Another season of Archbishop Carroll baseball came to an end on Wednesday afternoon just up the Main Line as the Patriots fell to Devon Prep, 7-2.
Carroll closed the season with a record of 9-10. The club finished the year 4-8 in the Philadelphia Catholic League, which placed them 11th in the league standings, missing the playoffs by just a game.
The game in question happened to be Wednesday’s contest.
Coming into the game, the Patriots held the 10th and final spot in the PCL playoffs with a 4-7 record while Devon came in as the 11th seed with a 3-7 record.
A win would have secured Carroll their first playoff berth since 2022 when the Patriots fell to Cardinal O’Hara as the 10th seed in a first round matchup. A loss landed them where they are now.
“It’s sad for the seniors,” said manager Pat Dunn. “We didn’t play our best ball today. I think down the stretch we got a little tired. Pitchers threw a lot of innings, and our depth kind of showed. These guys know they need to put the work in, in the offseason, and next year we’ll get right back to our goal of (the) playoffs.”
The season ended suitably for a team that showed massive improvements from its output in 2024. The Patriots picked up four Catholic League wins and nine in total, a far cry from the one and two they put up last year respectively.
While the team may not have been the biggest, best, or most talented, it was a team that fought. As cliche as it sounds, it’s the truth. The fact that this team cared was never in question, from the first pitch of opening day until today, when the club went down swinging (literally) yet again.
“Ultimately, we (faced) a lot of adversity, and adversity made this team stronger,” said Dunn. “The leadership of Jalyn (Tidwell) and Drew (Mulligan), two seniors, carried this team. Jalyn is probably the face of Archbishop Carroll. I know I’m going to miss him; the school will miss him, too.”
Tidwell and Mulligan turned out to be some of the biggest cogs in the lineup and leaders in the locker room for the Pats at the end of the day.
Tidwell finished the season batting .237 with a .795 OPS, all while holding down shortstop with one of the most powerful arms in the Catholic League. Tidwell, who finishes his Carroll career with a multitude of accolades and varsity experience, will head south to Division II Erskine College in South Carolina to play his college ball, the only Patriots senior to do so.
Mulligan came out of nowhere in 2025 to become one of the Patriots most reliable hitters. Even with varsity experience in center field, Mulligan hadn’t given Carroll the production he had this year in the past. The Pats CF batted over .300 for a majority of the year, finishing at .250 with an .860 OPS and giving Carroll a dangerous weapon on the basepaths.
As far as the graduating class goes, guys like ace Matt McGaughey and second basemen Dylan Burns will be missed greatly. McGaughey, who jumped into the No. 1 spot in the rotation just before the season, filled in admirably and dealt in some huge games, while Burns provided a steady presence in the middle of the infield.
Another name that will surely be missed in the dugout is that of starting pitcher Mark Fohner. Another guy tasked with filling a Bennett Bishop sized hole at the beginning of the season, Fohner stepped in and gave Carroll a few huge wins over Archbishop Ryan and Conwell-Egan.
Jack Benner and Kebede Miles round out the senior class for the Pats, two guys that undoubtedly contributed to the dugout culture throughout the year.
“I don’t want this team to ever stop fighting,” said Dunn. “We got behind 6-0, were able to put two runs on the board. In the future we’ll be able to get a big hit. This year we struggled a bit getting the big hit.”
As they’ve done all season, in spite of falling into a 6-0 hole, the Patriots were able to fight back in the contest. This came after runs came across for the Tide in the first fourth and fifth innings to make the score 6-0 Devon.
In the top of the sixth, the Pats loaded the bases up to begin the inning, as Nick Gilroy walked home a run to make it 6-1. A McGaughey fielder’s choice made it 6-2 as Carroll brought home their final run of the season.
Devon struck again in the bottom of the sixth, adding on another run off a sac-fly and that would end up being all she wrote.
“It was a great ride,” said Dunn. “From winning streaks to losing streaks, you can see the emotion (these guys) have. This was a special group.”
