. Soon, the Saints could be spotted in right field, spread out far and wide and displaying all varieties of despair. In time, hopefully, they'll remember much more about the back-to-back wins that yielded the Catholic League championship and the season's overall greatness. But again, this one was a crusher and there's no getting around that description. Loyalsock's last two runs scored on the ol' wander-off-first, hope-to-score-from-third play. The first off-target throw, toward the plate, was made by star sr. 1B Josh Ockimey, who was recently drafted in the fifth round by the Boston Red Sox. The second, also toward the plate, was made by soph 3B Nicky D'Amore, who'd made a great play on a bunt just one inning earlier to get a force at second. The run, unearned, was the only one, of any kind, allowed by Jerla through 23 postseason innings. Understandably, the Saints were a shade crestfallen as they began to bat in the seventh. And the hopes dimmed a little more when soph CF Brian Verratti, already 2-for-2 with one RBI on matching shots to center, struck out. However, jr. 2B Vinny Vaccone ripped a single to center and the bench buzz returned. Next, jr. RF Bay To chopped out to RH Kyle Datres, a junior already committed to North Carolina, for out No. 2, but when Jerla got plunked that meant the tying runs were on base with Ockimey coming to bat. N-G was one strike from defeat when, bang!, "Ock" inside-outed a scorching grounder inside the third-base bag toward the corner. Vaccone scored with no problem and Jerla, from first base, thought he could do so as well. Pumped with emotion and perhaps unable to hear that coach Kevin Schneider wanted him to stop, Jerla sped around third. Alas, almost standing at the bag, Datres caught a pinpointed relay throw. Knowing that trying to return to third would have made absolutely no sense, Jerla, who'd momentarily braked, had no choice but to head for home. The throw went to C Evan Moore, who chased Jerla a short distance and had no problem making the game-ending tag. What a deflating finish . . . In his five-inning stint, Doudican allowed seven hits and two walks while recording three strikeouts. Jerla surrendered one apiece (the hit was a leadoff double smoked into the left-center gap) to go along with a whiff. Honestly, Loyalsock did a tremendous job with moving guys along in the two-run second. Two perfectly-placed/punched-hard sacs wound up going for base hits and the second brought in a run. Those babies were textbook. Major props. N-G tallied one run apiece in the third and fourth. An error made the first one unearned; Ockimey got it home with a sac fly to left. In the fourth, D'Amore thrashed a one-out double down the rightfield line and Verratti got him home with two outs by hammering a liner up the middle that ticked ever-so-slightly off Datres' glove. Loyalsock, in Williamsport, had at least twice as many supporters as N-G. One was a quite loud lady, and the N-G folks did not withhold sarcastic comments. (One even told a Loyalsock batter to do a better job of placing foul balls, with the hope that one would hit Ms. Chirper.) Meanwhile, mindful that Dillsburg does not exactly match South Philly in terms of the kind of people who live there, one N-G parent kidded that the first ball would be thrown out by Jed Clampett (ha ha). Google him, young heads. Others tried to one-up the first guy by mentioning other back-in-the-day TV hicks. Former Lamberton star Chris Calciano, who scouts for the Red Sox and was most responsible for getting his team to heavily pursue Ockimey, was in attendance. Congrats to N-G on a special season. And since so many stalwarts will be returning in 2015, more great moments will be expected.

JUNE 9
TEDBITS
  Here is a list of all Public League, Catholic League and Inter-Ac League players who have been selected in baseball's amateur draft (1965-2014) while in high school. Two Catholic Leaguers were tabbed in the first year. Egan's Rich Koslick opted not to sign, then attended Tennessee Tech, in Cookeville. He was drafted again by the Yankees (28th round) in '68 and spent two years in the New York-Penn League. He lived in the South thereafter and died in 2012 at age 65. St. James' Dennis Malseed also opted not to sign, then was drafted again the following January out of Philadelphia Textile (now Philadelphia University). He pitched for eight seasons in the Pirates' farm system, advancing as high as AA. Career record: 35-33 with a 4.06 ERA. Just five players on the list below have reached the majors -- Southern's George Riley ('74), Penn Charter's Mark Gubicza ('81), Central's John Marzano (also '81), Northeast's Jesse Levis ('86) and Malvern's Ben Davis ('95). Of course, other Pub/Cath/Int guys have made it after being drafted out of college, or even after being signed as free agents. Note: a few of the no-no guys (check last two columns) did play pro ball after signing as free agents. If I missed anyone . . . tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks! 

JUNE 8
TEDBITS
  As mentioned in yesterday's nugget, this was year No. 50 for baseball's amateur draft. Neumann-Goretti 1B Josh Ockimey was the eighth African-American Pub/Cath/Int player to be drafted while in high school. The first guy, Germantown's William "Bill" Scott, aside from starring in baseball, was a first team All-Pub football honoree and a second-teamer in hoops. He scored 18 points in the '66 championship game, though G-town fell to Edison. Scott did not sign with the Yankees. Roger Gordon, my Penn Charter classmate and a long-time youth baseball coach beloved by all in Philly (and beyond), knew Scott as a teenager and thinks he attended Delaware State or Cheyney. I'll try to nail down that fact. PC's Courtney Batts was a first-magnitude receiver at the University of Delaware.
  UPDATE: As Roger confirmed, William "Bill" Scott attended Morgan State, in Baltimore. Not sure if he played other sports there, but he was definitely a prominent basketball player.    

JUNE 7
TEDBITS
  Below you'll find the Pub/Cath/Int players who've been selected in the first five rounds of baseball's June draft while in high school. (Other Philly products have been tabbed that high while in college.) This is year No. 50 for the draft (1965-2014). Neumann-Goretti 1B Josh Ockimey is the only African-American on this list.

JUNE 6
TEDBITS
   It happens once a month on the 5th: Neumann-Goretti breaks a major league record!! Sometimes in concert. Sometimes alone. On May 5, as you might remember, the Saints (eight) and Carroll (seven) combined to score 15 runs in the ninth inning of N-G's 14-13 victory, thus eclipsing the MLB record for runs in ONE extra inning (12). Yesterday, thanks to soph RH Ethan "E" Pritchett, the Saints bested Bloomsburg, 1-0, in a PIAA Class AA quarterfinal and that was their fifth postseason shutout (four in the CL playoffs) and this one in the states. No MLB squad has ever won five times by shutout in one postseason. Once again, I called Elias Sports Bureau (thanks for the help, guys!) and the man on the other end of the phone (did not want his name listed) said the MLB record for postseason shutouts is four, and that it's owned by four teams -- the New York Giants in 1905, the New York Yankees in '98, and the San Francisco Giants in 2010 and '12. N-G has achieved its five shutouts in 10 chances -- seven in the CL playoffs, one City Title and two state playoffs. The '05 Giants' feat is amazing because only the World Series was played in that era. They only got five chances! (The other game in that WS was also a shutout.) The opportunities for the other squads were 13 ('98 Yankees), 15 ('10 Giants) and 16 ('12 Giants). By the way, N-G has allowed 14 runs in its 10 postseason games for a 1.4 average. Breakdowns for N-G and the MLB squads are below.
  UPDATED through final game of season, a semifinal loss to Loyalsock. Four runs were allowed, making the final total 18 runs in 11 postseason games for a 1.6 average.

