Pritchett, Neumann-Gorretti stop Bonner & Prendergast’s march

ASTON >> Tears in his eyes, Tim Dougherty struggled for words Wednesday afternoon.

His junior season at Bonner & Prendergast, the Friars’ record indicated, should’ve ended earlier this week. But with an unlikely march to the Catholic League semifinals, the Friars managed to furnish for themselves both pride and disappointment at Neumann University.

Dougherty sorted through that tangle of emotions after the conclusion of the No. 8 seeded Friars’ season thanks to a 9-3 decision at the hands of No. 5 Neumann-Goretti.

“It’s tough,” said Dougherty, the first baseman and one of a 15-strong junior class. “It hurts. I’m never going to forget this feeling, and we’re going to come back next year.”

Bonner (11-11) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then held on as Neumann threatened to surge ahead — in the bottom of the first, the third and then the fifth. Finally, on the third try, the Saints broke through, Aidan Baur’s two-run single opening the floodgates to a five-run fifth.

Baur a 2-run single on a 3-2 pitch. @NG_Baseball2016 up 4-3 pic.twitter.com/BEZLapeB5y

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 25, 2016

Against reliever Joe Nestel, Baur set off a string of four consecutive two-out base hits. Baur’s drive to left field chased home two, including the game-winning run.

“The first two pitches, I pulled my head way off,” said Baur, who added two sacrifice flies and drove in four runs. “And I just tried to keep my head down and find the hole.”

Louis Testa followed with a single, Joe Lafiora split the right-center gap with an RBI double, then Neumann starter Ethan Pritchett greeted new pitcher Kevin Zimmerman with a single stung up the middle to plate two more.

Neumann-Goretti (14-6) advances to Saturday’s title game against No. 7 St. Joseph’s Prep, which topped No. 6 Cardinal O’Hara, 14-9, in Wednesday’s other semi. First pitch is at Immaculata University at noon.

Because of the points system in the Catholic League, both O’Hara and Bonner are eliminated from contention for the Catholic League’s bid to represent District 12 in the PIAA Class AAA tournament. That honor goes to Archbishop Wood, which finished second in the regular season before losing to Prep in Monday’s quarterfinals.

It’s no coincidence that the Saints’ breakthrough followed its denial of Bonner’s best chance to add to the edge. The Friars strung together two singles in the top of the fifth, though Steve Furman was cut down by Brian Verratti trying to stretch his to a double. Dougherty, who had two hits, including an RBI double in the first, was intentionally walked, and Pritchett got pinch-hitter Dom Dellabarba looking to curtail the danger.

With that, the momentum shifted squarely to the home dugout.

“It was huge,” Pritchett said. “After that, we scored five that inning. You could just tell the momentum was in our dugout and everyone was up and we were super pumped after that.”

“It’s a battle,” Dougherty said. “(Third-base coach) Timmy (Phillips) broke us down before the game and said it’s going to be a dogfight. We’ve got to jab, jab, jab and knock them out. Today, they knocked us out.”

That was all the offense Pritchett needed. He worked seven innings, walking five and striking out three. After allowing four hits in a 30-pitch first inning, he relented three safeties over the final six frames. The seventh inning, of which he said there was “never a thought” of him not finishing, was his only 1-2-3 frame of the day, the Monmouth commit finishing with 123 pitches.

Bonner, playing its third game in four days after tipping No. 9 Archbishop Ryan in Sunday’s opening round and upsetting top-seeded Father Judge in eight innings Monday, had to plumb the depths of its rotation.

Eli Chase lasted only seven outs, though he induced a double-play from Testa in the first inning with two on to preserve the one-run lead.

Chase exited with the bases loaded, giving way to Nestel … who promptly forced Testa to pound into a 5-3-2 double play to end the threat.

“There’s not a better feeling than having 100 percent confidence in everyone on your team to show up and do that,” Dougherty said about Nestel’s escape. The Bonner bench was hoping it could replicate that escape in the fifth, but to no avail.

The Friars started with three runs in the first, continuing their offensive reawakening that powered a deep tourney run. A pair of errors helped, and Dougherty’s double and an RBI single by Ryan George presumably set them up for more. Even without insurance tallies, the Friars believed that the bottom half of an eight-deep pitching rotation was capable of hanging on for a 3-2 win.

But the bats went quiet again, epitomizing the roller coaster Bonner-Prendie has ridden all season. When an 8-3 start stumbled to a 9-10 finish to the regular season thanks to a paltry 10 runs scored in eight games, Joe DeBarberie’s group could’ve wilted.

But they grew together so much in the last two games that the abrupt ending stung in the way that only such a level of accomplishment could.

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs this season, and we all came together,” Dougherty said. “We all talked to each other and we all knew we had to buy in 100 percent. We all knew we had to come together in playoff time. …

“We’re going to take it as a learning experience. We’re going to come back stronger, faster and better next year. We’re going to get a championship.”