The Pats collected their first Philadelphia Catholic League W as they beat Roman Catholic 6-3 on April 10.
The Pats were off to a hot start in the top of the first as the top of the lineup did its job. Junior Drew Mulligan, senior James Wright and senior Stephen Thomson collected hits in the first inning, and the Pats were quickly up 3-0 going into the bottom of the first.
Junior Liam Wray was on the bump for the Pats, and he was dealing. In the first inning, Wray peppered the zone and only let up one run going into the top of the second.
The tops and bottoms of the second and third innings were controlled by both pitchers. Offensively, neither team could get something going. The Pats were still up two going into the bottom of the fourth.
The bottom of the fourth wasn’t a pretty one for the Pats. Wray was still dealing strikes for the Pats, but a couple runners got on base because of hits and errors. With a runner on second, the Roman Catholic batter hit a line drive into center field and the ball went under the center fielder’s glove. Roman scored two runs off that error, and the game was tied at 3-3.
The next three innings had great pitching performances from both sides. Just when each team thought they had something going by racking up a hit or two, the pitcher would get out of it. Senior Anthony Auteri came out of the bullpen for the Pats in the top of the seventh inning and quickly got three outs.
The score was still 3-3 after the bottom of the seventh, so the game went into extra innings.
The top of the eighth inning was something special for the Pats. Mulligan started it off for the Pats with a leadoff double, and Wright brought him in with a single up the middle. The score was now 4-3 with no outs. Senior Dylan Gallagher got walked, so the team had men on first and second with slugger Thomson up to bat. Thomson hit a single to right field that scored Wright, and, because of overthrows by Roman Catholic, Gallagher scored as well. The score was now 6-3 going into the bottom of the eighth.
Auteri did what he has done all year for the Pats, and finished the game out. The Pats took the W, and now move to 1-1 in PCL play.
“Expectation should be days like today moving forward,” Coach Jonathan Grosse said.
Teamwork made the difference, according to Wright.
“We battled hard today, and played as a team from the first pitch to the last,” he said.
Battle though it may have been, it also entertained, according to Thomson.
“I’m having so much fun,” he said. “We all want to have fun playing this game, and there is no better fun than winning.”