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JUNE 5
CLASS AAAA QUARTERFINAL
La Salle 3, Hazleton 1
(At Parkland High, in Allentown)
  The baseball gods are still on duty and tonight (the game started at 7:11) they favored the 'Splorers. Yes, a total of five hits were posted in the first inning (one run) and fifth inning (two runs), but La Salle scored its markers on a groundout and a pair of bases-loaded, feel-free-to-trot-home-buddy walks. They also benefited from an outrageously unusual ending. Here we go . . . Sr. LH John Scheffey began the seventh by needing just three pitches to notch what would be his sixth and final strikeout (looking). He then issued sr. 3B Mitch O'Donnell, the No. 9 hitter, a four-pitch walk, and jr. OF David Klein drew a five-pitch pass as the plate ump's tight-all-night strike zone appeared to take on the size of a postage stamp; La Salle had been on the favorable end earlier. Jr. CF-P Joe Baran hit a regular flyball to jr. CF Jimmy Herron for out No. 2 and soph LH-OF Dante Biasi followed with a routine grounder to sr. SS AJ Grezeszak. Oops. Perhaps in his excitement to scoop, toss, end this baby and go celebrate, Grezescak committed a bobble and that left the bases loaded for cleanup hitter Robert John, a jr. C with a big frame. At the end of the Neumann-Goretti/Bloomsburg report, I wrote that one of the most important traits an athlete must show is the ability to make a quick bounceback from adversity. As for AJ . . . didn't have to!! The next batter, sr. 2B-RH Sal Biasi did hit a grounder toward shortstop. Notice we didn't write TO shortstop? Reason: the ball hit Klein as he ran from second toward third! He did jump in an attempt to avoid it, but there was, literally, no getting around it. Automatic out. Ballgame. At my request, coach Joe "Or Maybe Mike" Parisi (more on that nickname choice later -- smile) asked AJ afterward whether the ball would have gotten to him; my angle from next to La Salle's dugout wasn't the greatest. AJ said it would have, and the WAY he said so made you KNOW he would have made the play to end it. Scheffey finished with a six-hitter. He forced the Cougars to strand nine runners, including six in scoring position. He allowed the run in the third as Baran sent a groundball single to center. As for La Salle's uprisings, sr. 2B Brad Schneider (groundball single down the leftfield line) and Herron (crunched single to left-center) had the hits in the first while sr. DH Adam Arcadia (leadoff bunt single), Schneider (looping, one-out single to right) and Herron (infield single to second) collected safeties in the fifth to load the bases. After sr. 3B Dominic Cuoci fanned, sr. C Nick Dermo and jr. 1B Brian Buckley drew full-count walks to bring in runs and get the Hazleton folks a howlin'. During that sequence, the strike zone was about as big as my baseball scoresheet (smile). La Salle managed seven hits (the two others came in the second) and left five runners in scoring position. Schneider and Herron had two apiece. In the third, Herron was guilty of leaving second base too early after Dermo lined to center, so a doubleplay resulted. We did exhaustive research. It's the only mistake Jimmy has made in his entire sporting life (smile). It was cool to see a high school game played at night. The lighting was sufficient, though of course the light standards were not WAY up there so any high flyball had to be carefully tracked. Had a nice pregame talk with La Salle sr. hoopster Sean Greenberg, who came out to lend support (as did maybe a dozen other-sport athletes). Sean is headed for Penn State (main campus) and will likely try to make the team as a walk-on. Note to coach Pat Chambers (Episcopal product) and assistant Brian Daly (Bonner product): Sean is still blossoming and would be a wonderful addition to your program. The kid's a go-getter. Joe Parisi was called "Mike" by the PA announcer during pregame intros. Guess what? Joe has a brother named Mike and he was a pretty good pitcher (Archbishop Ryan, Spring Garden College, Pen-Del League) back in the day. On the way home, a visit was made to the Allentown rest stop on the turnpike's Northeast Extension. Any possible chance to wolf down a burger and fries at Roy Rogers must be seized. Also in line were a La Salle player and, assumedly, his mom. They were tall and slender. They must not hit the Fast Food Trail too often (ha ha). UPDATE . . . The player was '11 grad Nick Krol. The mom was Joyce. Nick's brother, Joe "Cardinal" Krol, is a pitcher on this year's squad.

JUNE 5
CLASS AA QUARTERFINAL
Neumann-Goretti 1, Bloomsburg 0
(At Parkland High, in Allentown)
  Any coach would feel great to have soph RH Ethan "E" Pritchett as his No. 1 starter. On the Saints, Pritchett is coach Kevin Schneider's No. 3 starter and -- check it out -- he's doing so well, he has pitched two shutouts in postseason action. Not bad, eh? In the losers bracket final, he posted a four-hitter with seven strikeouts as N-G bested O'Hara, 3-0. Today he went that effort a few notches better, twirling a two-hitter with nine whiffs and two walks (one intentional). Obviously, when the score is only 1-0, you're walking a way-up-there tightrope and only jagged rocks are below. But Pritchett Wallendaed his way across with minimal difficulty and the shutout was No. 5 (in 10 games) during this quite-amazing postseason. "E", who lives in Camden, N.J., and formerly attended Paul VI, in South Jersey, faced 26 batters and just once did five guys go to the plate. That was in the sixth. With one away, sr. CF Colby Klingerman zipped a sinking liner that one-hopped jr. RF Bay To. Klingerman thieved second while sr. RF Evan Ball was striking out, so a window was left open for Schneider. Pitch to star sr. RH Colton Hock, or put him on base? The unofficial baseball book of dos and don'ts says to never put the go-ahead run on base, Hock was waved down to first and Pritchett had to face sr. 1B Ricky Klingerman, a lefty who'd twice grounded out to sr. 1B Josh Ockimey. Again, Klingerman sent a grounder to the right side. But this time it traveled to jr. 2B Vinny Vaccone, who made the gobble-it-up and tossed to "Ock" to end what turned out to be a non-uprising. Pritchett pitched a 1-2-3 seventh -- a sliding catch toward right-center by To, a grounder to soph 3B Nicky D'Amore and a game-ending looking K. That punchout gave "E" at least one whiff in every inning. Niiiiice! Like always, as the game ended, the understated Pritchett walked off the mound like someone who was walking a dog. Not a hint of emotion. That's how he rolls (smile). According to Joe Messina, who guides N-G pitchers, Hock, a Stanford signee and potentially a high-round draftee, was working on two days rest after pitching five in Monday's first round. He throws serious flames and there were times when he REALLY humped it up. N-G managed four hits and they came in a two-in-a-row fashion. With one away in the third, soph CF Brian Verratti, the No. 8 hitter, fired a groundball single into right. Vaccone then sent a single through the vacated left-side hole (Verratti had briefly acted as though he was going to try to steal second) to make it first and second. After To popped out, the run scored only because of a passed ball that was followed by a wild pitch. Not exactly a classic rally, but one suspects the Saints didn't mind a BIT (smile). In the fourth, jr. C Tommy Nardini and jr. DH Pat Doudican posted one-out singles. After D'Amore moved them up by inside-outing a groundout to first, jr. SS Justin Curtin worked a four-pitch walk. Though the first two pitches to Verratti were balls, Hock regrouped and wound up recording a punchout; he finished with 10. Though "Ock" fanned in all three of his at-bats (very hard to believe), he made a spectacular, full-dive effort in an attempt to catch a foul pop near N-G's dugout. Wonderful effort. Also, he finished with 11 putouts and seven involved no one else (three grounders, four popups). In the third, D'Amore bobbled an easy grounder. The next batter also hit a grounder his way, but more toward the line. Nicky made an impressive, across-the-body stab and got the out at first. That's one of the most important traits an athlete must show: the ability to make a quick bounceback from adversity.

