Archbishop Wood remains undefeated in PCL with impressive win over St. Joseph’s Prep

WARMINSTER >> Archbishop Wood put its undefeated Philadelphia Catholic League record on the line Wednesday afternoon against St. Joseph’s Prep. The Vikings were going to need one of their best performances to date to keep that record intact.

Wood delivered. The Vikings were excellent, as pitcher Sean Hughes did not allow a hit until the fifth inning to guide Wood to a 5-2 win.

“Its fun to play when your team is making plays. I think we had like four double plays,” the junior righty said. “When were hitting the ball and playing defense its fun to pitch then.”

While Hughes was terrific — five-plus innings pitched, two hits and no runs — the defense behind him was equally as stellar. Sam Reynolds and particularly the middle infield with short stop Matt Cummiskey and second baseman Joey Lancellotti backed their pitcher when he got into a couple of jams.

Wood turned four double plays in the game, one coming from an outfield assist as right fielder Logan Ryan threw out a drifting SJP base runner in the first inning.

“I just tried to keep the ball down and they rolled some ground balls and we made some double plays,” Hughes said. “Ski and Joe are a great combination and having Reynolds, who’s a freshman, he’s good at fielding ground balls and he’s got a nice arm.”

Offensively, Wood was facing no easy task as SJP sent hard-throwing Colin Scanlon to mound. The hits were sparring for the Vikings but great plate approaches and putting some hard hit balls into play helped the offense eventually bust through for the Vikings.

SJP made its first error of the game in the third inning, which resulted in Wood scoring the first run of the game. In the next inning the Hawks committed two more which Wood would cash in with another run. SJP would commit its fourth and final error in the fifth inning, this time Wood did not score but put some serious pressure on the Hawks.

Cummiskey and Lancellotti led the way with their plate approaches. Cummiskey ended the day 0-for-1 with two walks and a sacrifice fly RBI with Lancellotti finishing 1-for-1 with a double, a run scored and three walks. All but one player in the Wood lineup drew at least one walk.

“One thing that we talk to our kids about is putting good swings on the ball,” Wood coach Jim DiGuiseppe said. “Getting good swings on the ball but forcing the defense to have to make plays. Everybody is human out here and people are going to make mistakes.”

Wood will have to continue to navigate the tough Catholic League, but Wednesday’s performance ought to make it feel good about the direction it’s heading.