Bonner & Prendergast shakes off rust to win district crown

It wasn’t a complete surprise that it took Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast a little while to get its offense in gear against Nueva Esperanza in the District 12 Class 4A championship game Friday afternoon at George Washington High School.

The Friars were playing for the first time since falling to St. Joseph’s Prep in the Catholic League playoffs on May 20.

“We were definitely rusty,” Friars coach Steve DeBarberie said.

Once the Friars got going, though, they were too much for the Toros.

Bonner & Prendergast scored 11 times in the top of the seventh inning to roll to a 13-0 triumph over Esperanza to win its second straight district title and fifth in program history. The Friars’ reward is a date with District 11 champ Northwestern Lehigh (17-7) in the opening round of the PIAA tournament Monday afternoon (3:30) back at George Washington.

“They’re good,” DeBarberie said of Northwestern Lehigh. “Hopefully, we can make a little run in the state playoffs.”

The Friars (14-8) scored single runs in the first and second innings before breaking the game open in the seventh. Matt Shepherd was instrumental in all three innings. He drove in the first two runs and provided the big play in the final inning. Shepherd drove in Nate Furman in the first inning and walked with the bases loaded in the second to give MBAP a 2-0 lead. He capped his day with a three-run double in the seventh to finish 2-for-4 with five RBIs.

Shepherd wasn’t the only player to have a good day at the plate for the Friars. Furman had one hit, four walks and four runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Matt Headley was 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Kyle Lazer added one hit and two RBIs.

Mike Standen, Brian Dunphy, Steve DiBattista and Matt Maselli combined on a six-hit shutout, with Dunphy getting the win. Standen went the longest. He allowed three hits and fanned three in three innings.

“Their first couple of pitchers didn’t throw hard and we popped up and grounded out a lot,” DeBarberie said. “In the seventh inning they put their shortstop (Miguel Figueroa) in and he threw pretty hard and we were able to get some good swings. Hopefully that last inning carries over into Monday.”