JUNE 5
TEDBITS
  Here is a list of strong, lengthy (at least five innings) relief performances made by Catholic League pitchers in postseason contests. In '99, La Salle's Keith Olender and Conwell-Egan's Phil Papirio (his dad, Rich, was the coach) combined to pitch 12 innings. In '12, N-G's John La Motta and Bonner's Pat Vanderslice combined to pitch 15. That game lasted 14 innings and required 4 hours, 15 minutes. Huck covered it and he's still exhausted (smile). His game report is here. . . . Did I miss any other goodies? tedtee307@yahoo.com. Thanks.
  UPDATED with Frank Rauscher's performance in '91. Thanks to then-Carroll coach Frank Allison.
  UPDATED with info about Brendan Murray. Had a nice talk the evening of June 8 with Brendan, who happens to be the brother of the Prep's forever soccer coach/athletic director, Jim Murray. Brendan, a righthander (and in that season a soph), said he started that game in left field and that his pitching stint was interrupted by two rain delays. In all, the game and delays lasted roughly 5 1/2 hours! Brendan credited CF Ray Palmer with a tremendous, over-the-shoulder catch that kept three runs off the board. Maybe two weeks beforehand, Brendan said, he pitched complete games separated by two days. In the second, he walked the first three batters . . . but finished with a no-hitter!!

JUNE 4
TEDBITS
  Every pitcher strives to post an impressive ERA. Neumann-Goretti sr. lefthander Charlie Jerla is doing even more. In postseason action this year, he owns a perfect AKORA. What the heck is that? I just made it up (ha ha). The letters stand for Any Kind Of Run Average, and Jerla has allowed no one to cross the plate in 22 innings. With slick-fielding help from his teammates, of course. In his latest bit of mastery, two days ago, Jerla entered a first-round AA state playoff vs. Berks Catholic in the second inning, with no outs and a runner on first. He allowed three hits over his six-inning stint while also walking/whiffing three apiece. The Saints overcame a 3-0 deficit to win, 5-3. Jerla has made six appearances (two as a starter) and his record is 4-0. Charlie was the Saints' No. 3 pitcher last year behind then-seniors Joe Kinee and John La Motta and this year he shares the load with jr. LH Pat Doudican and soph RH Ethan "E" Pritchett. Joe Messina, pitching coach for first-year boss Kevin Schneider (and for two other coaches beforehand), said of Jerla, "I've never seen a kid so locked in. And I've never seen a kid improve as much from freshman to senior year. Definition of hard work being rewarded. He never stopped trying to get better." Jerla, also a productive outfielder, is headed for D-I Marist.
  UPDATED through final game of season, a semifinal loss to Loyalsock. Charlie pitched one inning, in relief, and allowed one unearned run along with one hit and one walk. He also fanned one.

JUNE 3
TEDBITS
  Masterman's Liam Shanahan spent his freshman season splitting time between the mound and that position located between second and third base. Yes, shortstop. Big deal, you say? So do we, but without the sarcasm (smile). You see, Shanahan throws lefthanded and that makes him quite the rarity. In preparation for this posting, with the help of the DN/Inky database, I did some research on lefty shortstops. Two prominent ex-Phillies are part of the club. In '93, as the Phillies marched toward the World Series, I did weekly profiles on team members. John Kruk said he played SS at Keyser High, in West Virginia, because his brother, Larry, was the school's other pitcher and the coach figured it was easier to just move those guys back and forth. Also, in '87, Jamie Moyer told Inquirer columnist Frank Dolson that he'd played SS in his younger days. In '08, Unionville High sr. OF Pete Hissey (now in the minors; has advanced as high as AAA) played SS in a non-league game, and he said he'd routinely played it through Jr. American Legion. Meanwhile, in a preview for the '87 high school season, I wrote that Kensington would have a lefty SS, Johnny Rivera. Yesterday, I had a brief chat with La Salle jr. CF Jimmy Herron, a lefty. He said he played SS until roughly age 11 in intra-mural games. And to wrap up with a weird one . . . On Sept. 13, 1979, the Orioles visited the Blue Jays. The O's starting SS was Tom Chism, a lefty from Chester High who'd always been a first baseman through a successful minor league career. (His MLB career was quite short.) One problem: Chism did not actually "play" SS in that game. He batted in the top of the first, then Kiko Garcia went out to play the position. Liam is the son of Pat Shanahan, a prominent basketball ref and former player at Neumann. Liam had a wonderful first season for the Blue Dragons, averaging 18.4 points in 16 games. And he scored some of those points righthanded.
  This was also part of the '93 John Kruk profile:
  Best advice he has received: "When my dad, our coach, asked me to play shortstop in a summer league at age 13 or 14, I told him I didn't want to play there anymore after making three errors in one inning. He told me, 'If you don't want to play shortstop, go home, I don't want you.' He said, 'You play where the coach tells you to play.' That taught me young to respect the coach."

