La Salle walks off in 13th inning to edge Father Judge in PCL semifinals

PHILADELPHIA >> Gavin Moretski and Charlie Yanoshik had the same thought as they watched the ball chop off the infield grass.

Just run, and run as hard as possible.

Yanoshik’s walk-off infield chopper scored Moretski from third, winning an instant classic PCL semifinal for top-seeded La Salle against No. 4 Father Judge at FDR Park on Wednesday. To get there, La Salle needed a seventh-inning rally, eight shutout innings in relief by Moretski, a couple defensive gems by David Kratz and of course, a winning hit that didn’t even go 90 feet.

All that added up to a 3-2 win in 13 innings as La Salle advances to Saturday’s PCL title game against third-seeded Cardinal O’Hara.

“I just had to leg it out,” Yanoshik said. “For me all year, sometimes when I didn’t get good contact on it, I’d beat out left-side infield singles. That’s not the first time that’s happened this year. I went six at-bats today, had five hard-hit balls and the one I didn’t hit hard ends up winning the game.

“That’s just how the game works.”

Moretski, the PCL’s MVP, figured he was going to pitch at some point. Aside from a ticket to a second straight title game, the Explorers could give themselves a leg up on the District 12 6A title game, so there was a lot on the line.

Starter Colin McVeigh was very solid for La Salle, pitching four innings and deftly limiting the damage to just two runs in the top of the third. He and later Moretski, would also get a ton of help from their defense throughout the game.

No player was more impactful on the defensive side than Kratz, the Explorers’ senior center fielder who saved three runs with his glove and arm. In the top of the fourth, with Judge looking to tack on an insurance run, Kratz threw out a runner at the plate from center.

“Before the pitch, I kind of knew what was at stake and figured they’d be sending him to get that third run,” Kratz said. “That would have put a dagger in us, I didn’t really see our cutoff guy so I kind of let it go. It was a good throw and Justin (Igoe) made a great tag.”

Moretski was tremendous on the mound, allowing six hits and striking out nine while fighting his way to eight innings in relief. The right-hander felt his slider was the difference maker on the mound and he just pounded away at the zone against all of the Crusaders who came up against him.

“I knew I was going to pitch today, but not eight innings or 100 pitches or anything like that,” Moretski said. “It’s the playoffs, you have to expect the unexpected. That was the outcome and if that’s what it takes to get to the championship, I’d rather do it like that than in a beatdown.”

The only time Moretski got into real trouble was the top half of the 10^th inning. Matt Konen led off with a single and eventually got to third on a base hit by shortstop Shawn LeVan, who thwarted more than one La Salle rally with his glove.

With men at second and third and two outs, Judge’s Nieko Canti lofted a fly ball into what looked like clean acreage in shallow center. It looked clean until Kratz charged in, dove and made a glove catch to end the frame and save what would have been at least one and likely two runs.

As a junior, Kratz didn’t see a lot of time in the outfield but he trusts himself and his teammates and knew he’d make the most of his senior season.

“I saw it off the bat, it was a lazy blooper but I knew I was going to have to get a good jump to get it,” Kratz said. “I got a good jump and just made it happen.

“It means the world, learning from the guys who here last year, paying my dues and seeing what it means to compete for a championship, I knew we could get there this year and here we are.”

Kratz also recorded the win on the mound, pitching a 1-2-3 top half of the 13^th inning by following Moretski’s lead and attacking the zone.

Still, the Explorers were down 2-0 heading into the last of the seventh and hadn’t done much against Judge starter Lenny Gipson. Gipson forced a lot of quick at-bats by getting La Salle to swing early and either hit a fly ball or strike one right at a fielder.

In the seventh, Igoe worked a one-out walk then Daniel Choate and Kratz singled to load the bases. Yanoshik hit a sac fly to right, scoring the first run. Everything came down to Explorers second baseman Jake Whitlinger, the No. 9 hitter, and he delivered with the game-tying single to force extras.

“This team is a family and when you have this many seniors you care about so much, you don’t want to end it,” Yanoshik said. “You want to keep going, you want to keep playing. We went into the bottom of the seventh and said ‘this is going to be the last inning we play together.’ We weren’t going to give up until we won this game.”

The final half-inning began with a first-pitch single by Moretski, his first hit of the day. Moretski said he kept his usual first-pitch approach and the ball was in his spot.

“The leadoff hit helped a lot and the momentum kept building,” Moretski said. “We were trying to find that in the earlier innings and never could. We got it that inning and capitalized on it.”

Igoe flew out, then Choate reached on an infield hit to put two on. Kratz hit into a fielder’s choice but Judge could only get one out on the ground ball, sticking runners at the corners for Yanoshik.

“I told myself to just go home as hard as I can and hit the base,” Moretski said. “I know he was running as fast as he could down the first base line and I knew I could score and he would run it out.”

“The momentum is going back and forth, back and forth and sometimes the game just rewards you,” Yanoshik said. “Once it came off my bat, it was head down and dart to first base. Once I saw the first baseman, you can tell if he’s looking for a throw or not, I knew ‘this is it.’”

O’Hara’s win over No. 2 Roman Catholic coupled with La Salle’s win did cement the Explorers into the District 12 title game next week, but right now their focus is squarely on Saturday afternoon.

“You want to go an win a title in high school,” Yanoshik said. “It’s something you can bring back, it’s part of the culture and more than just an individual thing. If we win this, it’s something we can bring back to La Salle and hang on the wall, it’s a big deal.”

LA SALLE 3, FATHER JUDGE 2 (13)
FATHER JUDGE 002 000 000 000 0 – 2 10 0
LA SALLE 000 000 200 000 1 – 3 10 0
2B: L – Owen Lawn; FJ – Lenny Gipson, Andrew Burgher, Matt Konen.
Multiple hits: L – Daniel Choate 2-5, David Kratz 2-5, Jake Whitlinger 2-4; FJ – Andrew Burgher 3-5, Matt Konen 2-5.