Kelly, Scanlon stand out in tough loss for Catholic League at Carpenter Cup

PHILADELPHIA >> Without a senior pitcher available for either of the Carpenter Cup Classic finalists Friday morning, the championship would be decided by a bevy of talented young arms.

The Suburban One American/Continental hurlers proved slightly more resilient. But for Philadelphia Catholic’s two brightest arms, Friday’s outing at Citizens Bank Park, even in defeat, was a tantalizing indication of what could be to come.

The Catholic League bats were held down by SOL A/C’s superior pitching in a 3-2 win, handing that team its first title in the Carpenter Cup’s 31st edition. But the performances of the Catholic League’s James Kelly and Matt Scanlon shined on a day where there were plenty of pitching plaudits.

Kelly, a junior from Archbishop Carroll, got the start, with the Catholic League’s usual opening duo of Neumann-Goretti seniors Jeff Ciocco and Ethan Pritchett unable to play. Kelly rose to the task, tossing three stellar innings, allowing just one run.

The righty got off to a slow start, allowing Upper Moreland’s Randy Meehl to single leading off the game and score on a sac fly by Souderton’s Blake Gular. But he steadied himself and peaked as he reached the maximum three innings. Kelly struck out three, walked two and allowed three hits.

When the Catholic League posted a two-spot in the fourth inning to briefly surge ahead, Kelly was on the winning side of the ledger.

“It’s a dream come true,” Kelly said. “Getting the start, I knew that we were going to battle the whole time, so I wanted to go out and do my thing, throw strikes, and hopefully it’ll be a good outcome.”

Scanlon’s performance assumed a different degree of difficulty.

The game was quickly getting away from Philadelphia Catholic when the Bonner & Prendergast righty was summoned from the bullpen. Roman Catholic’s Aidan Welch ran into massive trouble in the fifth inning, hitting North Penn’s Nate O’Donnell and coughing up the lead one batter later when Cole Swiger of Upper Dublin laced a double down the left field line.

Cameron Komonchak (Central Bucks East) and Thomas Philipps (CB West) followed with a single and double, respectively, scoring Swiger and putting two in scoring position with none out. Scanlon trotted in from the bullpen as Wissahickon third baseman Alex Tappen, who pulverized a 380-foot homer in the semifinals against Delaware County Tuesday, strode into the box.

But the sophomore struck out the clean-up man, then got Pennridge’s Luke Nuneviller to wave at a superb breaking ball and induced a groundball out to end the threat.

“There can’t really be a mindset,” Scanlon said of the scenario. “You just have to go in there and throw strikes. There’s not much to it. And if they hit you, they hit you. … I was trying my hardest to strike them out, and I came through.”

“I feel great for him,” Kelly said. “You always want to see your teammates do good. It’s great to see him go out there and get those guys.”

Scanlon, who didn’t pitch Tuesday, recorded seven outs in as many batters, allowing a leadoff single in the sixth that was erased on a double play.

Though they’re geographically connected, Scanlon and Kelly have never played with or against each other before this tournament. They missed each other in the teams’ regular season meeting, which left them a little surprised when they encountered each other at tryouts for this squad.

“I saw him at tryouts for the first time and I was like, ‘Wow, this kid is good,’” Kelly said. “He’s a really good pitcher.”
Archbishop Wood’s Sean Hughes and Kody Cracknell got the final five outs for the Catholics, each working around a hit. But by that point, too much damage was done for the quiet bats to recover.

Philadelphia Catholic managed just seven hits on the day. The second platoon of players, which logged the final four innings, beat out just three hits, only one of which left the infield.

“It’s kind of tough,” Father Judge designated hitter Christian Lutz said. “Usually they do good, but today, it just felt like it wasn’t there.”

Both runs materialized in the fourth inning when La Salle’s Gregg Sywulak and Bonner & Prendergast catcher Steve Furman led off with singles, Furman’s on the ninth pitch of an at-bat where he fouled off five pitches.

Neumann’s Nick D’Amore plated Sywulak with a deep sac fly to center, and Furman chugged home when Lutz, who tripled in the second inning, split the left-center gap again with a double.

That’s all SOL’s staff would relent, though. Pennridge’s Andrew Mayhew allowed just one hit from the fifth to the seventh, striking out four. CB South’s Dan Klepchick, another junior, worked around two hits in two innings and struck out the side in the ninth to put the final touches on the triumph that keeps the crown in the Suburban One League for a second straight year, joining SOL National/Bicentennial in 2015.

The Carpenter Cup marks the conclusion of a season, but both staffs Friday gave plenty to look forward to. In the case of Kelly and Scanlon, that may just be a burgeoning rivalry that helps decide the Catholic League next season.

“For the future, we’re probably going to be competitors,” Scanlon said. “It’s going to be pretty good.”