JUNE 2
PIAA FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFFS
AAAA: La Salle 6, Boyertown 3
A: Schuylkill Haven 12, Masterman 2 (5 inn.)
(Doubleheader at Richie Ashburn Field)
  La Salle game: There IS a baseball god. And today he fiiiiinally let sr. RH Dominic Cuoci pitch on a day when I was among the witnesses. I half-expected "Cootch" to not be on hand and for coach Joe Parisi to say something outrageous such as, "He's spending the week in Idaho. He wants to learn how to grow potatoes." Just my luck! But pitch he did and win he did, albeit in semi-crazy fashion. Cuoci, who's bound for Saint Joseph's, allowed 10 hits while going the distance. But six of those, including a run-scoring bunt single in the seventh, never left the infield. In fairness, the Bears did spank some shots right into outs. Cuoci walked none and whiffed five. La Salle scored two in the first and four in the fourth. Two RBI apiece went to sr. C Nick Dermo (shot to center in the first), jr. CF Jimmy Herron (grounder through the left side) Cuoci (crunch-job double to the base of the fence in right). The Explorers had just five hits, but milked five walks and absorbed three plunkings. Sr. 2B Brad Schneider and sr. RF Ryan Coonahan (both singles) collected the hits that were not previously mentioned. Dermo gunned down a pair of would-be thieves. Parisi's new nickname is "Possum." In the fourth, sr. SS AJ Grezeszak fouled off a squeeze bunt. As Grezeszak stepped back in, Parisi yelled in from the third-base coach's box, "C'mon, hit a line drive somewhere, No. 7!" It was a ruse! Grezeszak bunted again! But the baserunning wasn't exactly high quality, so no run was scored. Luckily for La Salle, Schneider then got plunked and the two-run hits by Herron and Cuoci came immediately thereafter. Interesting nugget: Boyertown's squad included Dalton Hughes and T. Dalton Hughes. The T stands for Timothy, but he goes by his middle name because his dad goes by Tim. They're not related.
  Masterman game: As most Philly people know, Masterman is considered the crown jewel of public high schools from the academic standpoint. With that in mind, and perhaps sensing that the Blue Dragons might be in for a long afternoon against a team with bigger, older kids, assistant John Katzner quipped right before the game began, "When this is over, we want to play them in 'Jeopardy.' " Within five innings, it WAS over. The visitors scored two apiece in the first and third and four apiece in the second and fifth while Masterman managed two in the third. Through the fourth, the good thing for Masterman was that SH at least was earning its runs. Then, the final four markers were unearned. The pitching was split between jr. RH Greg Whitehorn and frosh LH Liam Shanahan. When not pitching, each guy played shortstop. Have you been paying attention?? Yes, we saw a lefty shortstop! Very cool! Shanahan caught a liner and got an assist after gloving a grounder and tossing to frosh 3B Scott Phillips. Shanahan also had two impressive moments on the mound. He came all the way in to the plate area to snag a popup in the fourth, then in the fifth scrambled to his right to smother a chopper and gun to soph 1B John Pizzollo for the out. Masterman's one uprising began when jr. 2B Gil "Schuylgil" Haven was plunked and walks were drawn by frosh LF Nick Vicoli and Shanahan. Whitehorn chopped into a 1-2 forceout, Phillips phanned and Pizzollo sent a grounder up the middle that should have ended the inning. Instead, a misplay allowed two runs to score. Overall, Masterman's three hits -- all singles -- went to Vicoli, Shanahan and frosh Isaac Levy. Have you been paying attention, part II? The Blue Devils were incredibly young this season. There were NO seniors on coach Vic Otarola's roster and just three juniors. The future should be very bright. In the second, SH sr. LF Mike Feryo hit a double over Levy's head. When Feryo came up again in the third, Otarola yelled out to Levy, "You might want to move back! He hit it over your head last time!" You know what's coming . . . Though Levy did move back a few steps, Feryo again hit the ball over his head. SH arrived at Ashburn Field in a tour bus. The Blue Devils were loving that one. They were kidding about how crazy a ride up there on a regular School District "banana bus" would have been. "Hey, Mr. O," sub frosh Jack Winner said to Otarola. "How'd you like to be on a bus with us for three hours? I'll sit right next to you!" Something tells me he's the team clown (smile).

JUNE 2
TEDBITS
  The PIAA state playoffs begin today and six District 12 teams will be involved -- three apiece from the Cath and Pub. Below are won-lost and runs for/runs against totals for each league, broken down by classification, since they began participating in state playoffs in 2009 and 2005, respectively. One team, La Salle in AAAA in '12, has won a state title. SJ Prep ('09 in AAAA), Neumann-Goretti ('09 in AAA) and N-G again ('12 in AAA) have advanced to semis. In the Pub in '06, two AAAA teams participated. Central advanced to the semis. Overall, D-12 teams are 16-46 and have been outscored, 459-162. The Pub has experienced outrageous struggles, going 4-34 while being outscored by 352-72.

JUNE 1
TEDBITS
  In deep South Philly, the last three days of this week produced some amazing firsts. Friday and Saturday, vs. the Mets at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies played consecutive games that lasted as long as 14 innings for the first time in their history. They won the first one, 6-5, in 14, then lost the second one, 5-4, again in 14. Those games required 10 hours, 55 minutes, and 945 pitches were thrown. But on Thursday, southwest of CBB at Richie Ashburn Field, in FDR Park, the first of three City Titles offered a goodie, as well. (As did game No. 3, as detailed in Friday's Tedbits). In what turned out to the last inning (fifth) of Neumann-Goretti's 12-1 rocking of Philadelphia Academy for Class AA honors, sr. 1B Josh Ockimey, an Indiana signee who's expected to be selected in the upcoming draft, sat on a 3-0 fastball and hammered a grand slam to right-center. The ball landed a shade to the right of the 375-foot sign, so we'll say it traveled 370 feet. This game was the 49th in CT history (one apiece from 1945-79, as many as three each year since '09) and Ockimey's slam was the first. Also, "Ock" was the Catholic League's first lefty swinger to hit a postseason slam. That covers all varieties of games: CL playoffs, CTs, state playoffs. Below is a list of postseason slams by CL players. The first didn't occur until a first-round playoff in 1988, and it was, what else, slammed by Bonner second baseman Jim Snell. The second baseman was the Friars' seventh hitter, the opponent was St. Joseph's Prep and the ball traveled roughly 360 feet to left-center at Haverford College, according to the note on my scoresheet from that day. Also, the pitch was a 2-0 fastball. Below is a list of all slams hit by CL players . . .

MAY 31
TEDBITS
  In 1983, Ben Franklin became the first team to win a Public League baseball championship with a lineup featuring only African-American (six) and Latino players (three). Going back to 1975, I strongly believe only nine other African-Americans have been starters for Pub champs (total is now up to 11, as of June 1). The details are below. If I missed someone, please speak up. tedtee307@yahoo.com. In '83, Franklin's African-American starters were Deron Miller, Curt Fripps, Steve Thomas, Randy Clark, Anthony Franklin and Anthony McQuillar. The Latinos were Ron Friedrich, Eddie Arocho and Orlando Ortiz. The boxscore for that game, detailing their performances, is here.
  UPDATED JUNE 1 to include Central 3B Ricardo Tull in 2010. Thanks to his teammate, Mark Gervasi, for the heads-up! As well
as Central 3B Barron Johnston in 2009 (yielded to a DH; not part of batting order).

MAY 30
TEDBITS
  Yesterday, in an 8-0 win over Franklin Towne for the Class AAA City Title, Wood soph RH Anthony Russo became the first pitcher in city postseason history (Public, Catholic, City Titles) to strike out as many as 14 batters while also allowing no more than one hit; only quarterfinals onward for the Pub. ***In a Pub round-of-16 game in '92, Central beat King, 12-1, as Chris Camburn was credited with a no-hitter and 15 whiffs. This game was not covered in person by a DN reporter or stat man.*** Below are lists for CTs only. There have been 51 CTs, one apiece from 1945 through '79 and 16 total over the last six years -- six apiece in AAAA and AAA, four in AA. The games were scheduled for nine innings through '66. The '68 contest, played at the Phillies' Connie Mack Stadium, was a true classic. Here's that recap:
Egan 1, Southern 0 (11 inn.)
    A pair of lefties, Egan's Dennis Yesenosky and Southern's Willie Jones, were masterful in this marathon. Yesenosky allowed two hits and three walks and set strikeout records for seven innings (12), nine innings (17) and overall (20). Jones allowed eight hits and fanned 16. In the home 11th, singles by Tony Varacallo, Dan Connors and Jim Colella loaded the bases. Jim Carpenter sent a sinking liner to right and Vince DeMeis made the catch. With all three runners moving a doubleplay was possible, but DeMeis's throw to first was off-line. Jones then walked Paul Scalzone on four pitches to end it. In the sixth, Southern had runners thrown out at second and the plate.

