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Having tossed a no-hitter May 16, senior left-hander Joey Gorman took the mound Tuesday at McNichol Field, 26th and Moore streets, to try to blank a second-straight foe. Though Archbishop Wood jumped on him for two first-inning runs, the Blue Division MVP and St. Joseph’s University signee befuddled his foes over the final six frames, as Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St., won the quarterfinal clash, 8-4.
“As games and seasons go on, guys have to adjust and learn to pitch instead of throw,” the Third-and-Ritner-streets resident said of his final campaign and career, which includes last year’s Catholic League and PIAA District 12 AAA titles.
One of six seniors whom first-year head and Blue Division Coach of the Year Mike “Big Zoom” Zolk penciled in, Gorman noted everyone accepts the squad’s leader-by-committee mentality, a philosophy that has produced a 16-4 record ahead of tomorrow’s 3:45 p.m. semifinal against Monsignor Bonner at Widener University.
He and his mates flashed their intensity in the bottom of the first, needing only three batters to tie the score, with sophomore first baseman Josh Ockimey’s two-run triple plating Gorman and fellow senior Marty Venafro, a second-team All-Catholic shortstop and four-year starter. Once Gorman struck out the side in the second and the hosts posted two runs in their half, any anxiety disappeared and the Saints decided to heed Zolk’s call to “grip and rip.”
The ace allowed two-straight singles to start the third, but a double play prevented further damage. Another 1-2-3 session in the fourth amped him up, and his allies tallied three more scratches to give him all he would need to cement further his reputation as a reliable hurler. Another score in the fifth likely had the visitors lamenting their departure from the ascendency, but a pair of sixth-inning runs put them back into contention. Zolk had junior twirler Joe Kinee loosen but gave Gorman the ball for the seventh. He sandwiched his eighth strikeout between an error and a single. Venafro, a Chestnut Hill signee, dashed comeback hopes by teaming with junior second baseman Joey Glennon and Ockimey for a game-ending twin killing.
“We all try to lead by example,” Venafro, of 19th and Jackson streets, said.
With his first-inning single, he achieved his 100th career hit, adding another in the second.
“All these guys commit to the team,” Zolk, whose son, 2010 Neumann-Goretti alumnus Mike “Zoom” Zolk, is bashing balls for the University of North Carolina, said. “I began the year with self-inflicted pressure, but that’s gone now. These kids are great leaders.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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