St. John Paul II Fends Off Cardinal Newman’s Late Surge

Jack Hay drove in four of the Eagles six runs.

In 2013 and 2014, the Pope John Paul II Eagles reigned supreme as unlikely district champs before surrendering the title to American Heritage-Delray last season. On Monday afternoon, with a new name and new cast of characters, the Eagles took the first step toward recapturing the crown.

Now known as St. John Paul II, and in a much more crowded 4A-6 group, the Eagles opened the 2016 playoffs by defeating the team that sent them home early last year, the Cardinal Newman Crusaders.

Longtime manager Peter Graffeo was effusive in his praise for freshman designated hitter Jack Hay, who enjoyed a stellar 2-for-3 performance with four RBIs. Facing a 1-0 deficit with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Hay cleared the bags and gave the Eagles a 3-1 advantage with a line-drive double into center field. Hay added his fourth RBI in the sixth, driving in Cal Bocchino with a single to center.

The Eagles added runs on a Crusaders miscue and an RBI by P.J. Cimo, giving them a commanding 6-1 lead.

Newman did its best to claw back into it in the top of the seventh. Eagle’s reliever Matthew Urbanek tossed three strike outs to start the frame but the third strike to the third batter, Joe Yupp, was dropped, giving the Crusaders new life. Two base hits later, Yupp crossed home for Newman’s second run of the game. Another dropped third strike allowed Brett Steel to score, before RBIs by Shane Drohan and Luke Simpson pulled the the Crusaders within two runs.

“Cardinal Newman is a well-coached team that showed great character by battling back in the last inning,” Graffeo commented on the late scare. “We have great respect for them.”

Eventually, the inning ended the same way it began, however, with Urbanek notching his fourth strikeout of the frame to diffuse the rally and send St. John Paul II to the district semifinals against Benjamin on Tuesday afternoon.

“Obviously, Benjamin is an outstanding team,” Graffeo said about the challenge that the district’s number one seed presents. “We will have to play our best to have a chance.”

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