Bonner's Season Comes to an End

It seemed like nothing could stop the Bonner baseball team. The Friars were coming off an incredible Catholic League playoff run, defeating Judge and the highly regarded Neumann-Goretti Saints in exciting fashion, and then massacring Archbishop Ryan to win the Catholic League title. They then disposed of the Public League champion Central High School 11-4 on Thursday. All the momentum was with Bonner. That momentum would be erased quickly on Monday, as Bonner’s unbelievable run to the state playoffs came to an abrupt halt. District 1’s Great Valley shut down the Friars 4-1 as they move on to the quarterfinals of the state AAAA playoffs.

In the top of the first inning, Great Valley threatened to put the Friars down in an early hole, again. Bonner was down in their last two games by a 3-0 score. GV put runners on first and third on back to back singles, but a pick off at third base by catcher Paul Shepherd helped put a stop to the threat. The second inning produced Bonner’s only run of the game. Steve Markus reached on a walk, and Josh VanHorn singled to left. Matt Ruggieri then hit a bloop single to center field, allowing Markus to score. VanHorn was thrown out at third after making too wide of a turn, but nonetheless, the Friars had the lead. Bonner pitcher Ant DiGalbo cruised through the first three innings, getting out of a couple of tough jams. His luck ran out however in the fourth inning. Two singles in the inning led to a 2 run double by GV’s Jordan Valininno, giving them a 2-1 lead. They put another two across the plate in the fifth inning, when Jack Meeker hit an RBI double on a 3-2 count with 2 outs to right field. He moved up to second on Matt Mullen’s throw home. Kevin Falcone followed suit, hitting a single to left scoring Meeker. Falcone also moved up to second on the throw, this time by Sam Christie. That was all Great Valley’s starting pitcher Chris Duclos would need. He threw a complete game, allowing two hits, fanning eight Friars, and walking only one. He completely shut down the Bonner offense, which coming into the game had averaged 10 runs a game in their last four. On the Bonner side, DiGalbo pitched well, but ran into some trouble in the fourth. Matt Dolan came in to stop the bleeding in the fifth, and kept the score at a reasonable deficit in the sixth and seventh. But it was just not Bonner’s day. Bonner’s season ends shorter than planned, while Great Valley moves on to the quarterfinals.

Although the season ends, The Friars have no reason to hang their heads in shame. In March, they defeated top teams from around the country while in Disney World, beating teams from New York and Washington D.C. The team defeated Haverford School, the Inter-Ac champions, and one of the top ranked teams in the state. Bonner swept their two chief rivals, St. Joe’s Prep and Cardinal O’Hara, which is always a great accomplishment. They clinched the PCL Red Division for the first time since they clinched the old Southern Division in 1998. They won their first Catholic League championship in 21 years. The team won their first District XII title, and earned Bonner’s first ever state playoff berth in not just baseball, but in any sport. They were ranked as high as third in the Inquirer. And although they finished with a loss, the squad won 17 of their final 20 games, finishing at 20-5 overall. These are certainly things to be really proud of.
This team will go down in the Friar history books. This group of guys, mostly seniors, have played together since little league. Although Joe DeBarberie’s squad will be losing 14 seniors, they’ll be senior heavy once again next year. They’ll return juniors Jim Bonner, Paul Shepherd, and Matt Dolan among others, and many of the JV players will move up to the varsity team next year, and will battle to recapture the Catholic League and District XII titles. But for now, we celebrate a special moment in Bonner history. This team had no superstar. They didn’t have the flashy squad who won by talent alone. This team was built with the fundamentals. The “little things” made this team what it was, something you don’t see too much in today’s game. However they did win, and that’s what counts in the end.

With the baseball season ending, the 2009-2010 sports and school year comes to a close as well. It's had to believe that it really is over. This ended way too soon. There will be a recap from the year that was later tonight or sometime tomorrow.