Despite loss, Catholic League team impresses

By John Knebels

In the days leading up to the 23rd annual Carpenter Cup baseball tournament, several players from the Catholic League thought that a championship was a strong possibility.

Well, maybe next year.

On a day in which decent pitching was overmatched by strong hitting, the Catholic League dropped a 10-7 decision to Burlington County, N.J., in the first round of an event that highlights each league’s best talent.

“We hit the ball, but so did they,” said Msgr. Bonner’s Joe DeBarberie, the Red Division coach of the year who was also the Catholic League head coach. “It was disappointing to lose, but a lot of players did a nice job.”

Indeed. Against formidable pitching, the Catholic League belted out 11 hits. The most impressive one — and definitely the major highlight of the day for the CL — came courtesy of first-team All-Catholic Brian O’Grady of Archbishop Wood.

In the bottom of the sixth, first-team All-Catholic Tim Edger of St. Joseph’s Prep, second-team All-Catholic Rob Benedict of Msgr. Bonner, and first-team All-Catholic Jon Schmidt of Archbishop Ryan loaded the bases. In an at bat that he later said he would never forget, O’Grady smashed a grand slam home run over the University of Pennsylvania fence.

“That was hard to describe,” said O’Grady.

DeBarberie, who in the spirit of what the tournament is intended, tried hard to give everyone as much playing time as possible, had no problem describing it.
“That was a huge hit,” he said. “It picked up the whole team. It was so great to see the kids have fun out there.”

Despite the loss, the following players in the Catholic League had reason to celebrate because they were all named All-Catholic in their respective divisions.

John Knebels may be reached at jknebs@aol.com.

Catholic League’s All-Catholic team

(Players are seniors unless noted.)

RED DIVISION: FIRST TEAM
1B: Aaron Haas, St. Joe’s Prep
INF: Tim Edger, St. Joe’s Prep; Brett Tiagwad, St. Joe’s Prep; Tom Coyle, Cardinal O’Hara.
OF: Nick Ferdinand, Archbishop Ryan; Mike Baselice, Cardinal O’Hara; Perry Russom, St. Joe’s Prep, jr.
C: Bill Pace, Cardinal O’Hara, jr.
P: Conor Kerins, Msgr. Bonner; Kyle Mullen, St. Joe’s Prep, jr.; Shawn O’Neill, La Salle, jr.
DH: Jon Schmidt, Archbishop Ryan, jr.

SECOND TEAM
1B: Lou Tomasetti, Msgr. Bonner.
INF: Tyler Freeman, La Salle, jr.; Ryan Etsell, North Catholic, so.; Rob Benedict, Msgr. Bonner
OF: Bob Callan, Msgr. Bonner; Dan Turner, St. Joe’s Prep, jr.; Tom Moore, Cardinal O’Hara.
C: Mike Zolk, North Catholic, fr.
P: Matt Day, La Salle; Aaron Haas, St. Joe’s Prep; Nick Ferdinand, Archbishop Ryan.
DH: Tom McGee, Roman Catholic.
Red Division Most Valuable Player: Conor Kerins, Msgr. Bonner.
Red Division Coach of the Year: Joe DeBarberie, Msgr. Bonner.

BLUE DIVISION: FIRST TEAM
1B: Mark Donato, Neumann-Goretti, so.
INF: Christian Walker, Kennedy-Kenrick, jr.; Brian O’Grady, Archbishop Wood, so.; Neil Gilman, Archbishop Carroll, jr.
OF: Evan Basile, Kennedy-Kenrick, jr.; Kyle McCrossen, Archbishop Wood, fr.; Dan Behlau, Neumann-Goretti.
C: Joey Armata, Neumann-Goretti, jr.
P: Mark Donato, Neumann-Goretti, so.; Andrew Sinon, Conwell-Egan; Sal Spera, Kennedy-Kenrick.
DH: Mike Riverso, Neumann-Goretti, so.

SECOND TEAM
1B: Rick Horn, Conwell-Egan.
INF: Aggie Osano, Neumann-Goretti; R.P. Boyle, Bishop McDevitt; Al Campbell, West Catholic, fr.
OF: Ben Keller, Conwell-Egan, jr.; Sal Spera, Kennedy-Kenrick; Nick Szalejko, Archbishop Carroll, jr.
C: Pat Sevick, Conwell-Egan, jr.
P: Brian O’Grady, Archbishop Wood, so.; Kevin Cahill, Conwell-Egan, jr.; Nick Piscitelli, Neumann-Goretti, jr.; Jim Heilman, Archbishop Wood, jr.
DH: Joe Nicholson, Archbishop Wood.
Blue Division Most Valuable Player: Mark Donato, Neumann-Goretti.
Blue Division Coach of the Year: Lou Spadaccini, Neumann-Goretti.