The Pats couldn’t get it done on Apr. 6 against Bethlehem Catholic. They lost, 4-2.
It was a cold and early one for the Pats, as the first pitch was at 10 a.m.. Senior Marco Petroccia was on the bump for the Pats, and looked to get a good start early. After striking out the first batter of the game, Petroccia battled through the first inning and gave up two earned runs going into the bottom of the first.
The bottom of the first was not the way the Pats wanted to start, as they went one, two, three. The top of the second was tough for Petroccia, as he just couldn’t seem to find his groove. He found himself with bases loaded with one out, and Coach Jonathan Grosse decided to put in senior Anthony Auteri to finish the inning. Bethlehem Catholic hit a single off Auteri and scored two more runs. Going into the bottom of the second, Bethlehem was up 4-0.
Nothing offensively happened in the bottom of the second, and the Pats went into the top of the third down by four runs. Auteri was dealing for the Pats as he went one, two, three against a strong Bethlehem lineup.
In the bottom of the third, the Pats started to show some life. With hits from senior Stephen Thomson and junior Jalyn Tidwell, the Pats quickly scored two runs to put them right back in the ball game. Going into the top of the fourth, the boys were only trailing by two runs.
The top and bottom of the fourth were great performances by the defense, as both pitchers got three outs with no runs scored.
The top of the fifth looked scary for the Pats as Bethlehem had men on second and third with two outs. Shortstop Tidwell took control of a A fly ball hit into no man’s land and made a great catch heading into the bottom of the fifth.
The bottom of the fifth was filled with opportunity for the Pats as they had the bases loaded with zero outs. With the Pats’ three, four and five hitters up, they were due for some runs. Unfortunately, the boys did not capitalize as two of the three hitters hit weak pop ups, and one batter struck out. Going into the top of the sixth, Bethlehem was still up by two.
The top and bottom of the sixth saw great performances from the pitchers on both sides as they each got three quick outs. In the top of the seventh, Bethlehem couldn’t get any insurance runs and left a small window for the Pats to make a comeback.
On the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning, Thomson smoked a double to left-center field. Thomson was three for three at the plate and gave the Pats a solid chance to win in this last inning. Junior Dylan Burns pinch ran for Thomson, and the Pats were looking good with some speed on the base path. Junior Drew Mulligan popped up to second base, and the Pats found themselves with two outs to work with. With senior James Wright at the plate, Burns decided to test the waters and attempted to steal third base. Unfortunately, it did not go in his favor and he was called out. With one out to work with, Wright popped up to second base and the game was over.
“We had opportunities to win today and just didn’t take advantage,” Thomson said.
“This was a good game for us,” junior Mark Fohner said. “This game was great preparation for our upcoming Philadelphia Catholic League games.”
“We don’t know when the most important part of the game is, so we have to stay locked in for two hours straight,” Grosse said.
The boys start league play against St. Joe’s Prep on Apr. 9 away.
