Gaels' season ends with loss

May 24, 2008|By JACK HILL III

Unlike television, the local favorites didn't survive the cliffhanger.

It took two days, but St. Maria Goretti's Maryland Private Schools B Division tournament run and season ended on Friday as Bishop Walsh scored a 13-11 victory in a game which was suspended from a day earlier.

The game completed a doubleheader scheduled for Thursday, the first a winner's bracket game followed by the scheduled elimination game in the double-elimination tournament.

In the first game, Bishop Walsh squeezed out an 11-10 win. But the second game was suspended in the top of the sixth by darkness with Goretti's season hanging in the balance.

Bishop Walsh broke open a 6-6 game with five runs in the sixth before the suspension halted the game with none out and the bases loaded. The Spartans (13-13) hung on to eliminate the Gaels and advance to meet The Heights in the championship game on a day and at a site to be determined.

The losses ended the season for Goretti, which started 0-4 before winning 14 of its last 20 games to finish with a 14-10 record.

"We didn't hang our heads," St. Maria Goretti coach John Bowen said. "We had two tough losses to these guys. We were in position to win the first game, but it didn't happen. We just had a great bunch of kids. You have got to admire the no-quit attitude that this team has shown all year long. I just wish that we could keep on playing."

Every starter hit safely for the Gaels. J.J. O'Neill had three hits, including two home runs, and six RBIs, while David Bowen added three hits and scored four times.

The Spartans broke the 6-6 tie on a RBI single by Connor O'Rourke, followed by a grand slam by Neal Eshleman.

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