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MAY 29
CITY TITLES
(At Ashburn Field)
Wood 8, Franklin Towne 0
La Salle 16, Washington 1 (5 inn.)
Neumann-Goretti 12, Phila. Academy 1 (5 inn.)
  Wood game: If the championship plaque winds up becoming warped, blame Brian Klumpp and Bobby Heck. Klumpp is an assistant and Heck is a soph and maybe five minutes after the plaque had been earned, Klumpp gave Heck, a soph bench guy, the OK to dump a bucket of frigid water on coach Jim "Dege" DiGuiseppe Jr. Heck approached from behind and got Dege good. He also got the plaque because it was still in the coach's hands (smile) . . . Later, Dege and friends celebrated the win at the nearby Chickie's & Pete's and Dege reported via text that he was "freezing." No doubt! . . . Wood's standout was soph RH Anthony Russo, who used a riding fastball and effective curve to pitch a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts! One more whiff and he would have tied the forever record for CTs lasting seven innings. Lefty George Riley, who went on to pitch in the majors, mowed down 15 for Southern vs. Ryan in 1974 . . . Russo took a no-hitter into the sixth. Sr. 2B Ray Lopez led off with a clean single (grounder, a shade to the right of the middle) to center. He then was doubled off as frosh C Jason Santiago sent a liner right into Russo's glove . . . Five of Russo's whiffs came on called third strikes . . . He walked one (jr. LF Steve Callahan with two away in the seventh) . . . Sr. SS Erik Bowren went 3-for-4 with a double, homer and four RBI. He provided an immediate boost with a three-run homer to dead left in the first. The ball cleared the fence maybe 12 feet to the right of the 330-foot sign . . . Soph RF Joe Lancellotti went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Sr. LF Matt Funk posted two hits and scored twice . . . FT sr. 3B Brian Bradley, again and again, had bullets hit to him or near him or over his impressive leaps (smile) . . . Callahan came within a whisker of making a tremendous catch of a bolt off Funk's bat . . . FT soph 1B Zackery Beltran, already an impressive swinger, was missing due to a school function.
  La Salle game: I know this will come as a gigantic shock, but sr. LH John Scheffey got the start for La Salle. This was my seventh view of the Explorers this season, including one just for pics and one via the Internet. He has pitched EVERY time! As far as I know, I'm not his uncle (smile) . . . The Explorers dropped an 11-run bomb in the second, sending 17 batters to the plate. There were six hits and sr. RF Ryan "Future Mayor of Oreland" Coonahan had the most productive, a two-run single. There were also five walks, and a got-plunked . . . That uprising was given major life but what appeared to be a missed call at third on a steal. Not sure why that one unfolded the way it did . . . One of Washington's players left early to go to a prom . . . La Salle jr. CF Jimmy Herron was productive in every plate appearance: sac fly, walk, RBI single, single . . . Early in the game, first base ump Mike Finney yelled, "That's a . . . ," stopping himself short. Budding DN legend Aaron "Ace" Carter quipped, "I never saw a balk on a balk call." Ha, ha, ha . . . GW jr. 1B Ishmael Bracy went to the mound for the third and posted two strong innings before La Salle reached him for four in the fifth . . . Felt good for La Salle jr. Connor Williams. Always a runner, he got a chance to hit in the fifth and ripped a two-run single to left . . . Rumor has it: coach Joe Parisi's face is still quite sore because he had to smile for such a long stretch as the Explorers posed for a post-game team pic (ha ha).
  N-G game: Early this week, N-G sr. 1B Josh Ockimey swooshed to Miami to work out for the Marlins, a sure sign that he's being taken very seriously for the upcoming draft. Today he again showed why. "Ock" went 3-for-4 with five RBI and a grand slam was part of that package. In the fifth, he jumped on a 3-0 pitch and launched one over the fence in right-center, a shade to the right of the 375-foot sign. It was the first slam in CT history! . . . Jr. RF Bay To walked, doubled, singled and walked while bagging two RBI and scoring thrice . . . The best hit in the three-run first was a two-run double smashed to right by jr. DH Pat Doudican . . . Jr. 2B Vinny Vaccone wonderfully repped No. 9 hitters everywhere, going 3-for-3 with a triple, one RBI and three runs scored . . . The starter was soph RH Ethan "E" Pritchett. He almost hit sr. 1B Travis Zink in the helmet, then DID hit Tim Zink, Travis' brother and a jr. C, in the helmet. He then was removed for what was said to be a flareup of back pain . . . Thus, the win went to jr. RH Gino Tripodi . . . PA scored in the fourth when sr. SS-RH Eric Heisler fired a leadoff double over the RF's head, moved over on a passed ball and raced home when Tripodi made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt . . . PA soph 2B Tyler Sharp is the son of Washington assistant Craig Sharp. Tyler's brother, Corey, last year was an All-Public OF for G-Dub. He was on hand today. Ditto for Jake Wright, a first team All-City OF last year for Washington (and second team punter). He just finished a post-grad year at The Hill School, in Pottstown. Great to see you, guys! . . . In all, the Cath rang up a 36-2 scoring advantage in the three CTs. Ouch!

MAY 29
TEDBITS
  This is school year No. 6 for the Catholic League as a PIAA member and that means the City Title baseball series, originally scrapped after the '79 contest, is in year No. 6 of part two. Unfortunately, the results have been extremely one-sided. The Catholic League has captured all 13 contests and has happily ch-chinged its way to a 135-14 scoring advantage (now 171-16). There were no AA games in '11 and '12 because District 12 and District 1 are combined for playoff purposes and two 12 squads from the different leagues did not happen to meet. In olden times (smile), the Cath won the last four CTs. The Pub's last win was in '75, when Southern bested O'Hara, 7-1, behind Jack Manfredi's nine-K no-hitter. Here's hoping today's games are competitive . . .
  UPDATED with 2014 results

MAY 28 (Evening)
TEDBITS
  Eleven of the last 16 Pub titles have been won by coaches who earned All-Pub honors while playing . . .

MAY 28
TEDBITS
  Here is a breakdown of Washington's 10 Pub championships . . .
  Note: In yesterday's final, each starter -- Washington's Roger Hanson and Franklin Towne's Steve Callahan -- pitched seven full innings for the first time since the '86 final. In that one, Central's pitcher was Rich Fernandez. 

