Sprague’s gem helps Cardinal O’Hara blank Marple Newtown
NEWTOWN TWP. — Third baseman Joey Sperone’s basket catch in foul territory was the pretty bow on Cardinal O’Hara’s nonleague win Saturday.
There was one out in the sixth inning and senior Luke Sprague had thrown his 42nd pitch — yeah, that’s starter Luke Sprague.
Six pitches later, Sprague completed a two-hit shutout of Marple Newtown, the reigning PIAA Class 5A champions, in an 11-0 win for O’Hara. The Tigers had won 12 straight games prior to Saturday.
To be fair, MN didn’t throw any of its best pitchers (Alden Mathes, Andrew Cantwell, Shane Benedict) to counter Sprague’s excellence.
It also appears as though Tigers will be taking extra batting practice before next week’s pivotal Central League games. Marple Newtown enters the final week of the regular season in a first-place tie with Garnet Valley. The O’Hara game was essentially an exhibition for since District 1 doesn’t factor nonleague games into its playoff ranking system.
Neverthless, Saturday was a perfect opportunity for O’Hara to get Sprague some innings on the bump. He hasn’t thrown much this season, but you wouldn’t know it by watching him breeze through the Marple Newtown lineup.
Sprague’s athletic future is in football. In February, the big guy signed with Division I Long Island University, following two seasons as the Lions’ starting quarterback.
“My college coaches want me to play baseball, enjoy high school as much as I can. They’re good guys up there,” said Sprague, who struck out five and walked none. At the plate, he was 1-for-2 with a two-run single, a sacrifice fly and a walk. “This is only my second time throwing this year, and it was a pretty good outing. It was a good win, especially coming off a loss to Bonner, which hurt us a lot. It was nice to come back and win today.”
In a 3-1 defeat to Bonner & Prendergast, the Lions struggled to string together quality at-bats and were overly aggressive at the plate. Facing MN starter Mike Payas, the Lions struck for two runs in the first inning. All-Delco catcher Dan Hopkins laced an opposite-field RBI triple, and Sperone delivered a run-scoring double.
“Going into the last game of the regular season, Archbishop Wood, they’re a very talented team so it was very big for us to get the bats going today,” said Sperone, a power-hitting third baseman, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. “Just to get the bats going, it boosts our confidence. Everyone pitched in and did their job hitting the ball, and Luke did a great job pitching. It was really big for our confidence.”
O’Hara scored nine runs and batted around twice in its final two innings at-bat. Sprague, Sperone, Jim White and Brendan McGroary all delivered RBI knocks.
The Lions were aided by five Marple Newtown errors on the afternoon, too.
While Sprague has limited innings under his belt, he can be a weapon for the Lions down the stretch.
“I just want to throw as well as I can,” he said. “I have fastball, curveball, change. I felt pretty good today.”
The Lions have a deep and talented roster that should produce runs against elite pitching. White is a line-drive hitter and a stellar glove at shortstop. Cole Sprague, Luke’s brother, is a left-handed contact bat with speed. Hopkins provides plenty of pop and is an stud behind the plate. Joe Kelly is the Lions’ tallest, most powerful player of all.
The victory improved O’Hara’s overall record to 12-6. Archbishop Wood is on deck Monday in the regular season finale.
“We have a very talented team this year, one through nine,” Sperone said. “The Catholic League is a very talented league, but we feel we can play with anybody, we just can’t beat ourselves.”
