Pitch-rich Friars aim to strike up the hits

MARPLE TWP. — If it’s only a matter of time before Bonner & Prendergast’s bats get hot, the rest of the Catholic League could be in trouble.

The Friars earned a 4-1 victory over rival Cardinal O’Hara Thursday thanks in large part to left-hander Matt Standen, who gave his squad six strong innings on the mound. The junior struck out five, allowed only one run on five hits, two walks and threw 84 pitches. He was relieved by Stephen DiBattista, who retired the side in order in the seventh inning.

“I go out there and try to be myself and not worry too much,” Standen said. “I trust my teammates to get run support for me and we got it done today. I had good control and felt really good today. I have a week’s rest, so my arm was fresh. I felt good.”

The pitching deserves many plaudits, but what about the offense? Well, it’s been a strange season at the plate for the Friars. Nate Furman, a superb junior shortstop, had struggled earlier in the season at the leadoff spot. Fortunately, Furman is heating up as the postseason nears.

The team batting average is .257, which is OK, but the Friars know they can be much better.

No one on Bonner & Prendie will tell you things have “clicked” offensively. They haven’t peaked yet. But perhaps all the Friars need is the sort of consistent, workmanlike effort they put forth Thursday. They made O’Hara starter Bryan Pasulski work for every out. Although four runs on eight hits doesn’t equate to an offensive explosion of any kind, the Friars did everything really, really well.

Get on base. Steal a bag. Sacrifice. Hit the ball the other way. All of the “little things” that baseball coaches love to harp upon, the Friars did them well Thursday.

Bonner & Prendie is 7-5 in the Catholic League after knocking off O’Hara, which entered the day tied for second place with two losses. La Salle (11-1) and Roman Catholic (11-2) are the top teams in the conference, but the league is balanced, which should make for an exciting playoff tournament.

“We’ve really been working on our approach,” senior center fielder Matt Headley said. “It’s all about getting bunts down, moving guys over, doing things like that.”

Headley had the best at-bats of the game. He finished 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of RBI singles.

“I’m just seeing the ball really well right now,” said Headley, who is bound for Immaculata University. “I want to put together good at bats and stay relaxed.”

Furman, a junior shortstop, received All-Delco recognition as a sophomore. The Seton Hall commit is starting to come around at the dish, which is a plus considering he is about as good a defensive player as you’ll see in Delaware County. Furman singled to lead off the proceedings, swiped second base, and scored on Headley’s RBI single to give Bonner & Prendie a 1-0 lead. He also walked and got hit by a pitch in the sixth inning, then crossed the plate on Headley’s second RBI knock. another run-scoring knock by Headley.

“We have an awesome group of guys and we all love playing with each other,” Furman said. “Our pitching has been awesome and we’re really playing good defense. Even when we don’t have our bats working, you know we’re always playing good defense, grinding and grinding and hoping to get it done.”

Following a 7-0 start, the Friars have hit a few bumps in the road on their way to the Catholic League playoffs later this month. Since that season-opening winning streak, they have gone 4-7. Coach Steve DeBarberie isn’t the least bit concerned about his club’s inconsistent offense, mainly because the pitching and defense have been so good.

“We came out 7-0 off the bat, playing awesome, but then Nate Furman struggled at the plate and everyone else was picking him up, but he really gets us going,” DeBarberie said. “Right now, Nate is on fire and everyone else in the lineup is going through their struggles a little bit. I think it’s more of a hitting slump and we can get rolling. We’re a scrappy team, we’re not going to come out here and mash the ball all over the place. We’re going to hopefully score four or five runs and be aggressive.

“We’re a very fast team, so we like to put pressure on defenses on the bases. And our pitching has been phenomenal. We know if we can get four or five runs, we’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”

Let’s get back to the Bonner & Prendie hurlers. Standen (1.62 ERA), DiBattista (1.27) and Eric Lachette (1.65) have comprised a formidable top-three in the staff.

“If you look at our numbers, it’s pretty impressive with our pitching. That’s what’s keeping us in games,” DeBarberie said. “That’s our three guys and they have all been outstanding. Standen kept them off-balance. We knew coming in that O’Hara is such an aggressive team and they hit the fastball so well. Just look at the size of those kids, they’re all huge guys.”

Bonner & Prendie left two runners stranded when Pazulski fielded a comebacker to start a 1-6-3 double play. Pazulski battled through 5.1 innings. He gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with five walks while striking out four.

O’Hara’s swing-happy approach minimized Standen’s pitch count. The Lions got a rally brewing in the fourth inning when Joe Kelly walked and Luke Sprague and Joe Sperone followed with two-out singles. Standen buckled down and forced Zach Fidelibus to pop up to second baseman P.J. Tecco for the third out.

The Lions finally pushed a run across in the fifth. Senior shortstop and All-Delco Jim White laced a double to the gap in left-center. Cole Sprague followed with a shot down the right-field line to knock in White.

The Friars went ahead to stay in the sixth inning. Paul Kokol doubled to lead off the frame and scored when O’Hara first baseman Luke Sprague fielded a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Tommy Bradley and tried to nab pinch-runner Sam Maselli at third. Instead, Sprague airmailed the throw and Maselli trotted home with the go-ahead run. The Friars added tack-on runs on a Tecco sacrifice fly and Headley’s second RBI single.