MAY 27
TEDBITS
  Long-time -- even medium-time -- followers of Pub baseball will find two upcoming facts impossible to believe, but here we go: Washington has not won a championship since 1995 and has not appeared in a final since '99. Fact No. 2 will change today when the Eagles meet Franklin Towne Charter, at 3:30, at Ashburn Field in deep South Philly (FDR Park, across Broad Street from the Sixers/Flyers arena). Will Fact No. 1? Up to the players. In the '95 final, Washington bested Northeast, 7-6, in nine innings, at La Salle University as Ric Mruk, with the bases loaded and everyone playing in, crushed a 330-foot, walkoff single off the leftfield fence. The Eagles made a return trip to the final in '99, but were thumped by Northeast, 15-6. The 2000 season brought a shocker. In the round of 16, Washington fell to Saul, 3-2. The Razorbacks were only in their third Pub season and occupied a spot in lowly Division C. They scored their three runs in the visiting seventh on an error and two bases-loaded walks. Not pretty. In today's game, the Eagles will be the visitor and that shouldn't make them cringe. While winning nine championships from '78 to '95, the Eagles seized five of those as the visiting team. A member of that '78 squad was Ken Geiser, who's now in his third season as the coach. Though a backup in '78, he became a starter as a senior in '79 and was impressive enough at catcher to earn second team Daily News All-City honors. Can't imagine too many guys have "come out of nowhere" to that degree . . . Today's game will be shown on Sports Fan Base Network with Ari Bluestein on play-by-play and Randy Seidman on color.

MAY 26
TEDBITS
  When Neumann-Goretti recently captured the Catholic League baseball championship, a rare trifecta was completed. For the first time since the 1959-60 school year, the coaches of title-winning teams in three major sports were NOT products of CL schools. Gabe Infante, who steered St. Joseph's Prep to the AAAA football title, graduated from Memorial High, in West New York, N.J. -- The winning coaches at the AAA and AA levels, Wood's Steve Devlin (Ryan) and West Catholic's Brian Fluck (West), ARE grads of CL schools. -- Carl Arrigale, who led N-G to a sixth consecutive CL basketball crown, starred in hoops at Penn Charter, of the Inter-Ac League, and was the I-A MVP in '84. Kevin Schneider, N-G's first-year baseball coach, hails from Lawrenceville, N.J., and was a pitching star at Lawrence High before achieving the same status at Monmouth University. In 1959-60, the respective coaches were Jack Ferrante (Bonner football), Tom Sabol (Bonner basketball) and Paul "Bart" Bartolomeo (Neumann baseball). All three were truly amazing. Ferrante, who was born in Camden, then raised in South and West Philly, attended a trade school that did not offer football. He dropped out in the 10th grade to work in a supermarket. He got his football start with neighborhood teams, later played for a minor league team and gradually became so good, wow, he wound up starting at wide receiver for the Eagles' championship teams in 1948 and '49! Sabol starred in all three major sports at Southern (class of '45). He was a first team coaches' All-Pub honoree in football and basketball and likely was in baseball, as well, though a list for that season is not available. In football, his 66-yard fumble return enabled the Rams to top West Catholic, 13-7, for the City Title. In basketball, he had 10 points and dominated the boards as the Rams thumped  West Philly, 45-21, for the Pub crown. The '45 baseball Rams also ruled the Pub and he was the team's top pitcher. Three league championships in ONE school year. Not bad, eh? "Bart" was a first team fullback on the Bulletin's All-Scholastic Team (best players in five-county area) for Southern in the fall of 1933. He later coached football AND baseball for 33 years apiece (1946-47 through 1978-79) at N-G's forerunners, garnering two CL championships in football and four in baseball. By the way, over the last 40 years Schneider is the eighth CL baseball coach to produce a championship in his first year. Mike Zolk did likewise for N-G in '12. The period began with a three-in-four-years run: Bill Dugan for O'Hara in '75, Joe McDermott for Judge in '76 and Bob Koch for Roman in '78.          

MAY 25
TEDBITS
  This is the 70th season of Catholic League baseball -- Part Two, that is; the league had a short first stint from '24 through '27 -- and Neumann-Goretti captured its fourth championship in the last six seasons: '09, '11, '12 and '14. Three guys were starters for three of those teams, and now four guys can claim they were starters for three champs. For N-G, the three are '12 grads Marty Venafro (always at shortstop) and Nicky Nardini (DH as frosh; C as junior and senior) and '14 grad Josh Ockimey (always at first base). The other three-time starter for a champion was Frank Ryan, the rightfielder for long-gone St. James' consecutive titlists in '61, '62 and '63. He was still around in '64, but the Bulldogs fell in the final to Judge, 7-2. Ockimey, a lefty swinger bound for the University of Indiana (maybe; we'll see what happens after the upcoming draft), started in 16 CL playoff games over his four years as a starter -- three apiece in '11, '12 and '13, then seven this year. His stats are below. Meanwhile, Nardini is now an assistant under first-year coach Kevin Schneider and Nicky's brother, Tommy, a junior, is the starting catcher.

MAY 24
TEDBITS
  Aside from setting a new CL record for most major-sport playoff wins in one year, with six, Neumann-Goretti's baseball squad doubled the mark for shutout victories. Six teams had managed to post two. The Saints rolled to four thanks to Charlie Jerla, Pat Doudican and Ethan "E" Pritchett. In its seven playoff games, N-G outscored its opponents by 37-10 (and by 35-5 in the wins). One note about Jim Wilks, who posted two shutouts for O'Hara in '75. They were his fourth and fifth in a row! Also, that was his first year as a pitcher. He was a catcher in '74.

MAY 23 (Evening)
TEDBITS
  Here are the final stats for Neumann-Goretti in seven CL playoffs (6-1 record) . . .

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MAY 23
TEDBITS
  Weather permitting, the Catholic League championship will be decided today, 3:45, at Widener University as Roman and Neumann-Goretti again do battle. Below are playoff stats for each team. Thanks to assistant Joe Messina for helping us to flesh out N-G's, as boxes were not published in the Daily News for two of the Saints' three games in the losers bracket. Good luck to both teams!

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MAY 22 (Evening)
TEDBITS
  For two straight games in the playoffs, Neumann-Goretti has followed a very uncommon path en route to establishing command. In the losers bracket final vs. O'Hara, the first two batters of the third inning were retired before the Saints got a double from Bay To and went on to tally three runs. The final score wound up being 3-0. In what we're calling the "first final," played yesterday vs. Roman, the score was again 0-0 as N-G batted in the third. The first two batters made outs, then Josh Ockimey milked a walk and the Saints rolled onward to post a four-spot. Final score: 11-1, in five innings. In all games I've covered this season, 120 half-innings have started with two outs. Runs have been scored just 14 times. That computes to 11.7 percent . . . Just thought I'd throw that out there.

