Catholic League baseball: Fisher’s flashback moment helps Bonner-Prendie win title

PHILADELPHIA  — The pitch was crushed and Bonner-Prendergast center fielder Irv Fisher had to get on his horse, hoping more than anything the ball stayed in the yard so he’d have a chance. The Philadelphia Catholic League championship was on the line.

Somewhere in Fisher’s memory bank was the catch he made as a member of the historic Ridley Area Little League 9-10 squad that went 18-0 and won the District 19, Section 8, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic and East Regional titles back in 2016. That team, much like the 2022 Friars, was stacked.

Friars sophomore Fisher ran to his spot in front of the fence at University of Penn’s Meiklejohn Stadium, leaped high and caught the ball for the final out Saturday, saving what would’ve been an extra-base hit to tie the game. Instead, Fisher embraced fielder Austin Cannon and the celebration was on.

With a 4-2 victory, Bonner-Prendergast captured its first Catholic League title in 12 years. The Friars are only the fifth baseball team to go undefeated in league play.

“I made that same play when I was younger. I’m having flashbacks to it now,” Fisher said. “It was when I was 9, I made a play just like that one in the Regional championship.”

Cannon, who made a spectacular diving catch earlier in the game, had the utmost confidence in Fisher.

“I knew he would catch it. We’ve been friends for years and I’ve seen him make that catch before,” Cannon said. “It was a great catch. Winning this means everything to us.”

Coach Steve DeBarberie was emotional talking to his guys after the win. The 2006 Bonner grad had coached as an assistant under his dad, Joe, for several years before taking the helm in 2017.

Bonner-Prendergast (22-1 overall) plays for the District 12 Class 4A championship next week before moving on to the PIAA Class 4A tournament.

“I was feeling the pressure because of the expectations this year,” DeBarberie said. “I was nervous, but these kids came out every single game and they just played up to their capabilities, and we just rode it all year long and hopefully we can keep it going in the state tournament.”

Regarding Fisher’s game-ending catch, DeBarberie said, “I don’t think there’s another center fielder in Delaware County that makes that catch.”

Wood’s anemic bats came to life in the seventh against Michael Anderson, who relieved starter Kevin Henrich. Patrick McKinney and Michael Trommer slammed back-to-back one-out doubles, but poor baserunning by McKinney cost the Vikings their third run. Shortstop Kevin McGonigle’s perfect relay throw to catcher Joey DeMucci was the first game-saving play by the Friars defense.

“He was probably 160 feet away and he just threw a bullet to the plate,” DeBarberie said.

McGonigle, the Catholic League’s Defensive MVP, belted a solo home run in the fifth inning to give B-P a 4-1 advantage.

“I did not know it was gone off the bat, but I thought there was a good chance,” he said. “It felt great.”

Bonner scored two runs on one hit off Trommer in the bottom of the first. A pair of errors on the catcher McKinney certainly helped matters. Jaxon Kehoe trotted home from third after McKinney overthrew second base trying to nab DeMucci on a steal attempt, then Cannon smacked a single up the middle to make it 2-0.

Bonner went ahead 3-0 when McGonigle led off the third with a triple and scored on a grounder off the bat of Cannon, whose speed caused shortstop Aiden Myers to throw wildly to first.

Henrich was cruising on the mound until he had two outs in the fifth. A walk and a pair of hit batsmen forced DeBarberie to bring in Anderson from first base. Henrich allowed only one run on a hit and struck out five.

“(Henrich) pitched in our last three games, and we kept him around 50-55 pitches in those other games,” DeBarberie said. “He wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked to be, but when he got into tough situations he really dug deep and got some big outs.”

Trommer went the distance for the Vikings. The hard-throwing senior struck out 10 and allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits.

“Last year we had a great team on paper, came out thinking we were the best team in the PCL, which was not the case. We didn’t always play as a team,” McGonigle said. “This year we learned from last year. Everyone has stepped up and we are having a great year, but business is not done yet. We have a state championship to win.”