Lancellotti’s 3-run home run helps Archbishop Wood beat Bonner-Prendergast in PCL quarters

WARMINSTER — In the bottom half of the fifth inning of Saturday afternoon’s Philadelphia Catholic League quarterfinal matchup, PCL player of the year, Archbishop Wood’s Joey Lancellotti, stepped into the batter’s box with the game tied and two runners on.

Down no balls and two strikes in the count, the Vikings’ junior pitcher battled Bonner-Prendregast senior right-hander Dan Goggin for 10 pitches before he picked out one he liked.

With the count now at 3-2, Lancellotti read the curveball out of Goggin’s hand and blasted it over the left-field fence to put his team up three runs.

“The whole time I was thinking just make contact, make contact’ said Lancellotti of the plate battle. “I think that’s why I kept fouling them off because I was just trying to put the ball in play.

“That’s mainly what I’ve been seeing all year, so I was able to read the spin on it and sit back and drive it,’

Lancellotti’s big blast helped lead his team to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Friars, who had taken down Lansdale Catholic 3-1 in the first round earlier in the day.

With the win, Archbishop Wood advances to the PCL semifinals against La Salle — a 4-2 winner over Roman Catholic — Wednesday.

“That’s what you expect with playoff baseball,’ said Vikings coach Jim DiGuiseppe of the hard-fought contest. “When there’s two very, very good teams going at it, that’s what you expect.’Lancellotti and Goggin matched up for a pitchers’ duel through the first four innings. Heading into the fifth, each pitcher had allowed only one earned run.

Archbishop Wood’s designated hitter. junior Matt Schwartz, started off the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the second.

Bonner-Prendie countered in the top of the third as senior third baseman Nick Lazer tripled down the left-field line and Goggin followed with an RBI single to tie up the ball game 1-1.

That’s where the score stood heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. After Goggin retired the first two batters, the Vikings’ lead-off hitter Tom Rosenbach — who was three for four on the day — singled to keep the inning alive.

Goggin walked the next batter which set the stage for Lancellotti’s big hit.

The home run almost never happened. The Friars’ faced some bad luck when junior catcher Steve Furman had a pop-up behind the plate go in and out of his glove that would have ended the inning.

After allowing the three-run shot, Goggin allowed gave up another hit and let another runner reach on an error. In his 4 2/3 innings of work, the righty allowed five runs — one earned — on six hits while striking out three.

“His changeup was down all day (as well as) his fastball,’ Bonner-Prendergast coach Joe DeBarberie said. “But his curveball was up. The one pitch he left up, Lancellotti does what good players do. He hit a bomb.’

Lancellotti appeared to be cruising on the mound heading into the last inning. He had a 5-1 lead to work with and had allowed only four hits through six.

The Friars’ bats finally broke through however. Bonner-Prendie used two hits, two errors and a walk to snatch three runs and chase Lancellotti out of the game.

“I knew that if we could just get something going that something would happen,’ DeBarberie said. “We would force the issue. That’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to make them get a little bit nervous at the end and boy we made them get a little nervous at the end.

With two outs and a runner on first, DiGuiseppe called on senior righty Justin Rubin out of the pen to shut the door. Rubin allowed a single and hit a batter to put the tying run at third before striking out the next hitter for the one out save.

“It goes to show you the courage he has out there,’ DiGuiseppe said of Rubin’s ability to get his team out of a jam. “I’m really proud of him.’