MAY 22
TEDBITS
  Neumann-Goretti's baseball squad is on quite the history-making roll. Check out the Tedbits for May 15 (Charlie Jerla) and May 20 (Ethan "E" Pritchett) to read about the accomplishments of two other Saints. Yesterday, jr. LH Pat Doudican seized center stage. Somewhat for his pitching, yes, as he allowed four hits and whiffed eight in N-G's 11-1, five-inning win over Roman in a "first final." But mostly for his hitting. With a two-run double and a pair of two-run singles, the lefty swinger finished 3-for-4 with SIX RBI. No Catholic League player has ever posted more in postseason action. Neither has a Pub player in overall quarters, semis or finals (or City Titles). In the Pub, we've never included performances in the earlier rounds because scorekeeping tends to be dicey. However, in Pub recaps for early-round games, I did come up with a pair of RBI outbursts that were better than six and since I covered those games in person, they'll be detailed here. In a round-of-16 playoff vs. Olney in 2002 (no enrollment-classification stuff back then), Roxborough pitcher Mike Gibbs, a big/strong guy who went on to play in the minors, went 5-for-5 with a double and two homers for eight RBI as the Indians rolled, 16-4. He allowed five hits while fanning 11. In a Class AA semi in 2011, semi-pitcher Mike Borelli crunched a two-run homer and a slam (in the SAME, nine-run inning) en route to seven RBI as Prep Charter bested Philadelphia Academy. We called Borelli a "semi-pitcher" because that day he pitched in the second and then the fourth through seventh. Though it did not involve as many as six RBI, gotta mention one outstanding pitching-hitting performance by a CL guy. In a first-round game at what's now called Philadelphia University in 1999, O'Hara lefty Jeff Randazzo, who also went on to pitch in the minors, posted a two-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 9-2 win over now-closed Kennedy-Kenrick. Batting righty, he also clobbered a pair of two-run homers. His second home-run ball was about 35 feet high as it left the field about 40 feet to the right of the leftfield foul line. Randazzo was also a quality basketball player. Earlier that school year, in a quarterfinal at La Salle University, Randazzo gave the great Eddie Griffin (RIP, some organizations' national Player of the Year in 2000) everything he wanted as O'Hara fell to Roman, 52-47, in two OTs. Griffin had 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks while Randazzo had 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks and stuck a three-pointer in Griffin’s face to force the second OT.

MAY 21
CATHOLIC LEAGUE "FIRST FINAL"
Neumann-Goretti 11, Roman 1 (5 inn.)
(At Widener University)
  Roman missed out on its chance to become the first team in major-sports Catholic League history to win a championship after posting a losing record (7-8) during the regular season . . . For the moment, that is. Remember, for the second consecutive year, the CL is using a double-elimination tournament to decide the champ and these teams will again bang heads Friday at 3:45, also at Widener. Will Roman bounce back from being spanked? Will N-G seize the title via the back-door route? Might be worth your while to show up and witness the assorted twists and turns in person. Your Memorial Day Weekend fun can wait, right? (smile) A couple times this year, I mentioned in reports that Roman sr. RH Kyle Rogalski had motivated his teammates with strong encouragement while heading from the mound to the dugout, or in the dugout. Well, today, perhaps he heard strong encouragement, though it wasn't meant FOR him. In the home third, Rogalski retired the first two batters before star sr. 1B Josh Ockimey worked a full-count walk and jr. C Tommy Nardini followed by doing the same (with Nardini giving way to the coolest courtesy runner ever, sr. Joe Lolio). The next batter was jr. LH Pat Doudican, a lefty swinger, and from second Ockimey yelled in to him, "Let's go, Pat! Find a way! Help yourself right here!" On a 1-2 count, Doudican sent a two-run double to right and, as things turned out, the Saints owned all the runs they would need. Meanwhile, Doudican was nowhere close to finalizing his RBI total. He added two-run singles in the fourth and fifth to finish with SIX ribbies, thus tying the city record for postseason play (Catholic, Public, City Titles). I'll cross-check everything late tonight to be sure (has been confirmed). He did so with nice, easy swings that came close to looking like one-handed sweeps. Info on the six-RBI guys will make up tomorrow's Tedbits, though I guess you could have figured that out on your own (smile). N-G tallied four runs in the third and fifth and three in the fourth. In the fourth, my camera batteries went dead and when that happened, I turned to DN/Inky lensman Chip Fox and said, "Something noteworthy will happen right now. It ALWAYS happens when I'm trying to change batteries." Sure enough, Doudican directed a grounder to first base. And I do mean TO first base. The ball hit the bag and changed direction up high, glancing off the bare hand of sr. 1B Joe Mangano en route to shallow right. Two guys scored off the hit and a tacked-on throwing error allowed Lolio to check in, as well. Doudican's two-run single in the fifth was a true blooper. Hey, they count. Also helping the offensive cause were jr. RF Bay To (2-for-4, RBI), soph CF Brian Verratti (2-for-3, RBI) and jr. 2B Vinny Vaccone (RBI single). One run scored (in the third) on a wild pitch. Doudican allowed four hits, walked three, hit one and whiffed eight. Roman scored in the third as jr. LF Jon Stoffere notched a scratch double (a snow cone catch did not quite happen) and checked in three batters later as sr. DH Mike Opiela crackled a single to left. The game, played mostly in light rain that never became a true factor, ended as sr. CF Conor Smith powered a drive to deep left-center and sr. LF Charlie Jerla ran and ran and OUTran it within a whisker of the Blue Monster. Very nice play! See ya Friday!

MAY 21
TEDBITS
  This is season No. 262 for the Catholic League's major sports (football/basketball/baseball) and we could wind up seeing an all-time first!! A team with a losing record in the regular season has never won a championship, but Roman will have two chances to accomplishment the feat in the league's double-elimination tournament. The Cahillites went 7-8 in the Red Division, yet have since beaten Wood, La Salle and O'Hara (all as the "visiting" team; the first two were at home sites while the third was at Immaculata University) to earn a spot in today's kinda-final, 3:45 at Widener University, vs. Neumann-Goretti, which has emerged from the losers bracket. If N-G wins today, the teams will play again Friday at the same site/time. So far, six teams have captured championships after experiencing lukewarm regular seasons. Roman has been the only school with two. In the 1942-43 basketball campaign, the Cahillites limped to an 0-6 start before crafting a turnaround. They had to win a preplayoff just to get into the playoffs. This year's baseball squad was 3-6 before going 4-2 to finish league play at 7-8. In '93, Wood's baseball team also needed to win a preplayoff. It then seized four more triumphs. By the way, there have been 95 CL seasons in basketball (1919-20/2013-14), 93 in football (1920-2013; league did not operate in '29) and 74 in baseball (1924-27, 1945-2014).

MAY 20 (Evening)
TEDBITS
  Back on May 1, I posted a Tedbit about the importance of getting the leadoff batter on base (or retiring him, depending on your viewpoint). To that point, I'd seen 182 half-innings. In the 99 in which the first guy was retired, runs were scored just 14 times (14.1 percent). In the 83 in which the first guy reached base (hit, walk, error, anything), runs were scored 47 times (56.6 percent). Since then, of course, many of the games have been more important. Has much changed? Here we go:
  88 half-innings have started with an out. Runs have been scored 16 times (18.2 percent).
  67 half-innings have started with someone reaching base. Runs have been scored 42 times (62.6 percent).
Just thought I'd throw this out there again . . .

