(picture of Malvern Prep’s Brady Abate via Shelby Kauffman/DBN)

MALVERN, PA — Malvern Prep put five runs on the board in the bottom of the first in this one and never really looked back.

The Friars, who are seeking their fourth straight PAISAA state title, are now 33-4 on the year and have not allowed more than three runs in a game since an April 14th 4-1 loss to Episcopal.

They have played 18 games since then.

After a scoreless top of the first from Collin Romanczuk, the Friars loaded the bases up with no one out after Jalen Bowman and Brady Abate walked, then Jackson Melconian reached on a bunt single.

Grady Forsberg was then hit by a pitch for the game’s first run. Cole Scarbinsky then followed that up with a single to make it 2-0. An error allowed a third run to score, and Luke Moore’s sac fly made it 4-0. Luke Capaldi’s base hit capped off the inning at 5-0.

From then on, the Friars scored one in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth to win this one in mercy rule fashion.

Cole Scarbinsky’s second RBI single made it 6-0 in the third, and Brady Abate sent out a titanic homer to start off the fourth inning.

Jalen Bowman’s two-run triple in the bottom of the fifth ended the game.

Not that it was necessarily needed, but Collin Romanczuk allowed just a base hit to Thomas Lawler as the only Haverford School baserunner of the day in his five innings.

Gabe Danisi allowed five earned runs over three innings to start the game for Haverford, and Jacob Horwitz allowed three in 1.1 innings of relief.

The Haverford School ends their season at 15-13 overall. It was a great positive step in the right direction for Head Coach Jack McCann’s second season after they were 9-17 last year. They will return both the Lawler brothers, Thomas and Zack, who were the 1-2 hitters in the order. They also return Owen Murphy to lead their rotation for the next two years.

For Malvern Prep, they will await the winner of Friday afternoon’s Germantown Academy vs Shipley game to see who they will play in the state title. That game will be played on Wednesday at 4:00 PM at Malvern.

The Friars beat Shipley 6-0 back on March 24th, and beat Germantown Academy 8-2 on April 7th and 5-1 on April 24th.