RADNOR, PA- Talk about the waiting game, right?
It took two days for this game to reach its conclusion after rain on Monday afternoon forced them to move the game to Tuesday afternoon, but Bonner picked it right back up, taking home the win.
Sergio Hernandez started the game off for Bonner with a single on the second pitch of the game. Hernandez then stole second to set up a run scoring opportunity for Ryan Friel, who singled to put the Friars up early, 1-0.
However, the Patriots were ready to respond. Jalyn Tidwell reached first on a dropped third strike to leadoff the game. This was followed by a single from Cole Tancredi and a walk from Drew Mulligan.
Nick Gilroy then grounded out to drive in Tidwell and tie the game at one a piece. Matt Mcgaughey then also grounded out while driving in a run to give Carroll the lead. Colin Moran followed this with a double to drive in Mulligan and give Carroll a nice 3-1 lead after one inning.
Joey Graziani walked to leadoff the resumption for Bonner, where Cory Sheridan laid down a bunt that Graziani was able to come around to score due to an error on Carroll’s side. Sheridan then advanced to third on a groundout, and was brought home on a sac fly from Michael Coleman, tying the game at 3-3.
Michael Klawansky then threw a huge shutdown inning to set up more scoring for the Friars.
Gavin DiRita doubled to lead off the inning, followed by a single from Jack Redding. Owen Lockhart then put Bonner on top with a single to drive in DiRita. But Bonner wasn’t done there, they drove in two more in the inning from a RBI groundout from Cole Romano and a RBI single from Graziani.
Klawansky then threw another big shutdown inning, setting down Carroll 1-2-3. It was 6-3 Bonner after three.
Coleman led off the top of the fourth with a single, and was then immediately driven in by a Ryan Friel three-bagger. With Friel still on third and one out, Lockhart grounded out to bring him home and tally his second run batted in of the day, while giving Bonner an 8-3 lead.
Klawansky went on to throw one and a third innings before being pulled with one out in the sixth. His final line was five and a third, three hits, zero earned runs, and six strikeouts as he took home the win.
Jack Redding took over and got a quick two outs to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Carroll had a little rally going. They managed to load the bases, and then Mulligan drew a walk to make it 8-4 with no outs. Redding was then pulled for Johnny Ortegae. Carroll tacked on one more on a fielders choice from Gilroy which brought home Tidwell, Gilroy’s second RBI of the game. Ortegae got the last two batters out with no sweat and ended Carroll’s rally to give Bonner a nice win after waiting a day to wrap up play.
Bonner is your regular season “Delco PCL” Champion as they took down both O’Hara and Carroll, but we’ll see what the playoffs have in store.
Archbishop Carroll falls to 4-7 in the Catholic League, but still remain at an even .500 overall, a massive improvement after a forgettable 2-17 finish last season. They will play in what is basically a playoff game on Wednesday vs Devon Prep where the winner makes the playoffs, the loser goes home.
The Friars finish 7-5 in PCL play, and are now 13-5 overall. They will play away at Chichester (11-3) on May 12 at 4:00. Bonner will finish with a winning record for the seventh straight season, excluding the 2020 season. They will likely be the #5 or #6 seed in the PCL Tournament.