Sheridan Outduels Delaney To Lead Pope John Paul II Past American Heritage

Johnny Sheridan of Pope John Paul II allowed just three hits to lead the Eagles to their first district title since 2005.

Remember the name Johnny Sheridan.

The sophomore right-hander outdueled senior Anthony Delaney to lead second-seeded Pope John Paul II over top-seeded American Heritage-Delray 1-0 in the District 3A-13 championship game Thursday night.

It was the 16-11 Eagles’ first district title since 2005.

Sheridan, a 6-foot-3, 140-pounder, allowed only three hits and did not walk anyone in six and one-third innings.

“It was what we had to do,” Eagles’ Manager Pete Graffeo said. “Our ace, Josh Parker, tore a ligament in his ankle running the bases two weeks ago so Johnny had to step up.

“We just started getting him back in the rotation a little bit to take advantage of that height and his good off-speed pitches. We worked him during the year and got him ready last week against Trinity, pitched him six innings or so and he was sharp. I felt that we would be able to use his off-speed pitches to keep them off-balance and he did. And his command was good.”

Delaney was almost as effective but had to pitch out of trouble in the fourth and fifth innings before allowing a run in the sixth.

Stephen Gogreve was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. Zander Retamar’s single scored Gogreve on a bang-bang play at the plate.

Sheridan retired the side in order in the bottom of the sixth but tired in the seventh as the Stallions began to rally.

Chris Canavan reached first on an error and moved to second on a single by Delaney. Tyler Frank bunted the runners over, prompting a visit to the mound by Graffeo.

Senior Anthony Delaney allowed only one run in the loss to Pope John Paul II.

He brought in Dom Baldino, who struck out Christian Bingo and induced Todd Isaacs to ground out to end the game, setting off a celebratory dogpile between home and the mound.

“Johnny, he didn’t want to give me the ball,” said Graffeo. “That’s how these kids are. They just want it. They did a great job.”

Sheridan said his curveball was his best pitch against the Stallions but credited his teammates for the victory.

“I wasn’t very happy about it (coming out),” said Sheridan. “I said, ‘c’mon, one more batter.’ He said no, we got to get a strikeout. He brought in Dom and he closed the deal.”

American Heritage (13-13) had swept the regular-season series against Pope John Paul II, winning 6-3 and 7-3.

“It’s what we expected, that it would go down to the last out,” said Graffeo. “I would have liked it to have been a little easier, but it was a good baseball game.”

Despite the loss, American Heritage-Delray manager Carm Mazza’s team will play in the regionals for the 10th consecutive season.

“Their guy did a great job, he was outstanding,” said Mazza. “He threw strike one, he got a lot of quick outs. He just threw strike 1, strike 2, and changed speeds. We were kept off-balance, out in front a lot. I don’t think it was one certain pitch.”

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