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Senior right-hander Joe Jaep confessed May 31 that its desire to fight for each game has made him proud to don a jersey for the baseball team at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High School, 1736 S. 10th St.
His East Passyunk Crossing site needed little spunk that day, thumping Center City-based Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter 13-0 at Richie Ashburn Field, 20th Street and Pattison Avenue. Its 19th win in 23 games gave his squad its third District 12 Class AAA championship in four years and completed a prosperous week that included May 29’s 5-4 Catholic League title triumph against La Salle College High School at Widener University.
Ligament damage to his throwing hand kept Jaep, of the 300 block of Jackson Street, from making many appearances this year. Had he been healthy, he would have joined with First-Team All-Catholic picks senior Joey Gorman and junior Joe Kinee to give first-year coach Mike “Big Zoom” Zolk an even more vaunted rotation, but Jaep sustained his bulldog mentality and went about his duties whenever entrusted with the ball. Following the Saints’ extra-inning parochial final victory, he learned he would be starting his second straight City title contest and felt excited to hurl his arsenal.
“Because of my injury, I tried to focus on pushing everybody,” the Whitman resident said of intensifying the collective concentration that has him and his teammates feeling as if their crew is a giant, jovial family.
A disciple of productive plate appearances, Zolk enjoyed the first inning, as two hits and two walks showed a commitment to applying early pressure. Though they scored only one run, the Saints let Jaep know their bats would be his constant companions. He retired his foes in order, putting them right back to the task of slowing his friends’ ambition.
“I want you to treat this like batting practice,” Zolk said of his desire to see line drives decorate the outfield.
No scores occurred in their second set of swings, and Jaep worked out of a tricky frame, which included two walks and a wild pitch, thanks to senior catcher Nicky Nardini’s picking off a runner on third base.
“1,2,3, hits” the senior-heavy Saints shouted before the third inning.
Two base knocks and two free passes padded the lead to 4-0, and Jaep, despite issuing two bases on balls and yielding a single, kept his adversaries agitated by striking out two swingers in the third session, with Nardini nailing a would-be base stealer, too. The fourth segment featured two more runs for the local lumberjacks, with three hits, including a much-praised triple by sophomore first baseman and Second-Team All-Catholic Josh Ockimey. Jaep again faced the minimum in the bottom half, and Zolk began to shuffle his lineup to make sure as many charges as possible would be able to partake in the rout.
The excited Neumann-Goretti supporters cheered boisterously as their heroes, who downed Franklin Towne Charter 6-1 to obtain last year’s City commendation, added their seventh and eighth runs in the fifth. Jaep, who noted his mindset throughout centered simply on throwing strikes, thwarted enemy sticks 1-2-3 for the third time and, as if needing any further floodgates to open, received five more supporting tallies in the sixth.
“We stand out because we want to grow every game,” he said.
Philadelphia Electrical, playing as the home team, finished its miserable hosting endeavor in the sixth, stranding a runner and needing to face that it committed more errors, three, than it produced hits, two. Emptying his bench, Zolk showed his team’s backers that graduation for key players should not alter the feeling that a solid foundation can yield success no matter the ages of his athletes.
“Two in a week, baby!” he said after receiving the championship plaque.
With the annihilation, Jaep and his fellow seniors claimed their sixth championship and cemented their status as District 12’s top seed in the PIAA state tournament. As freshmen, they advanced to the semifinals. Not qualifying as sophomores, they lost their undefeated mark last year, dropping their first-round affair.
“This year we had to come back stronger,” senior right fielder and Second-Team honoree Anthony Adams said.
The resident of Eighth Street and Oregon Avenue smacked two hits in the blowout, scoring twice and knocking in a run.
“I have loved being a leader this year with my boys,” Adams said. “Today we didn’t have much pressure, thank God. Now it is on to the states.”
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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