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As the Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School Saints baseball players prepared to take their positions against the Cardinal O’Hara Lions Friday at McNichol Field, 26th and Moore streets, second-year coach Mike “Big Zoom” Zolk barked “Let’s bury them.”
Nearly ready for internment themselves after falling behind 5-0, his athletes exhumed their bats to register an 8-7 extra-inning playoff victory to keep alive their hopes of winning a third-straight Catholic League title.
“We have the most heart, and we’re never down mentally even when we’re down on the scoreboard,” senior third baseman Nick Simon said after his misplayed ninth-inning ground ball allowed junior designated hitter Joe McKinley to touch home plate with the winning run.
The East Passyunk Crossing representatives, 1736 S. 10th St., had entered the game with extra pressure. With the league having instituted a double-elimination format, they dropped May 15’s postseason opener to the St. Joe’s Prep Hawks 7-2 and called on senior right-hander and Second-Team All-Catholic John LaMotta to shut down their Delaware County foes. The Marymount University signee zipped crisp fastballs in the early frames and looked to receive support in the second when senior left fielder Joe Kinee advanced to third
with one out. A botched squeeze play erased the future Maine University attendee, and freshman
shortstop Nicky D’Amore stranded two other Saints with a groundout.
The third inning proved equally frustrating as Simon, of the 900 block of Wolf Street, and junior first baseman Josh Ockimey, a First-Team league honoree, made their way into scoring position before Kinee, another First-Team selection, took a called third strike. LaMotta continued to craft comfortable innings yet could not will any teammates across the plate as the squads entered the sixth scoreless.
The Blue Division’s Saints had not faced the Red Division’s Lions in the regular season, during which the locals tallied an 8-4 mark to nab their section’s third seed. Having also lost their first playoff tilt, the visitors appeared eager to claim a huge scalp and scored a two-out run to break the undesired tie. After a grand slam flew over Kinee’s head, the hosts gathered and demanded more from themselves, offering “Let’s hit” as their collective cry.
Following the second-inning miscue that led to Kinee’s being caught in a rundown, Zolk voiced his frustration with his roster members’ season of sporadic hitting. Giving them the green light to swing away, he requested that they score 10 runs by the end of the sixth.
With a goose egg to their names as they took their sixth cuts, senior second baseman Joey Glennon yearned to begin the comeback but looked at a third strike. With Ockimey having drawn a walk and Kinee having skied out to center, junior right fielder Charlie Jerla also worked a free pass to give McKinley an opportunity to give the guests even the slightest sense of panic, as he promptly singled to load the bases.
Having succeeded his brother, 2012 alumnus Nicky Nardini, as the team’s starting catcher, sophomore Tommy Nardini showed his might by dumping a two-run single into center field to bolster what Simon had already called “a ton of confidence” on the Saints’ bench. After two walks and a hit batsman brought home two more scratches, Glennon, hitless in three prior at-bats, looked to make pitching coach Joseph Messina seem a seer.
“Yeah, he’d said that the bigger the game, the more I come through,” the resident of the 1600 block of Pollock Street said of the coach’s speech at the previous evening’s sports banquet. “I’d been struggling lately, so I wanted to battle.”
The composed figure ripped a single that, coupled with an error, cleared the bases and had the Saints’ faithful followers shouting and making it seem as if the Lions would indeed have the date with the dirt that Zolk desired. Jerla came in to record the save, but four walks, a single and a fielder’s choice knotted the score. Following a four-batter home seventh, the teams prepared for extra play, with Jerla vowing to suppress the opposition and the hitters each looking to be the overall hero.
The left-handed hurler permitted only one runner in the additional sessions and watched with anticipation as Simon came up with two on and one gone. Rifling a shot to the shortstop, he scampered to first as McKinley and sophomore outfielder Pat Doudican activated their legs. When McKinley scored, pandemonium ensued, though the result failed to stun Simon.
“We worked hard to have these kinds of opportunities,” the Lower Moyamensing dweller said. “We didn’t want to get bounced today. In fact, we never want to or think we’re going to lose.”
With the win, the Saints ensured Monday’s trip to Archbishop Wood, where they fell 6-1 and to halt hopes of a Catholic League three-peat. At press time, Neumann-Goretti was awaiting word on its City and State playoff games.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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