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La Salle, Goretti Ready To Meet In PCL Title Game
By BRENDAN F. QUINN, The Bulletin
By late April, Mike Antoni and Shawn O'Neill had seen enough. Their La Salle baseball team had just dropped back-to-back games to St. Joseph’s Prep. A season that began swathed with hope was being washed away.
“We weren’t going anywhere,” remembered coach Joe Parisi. “We were an average team at 4-4.”
That’s when Antoni and O’Neill stepped to the plate. The two seniors were not about to sit back and watch their final season as Explorers spiral into oblivion.
“They came to me and asked if they could have a players-only meeting,” Parisi explained yesterday.
Without hesitating, the coach gave them the go-ahead. After asking if Antoni and O’Neill needed anything from him, they coolly responded, “Nope, we’ll handle it.”
To this day, Parisi has no idea what went down during that meeting. And frankly, who cares? It worked. Today, as long as Mother Nature cooperates, La Salle will face Neumann-Goretti at Widener University for the Catholic League championship.
Since the La Salle players held their private affair, the team has won eight of 10, including impressive playoff victories over Kennedy-Kenrick and Archbishop Wood.
“From that point on — and believe me, I don’t know what was discussed — but from that point on, the team has been much more relaxed, much more focused and they’ve had a better understanding of what’s expected from them,” Parisi said. “We’ve overcome a lot since early in the season. I think it says a lot about this team’s character.”
Now the goal is to overcome the smoking-hot Saints of Neumann-Goretti. Powered by junior standout Mark Donato, the PCL Blue Division runners-up have won 14 of their last 15 and eight straight. Their path to the title game was paved over North Catholic and the Prep, which just happened to be the league’s two-time defending champion.
For today’s title tilt, both La Salle and Neumann-Goretti are sending aces to the mound.
Donato, a second-team All-Blue Division selection as a pitcher, will deal for the Saints. Though the junior left-hander is better known for being one of the best hitters in the area, he is also a top-notch pitcher. A year ago, the Roman Catholic transfer became the first sophomore to ever win league MVP honors.
“Donato is in a league of his own,” said Parisi, who is countering by sending O’Neill to the hill. The 6-foot-1 left-hander is a two-time first-team All-Red Division selection.
“I like our chances with Shawn on the mound, but I’m sure Neumann feels the same with Donato out there,” Parisi said.
Two years removed from a 3-18 season in 2007, Neumann-Goretti is making its first appearance in the title game since 1993. The school’s last championship was in 1960, back when St. John Neumann and St. Maria Goretti were still separate entities.
As for La Salle, the Explorers are going for their first PCL crown since 2005. Today will afford the team’s seniors with an opportunity to leave the program the way they found it — as champions.
“The only thing they’re interested in right now is winning that Catholic League plaque,” noted Parisi.
While Neumann-Goretti and La Salle didn’t meet during the regular season, they did run into each other during last season’s playoffs. Donato, coming off his MVP selection, outdueled O’Neill in a 1-0 thriller that marked the Saints’ first playoff victory in a decade. Both pitchers allowed only three hits apiece and then-sophomore Mike Riverso won the game with an RBI single in the seventh inning.
“I think that’s the kind of game it’s going to be,” Parisi said. “There’s going to be two great high school pitchers going at it again. It’ll be close and tight.”
With today’s forecast calling for periods of rain, the game will be rescheduled for tomorrow if necessary. The location would remain the same.
And if the game is postponed … well, that’s just another obstacle for those La Salle seniors to overcome. Maybe they could use the extra time to schedule a meeting.
It seemed to work the last time.
Brendan F. Quinn can be reached at bquinn@thebulletin.us
“We weren’t going anywhere,” remembered coach Joe Parisi. “We were an average team at 4-4.”
That’s when Antoni and O’Neill stepped to the plate. The two seniors were not about to sit back and watch their final season as Explorers spiral into oblivion.
“They came to me and asked if they could have a players-only meeting,” Parisi explained yesterday.
Without hesitating, the coach gave them the go-ahead. After asking if Antoni and O’Neill needed anything from him, they coolly responded, “Nope, we’ll handle it.”
To this day, Parisi has no idea what went down during that meeting. And frankly, who cares? It worked. Today, as long as Mother Nature cooperates, La Salle will face Neumann-Goretti at Widener University for the Catholic League championship.
Since the La Salle players held their private affair, the team has won eight of 10, including impressive playoff victories over Kennedy-Kenrick and Archbishop Wood.
“From that point on — and believe me, I don’t know what was discussed — but from that point on, the team has been much more relaxed, much more focused and they’ve had a better understanding of what’s expected from them,” Parisi said. “We’ve overcome a lot since early in the season. I think it says a lot about this team’s character.”
Now the goal is to overcome the smoking-hot Saints of Neumann-Goretti. Powered by junior standout Mark Donato, the PCL Blue Division runners-up have won 14 of their last 15 and eight straight. Their path to the title game was paved over North Catholic and the Prep, which just happened to be the league’s two-time defending champion.
For today’s title tilt, both La Salle and Neumann-Goretti are sending aces to the mound.
Donato, a second-team All-Blue Division selection as a pitcher, will deal for the Saints. Though the junior left-hander is better known for being one of the best hitters in the area, he is also a top-notch pitcher. A year ago, the Roman Catholic transfer became the first sophomore to ever win league MVP honors.
“Donato is in a league of his own,” said Parisi, who is countering by sending O’Neill to the hill. The 6-foot-1 left-hander is a two-time first-team All-Red Division selection.
“I like our chances with Shawn on the mound, but I’m sure Neumann feels the same with Donato out there,” Parisi said.
Two years removed from a 3-18 season in 2007, Neumann-Goretti is making its first appearance in the title game since 1993. The school’s last championship was in 1960, back when St. John Neumann and St. Maria Goretti were still separate entities.
As for La Salle, the Explorers are going for their first PCL crown since 2005. Today will afford the team’s seniors with an opportunity to leave the program the way they found it — as champions.
“The only thing they’re interested in right now is winning that Catholic League plaque,” noted Parisi.
While Neumann-Goretti and La Salle didn’t meet during the regular season, they did run into each other during last season’s playoffs. Donato, coming off his MVP selection, outdueled O’Neill in a 1-0 thriller that marked the Saints’ first playoff victory in a decade. Both pitchers allowed only three hits apiece and then-sophomore Mike Riverso won the game with an RBI single in the seventh inning.
“I think that’s the kind of game it’s going to be,” Parisi said. “There’s going to be two great high school pitchers going at it again. It’ll be close and tight.”
With today’s forecast calling for periods of rain, the game will be rescheduled for tomorrow if necessary. The location would remain the same.
And if the game is postponed … well, that’s just another obstacle for those La Salle seniors to overcome. Maybe they could use the extra time to schedule a meeting.
It seemed to work the last time.
Brendan F. Quinn can be reached at bquinn@thebulletin.us
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