Archbishop Carroll’s 2026 baseball campaign has come to an end with the team holding a 4-8 record in their second straight season under Head Coach Pat Dunn and missing the playoffs.
Prior to the season, the Patriots lost a massive part of their baseball family when Carroll junior John McCullough passed away. Known as John the Cool, he was a beloved teammate, a fierce competitor and a guy who could answer just about any question about baseball. John founded the Carroll Wiffle Ball Club and collaborated with his peers in organizing a trip to Citizens Bank Park just last year.
This season, the Patriots were playing for more than the wins, the stats, or the game; they were playing for their friend. During each game, the players embraced each other in prayer, sported bracelets honoring John the Cool, and hung out in the dugout by a specially-made John the Cool tee-shirt the team displayed.
Coming into the year, expectations were high. The arrival of former Haverford pitcher and Thomas Jefferson commit Jack Stadnicki and the return of Duke commit Bennett Bishop set the team up to have a stellar pitching staff.
Offensively, the team lost a few everyday pieces like Jalyn Tidwell, Dylan Burns, Matt McGaughey, Drew Mulligan, and Mark Fohner, but Coach Dunn had a plan. Colin Moran took over at first, Cole Tancredi got the nod at second base, Ryan McGaughey switched positions from catcher to shortstop and replaced Jayln Tidwell, and John Thomson took over in center field. Everything else stayed the same from the prior year.
Carroll started off the season down in the Sunshine state where the team dropped two games to Plum and Moon Area. When the team arrived back home, the Patriots got back those two games with victories over Germantown Friends and Central. Heading into the Philadelphia Catholic League season, they awaited the return of Bishop, who was recovering from Tommy John surgery, so Stadnicki took over the majority of the workload.
In the first Catholic League game of the season, the Patriots took on Father Judge. The Pats jumped out to a 4-0 lead but quickly gave it back when the Crusaders scored seven runs in the top of the fifth. The main problem in the team’s 7-6 loss in their first PCL game was defense. Carroll accumulated eight errors in Judges’ comeback victory, setting the tone for an unfortunate stretch of defensive issues for the Patriots in the coming weeks. Just two days later, in a non-conference game against Quakertown, Carroll fell 11-8 with the same amount of hits as errors: three.
Things started to pick back up for Carroll when the team won back-to-back PCL games over the Devon Prep Tide and Roman Catholic. The fielding looked sharp in those two games, but the pitching became a question for Carroll. The team was still without Bishop heading into its game against Cardinal O’Hara, which was the first game he was set to pitch in.
With the schedule only getting harder, a win over Cardinal O’Hara could have changed the trajectory of the season for the Patriots. The pitching and defense were solid in this game, but the offense could not get things going, and the Patriots collapsed, suffering a 5-2 loss to the rival Lions on home turf.
Following the loss to O’Hara, a losing streak began. Losses in that stretch came from La Salle, Upper Dublin, St. Joe’s Prep, The Haverford School, and Conwell-Egan. One game in particular during this stretch was a winnable contest that would’ve been a massive upset for the Pats. The Patriots blew a 3-0 lead to Conwell-Egan on the road and then lost to the Haverford School to extend the losing streak to six in a row.
Carroll picked up a win over Archbishop Ryan that featured two home runs to get the team back in the playoff race, but with multiple tough games coming up, the Patriots needed to be on their A game. In their next game against Archbishop Wood, the team got run ruled and prepared for their next contest, an important one against Bonner. With a win Carroll was almost guaranteed a playoff spot. Stadnicki was unable to pitch against the Friars because of a head injury he suffered just days prior, so the team sent out Bishop. Bishop pitched three strong innings, and Carroll had a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth. The Friars answered right back with six runs of their own to tie it up and they did not stop there, scoring fuve more in the bottom of the sixth to take down Carroll 13-7.
The team then had a week to prepare for the biggest game of the year, against the Neumann-Goretti Saints at home. With a win the Patriots would only need to beat one-win Lansdale Catholic to make the playoffs.
Stadnicki returned from concussion protocol and took the mound against the Saints. The Patriots struck first in the third inning on an error at third base that brought in the first run of the game. In the next inning the Saints threatened and with two outs a double tied the game up at one. The very next batter popped one up in the infield that was misplayed by McGaughey and ricocheted off of his forehead for a run, giving the Saints a 2-1 lead. Double plays ended the Patriots chances of victory and their playoff hopes. In the final game of the season, the Patriots picked up a 13-12 win over Lansdale Catholic.
The team’s final record is 6-13.
Now the Patriots look ahead to Season 3 under Dunn, with the team returning six starters from the 2025-2026 season. Carroll will be losing their starting pitchers, catcher and right, left, and center fielders.
