The Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs became officially out of reach for Archbishop Carroll’s varsity baseball team following Monday’s loss to Devon Prep, 4-2, at home.
Sophomore Liam Wray was on the bump for Carroll and gave the Pats a chance to win from the start. In the top of the first inning, Wray went one, two, three.
The bottom of the first looked promising for the Pats, as the Devon Prep pitcher hit three batters in a row. With senior Gavin Wray up to bat, he hit a sacrifice fly to center field and the Pats were up by one. With two outs and men on first and third, the Devon pitcher picked off the man at first and the inning was over. Going into the top of the second, the Pats were up 1-0.
In the top of the second, with some lucky breaks and balls getting hit to no man’s land, Devon put men on base. With a blooper to left, Devon scored two runs and was leading with a score of 2-1.
The tops and bottoms of the third, fourth, and fifth innings were controlled by both pitchers. Devon’s pitcher only allowed one hit in those innings and Wray also only allowed one hit. The score was still 2-1, Devon Prep, going into the sixth inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Pats got into a little bit of trouble as Wray walked two batters in a row. Wray’s day was done and senior Anthony Auteri’s day began. With men on first and third, Devon hit a single to left field and brought in a run. With stolen bases and a sac fly, Devon added one more run before the inning ended. Going into the bottom of the sixth, the Pats were down 4-1.
With senior Dylan Gallagher leading off with a single, the Pats were getting something going. After two disappointing outs by Carroll, senior Stephen Thomson was up to bat. Gallagher had stolen second and was in a great scoring position. With a single to right field by Thomson, Gallagher scored from second and the Pats cut the lead to 4-2.
In the top of the second, Auteri dealt and went one, two, three. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the guys realized that this could be it for the playoff run.
“Going into that seventh inning, reality was starting to sink in,” Thomson said. “Our playoff hopes could be over.”
With two strikeouts and a pop out, the Pats lost the game and the playoffs were officially out of reach.
The season is now coming to an end, and now all the boys can focus on is enjoying these last couple days with the team.
“In reality, guys, we have eight days left together as a team,” Coach Jonathan Grosse said. “We can still ruin some other teams’ records and mess up their seasons, but, in reality, there are only eight more days left together.”
For some of the underclassmen, it started to sink in that there are only a couple games and practices left with playing with the seniors.
“It definitely gets me emotional,” Junior Mark Fohner said. “To think that in a week I’ll never play with these seniors again definitely makes me appreciate them and all they’ve done for our team.”