MAY 20
TEDBITS
  In yesterday's losers bracket final, soph RH Ethan "E" Pritchett pitched the sixth CL playoff shutout in the long baseball history of Southeast Catholic/Bishop Neumann/St. John Neumann/Ss. Neumann-Goretti. And he did mooorrre than that. I'm pretty sure that Pritchett, a resident of Camden, N.J., and a transfer from South Jersey's Paul VI High, is the first African-American pitcher to notch a CL playoff victory. Congrats, young man! As mentioned in yesterday's report, the Saints turned three doubleplays. Pritchett started one by barehanding a hard one-hopper right back at him. He finished his stint by retiring 10 of the last 11 batters. The guy who did reach base, via a walk, was promptly caught stealing . . . Al Famiglietti, who pitched briefly in the minors, notched his shutouts when the CL tried a best-of-three finals series in 1958. He won the first and third games and allowed 13 hits in a game-two loss. (No such thing as pitch counts or proper rest back then, folks. Ha, ha.) Mark Donato racked up his blankings in back-to-back quarterfinals in '08 and '09. He's now playing first base for the Kansas City Royals' Class A affiliate in Wilmington, Del.
  NOTE: When this item was first posted, I listed only five shutouts. Which one did I forget? The one that happened just two days earlier! Ugh. A true knuckleTed moment. It ain't easy being old. Thanks to N-G assistant Joe Messina for speaking up.
  UPDATED with Jerla's effort in championship game.

MAY 19
CATHOLIC LEAGUE LOSERS BRACKET FINAL
Neumann-Goretti 3, O'Hara 0
(At Widener University)
  N-G soph RH Ethan Pritchett goes almost exclusively by "E" and rarely has a nickname been more fitting. There was only error in this mostly-wonderful game. It went in N-G's favor and completely made the difference as "E" claimed a W. We'll start in the visiting third because that half-inning produced all three runs. O'Hara sr. RH Kevin George (he goes maybe 5-4/5-5, but shows a heart as big as all outdoors) retired the first two batters, then jr. RF Bay To scorched a groundball double into the leftfield corner. Sr. LF Charlie Jerla and sr. 1B Josh Ockimey drew walks to load the bases and then came THE big moment. Jr. C Tommy Nardini lofted a popup into a shade-beyond-shallow right. There was some indecision, a late semi-lunge did not work out and two runners gleefully crossed the plate with unearned runs. With "Ock" now on third, jr. DH Pat Doudican thumped a ball to shortstop and received credit for a single/RBI because a drop at first base, according to ump John McArdle, occurred a split-second after Doudican's foot hit the bag. In the previous innings and those that followed (jr. LH Chris Fusaro pitched the final two frames after George issued two walks to start the sixth), the Saints managed to advance only guy into scoring position. But the damage had been done and Pritchett made sure the Lions would never dent the scoreboard. Early, it appeared Pritchett might be in for a difficult afternoon. O'Hara hit some shots, but Pritchett did not allow his confidence to be rocked and by the stretch run he was in complete command. He retired 10 of the last 11 batters and the guy who did reach base -- jr. 3B Colin McGuire on a walk -- was gunned down trying to steal. We also saw this rarity: N-G turned doubleplays in three consecutive innings (second through fourth). Jr. 2B Vinny Vaccone and jr. SS Justin Curtin were the headliners on Nos. 1 and 3. In between, McGraw hit a hard one-hopper right back at Pritchett, who -- whoa! -- barehanded the ball to get things started with a toss home to Nardini. Truly a special moment, especially since the bases were loaded. Pritchett had another cool fielding experience in the sixth. This time, he smothered a hard comebacker off the bat of sr. 1B Chris Salvey and recovered in time behind the mound to wheel and get the out at first. "E" began the seventh by racking up two of his seven strikeouts, then sr. C Dan Dwyer sent a shot toward the rightfield corner. Not IN it, but TOWARD it. To scrambled over and made a reaching-out catch to end the game. Next, it'll be like basketball season has returned (smile) because the final, and maybe another final, in the double-elimination tournament will match N-G vs. Roman. Hmm, wonder if they've ever played a baseball game in the Palestra. That'd be legendary, right? The next game will be Wednesday, 3:45, at Widener. The if-necessary game would be Friday, also 3:45 at Widener. No offense to the players, but today's highlight (maybe the season's highlight) was seeing Chet DiEmidio. He has been around baseball forever as a coach, scout and instructor and there is NO ONE in this world who doesn't love him. I met Chet when he was the head coach at Roman. Later he was the head coach at Community College of Philadelphia and spent one season as an assistant at La Salle University before joining the White Sox in 1987 to work in player development at the minor league level. He's currently sidelined due to a hip issue, but is expecting to soon return to action to help one of the Sox' farm squads as a special instructor. Chet, a former policeman, has to be in his mid-80s. It was so cool to spend some pregame time having a chat, and especially to know that he's still doing what he loves. ALL the best, Chet!! Also in attendance, as I found out toward the end of game, was Fred Steigerwalt. His son, Fred, made the winning TD catch as O'Hara bested Central Bucks West in a non-league game in 1989, thus preventing CBW from tying the state record for longest unbeaten streak (56 games). Another son, Jeff, was a first team All-City running back for Episcopal in '92. Nice to see you, sir!

MAY 19
TEDBITS
  Over the last 49 seasons, just three times has an Inter-Ac school captured four consecutive baseball championships. And Malvern has twice accomplished the feat. This latest (and still-going) Friars' streak does not quite match the previous run, as the chance for an outright crown was squashed by Haverford School's walkoff homer in game No. 10 last week. We have info for Inter-Ac champions going back to 1927 and only one other school enjoyed a four-season run of dominance prior to '82. Penn Charter had three of 'em. Right in a row! The Quakers, under Ralph Palaia, snagged 12 consecutive titles from '54 through '65, and only one was shared (with archrival Germantown Academy in '59). No wonder PC's field is named after the great Mr. Palaia.

MAY 18
TEDBITS
  Some Neumann-Goretti nuggets, courtesy of assistant Joe Messina . . . (well, the last one's from me)
  Catcher Tommy Nardini has reached base in all 21 games by hit, walk or HBP. He has been plunked nine times (ouch). In the postseason, shortstop Justin Curtin has six hits in 11 at-bats in the No. 7 spot (.545 average). First baseman Josh Ockimey collected his 101st career hit in yesterday's game vs. La Salle and his average this season is .534. Rightfielder Bay To said he thinks my favorite vegetable should be celery (sorry, vegetables do not compute -- smile). The other Saints thought Bay's comment was Silarious (ha ha). 

MAY 17
TEDBITS
  Though Roman Catholic finished below .500 in Catholic Red play, at 7-8, it has since rolled to three consecutive playoff wins (vs. Wood, La Salle and O'Hara) and will appear in one or two "championship games," depending, in the double-elimination tournament. The batting order has included the same nine guys and three guys have combined to do the pitching. Here are the stats . . .