Pope Paul VI High School, coached by Billy Emerson (third season), lost to St. John’s 4-0 in the WCAC championship game May 13 at Shirley Povich Field in Rockville. It was the first league title for St. John’s since 1999 and the best post-season finish for PVI since winning the tournament in 1993.

PVI defeated Gonzaga 2-1 (May 10) in the quarterfinals and then knocked off McNamara 11-7 (May 12) in the semi-finals.

Paul VI (#1 seed from the WCAC "South") spotted St. John’s (#1 seed from WCAC "North") a 1-0 lead after the first inning and the Panthers were never able to seize their opportunities offensively thereafter.

St. John’s took a 2-0 lead after the third inning courtesy of a solo home run by Ivor Hodgson. The Cadets took a 4-0 lead after the fourth inning was in the books courtesy of two more RBI's from Hodgson. Neither team was able to muster any runs over the final three innings.

Cadet right hander Wade Newman picked up the win; Panther pitcher J.D. Polcari picked up the loss.

"We came real close to our second of three goals on the season [the WCAC Championship]. We achieved our first goal of winning the WCAC "South." We can still achieve our final goal of winning the 2005 V.I.S.," said Polcari.

Paul VI now have an overall record of 25-4 and will participate in the upcoming 2005 state independent tournament.

St. John’s concluded its season with an overall record of 24-3.

In the PVI/McNamara game, the teams were deadlocked at five apiece after 4 1/2 innings. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the PVI bats struck for four runs to take a 9-5 lead and the "Black and Gold" never looked back.

Trey McMenamin scored the decisive eighth run and Will Naylor added the ninth run. Right handed pitcher Brett Moore picked up the win in relief.

The 10 Panther hits were spread amongst six players: Alex Gregory (homer and double), Scott Eastment, Bryan Short and John Ralston (two singles each), Chuck Evans (two run homer) and Rob Lamas (double).

In the Gonzaga game, the Eagles took a 1-0 lead after the top of the first inning was complete.

However, PVI responded with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, which proved to be all of the offense that the Panthers needed.

Naylor doubled. After moving to third base via a balk, Chuck Evans sacrifice fly brought Naylor home and tied the contest at one apiece.

Alex Gregory tagged a "tape measure" home run, which rattled off the east side of the school to account for the decisive run of the contest. Naylor went the distance to pick up the win.

O'Connell, coached by Rick Hart, knocked off DeMatha 5-4 in 13 innings May 10 in the WCAC quarter-finals before dropping a hard-fought 2-1 decision to St. John’s in the semi-finals May 12.

Ireton, coached by Rich McCoppin, dropped a 14-4 decision to St. John’s in the quarter-finals.