PVI baseball

Mitchell Leads PVI to First WCAC Baseball Title Since 1993

By David Steinbacher
Special to the HERALD
(From the Issue of 5/17/07)

Paul VI Catholic High School won its first WCAC baseball title since 1993 last week with a 5-0 victory over second-seeded St. John’s.
With their backs against the wall versus Gonzaga in the semifinals May 8, the Panthers extended the game to extra innings and prevailed 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure their trip to the WCAC championship contest May 10 at Shirley Povich Park in Bethesda.
St. John’s defeated third-seeded DeMatha 6-1 in the other semifinal. During the regular season, St. John’s defeated PVI 1-0 in Fairfax, while PVI had defeated St. John’s 7-3 in Washington, D.C.
PVI junior right-handed relief pitcher Mike Mitchell, despite pitching nearly three innings against Gonzaga 48 hours earlier, was selected by Emerson to pitch the title game.
Mitchell allowed one hit in the top of the first inning, but the Cadet was left on base.
In the bottom of the first inning, junior center fielder Peter Verdin reached base via a Cadet error. Two batters later, with senior shortstop John Ralston batting, Verdin stole second base. Ralston hit a high chopper to shortstop, and the Cadets throw to first base was off the mark. Ralston was safe at first and Verdin scored the Panthers first run of the contest, giving PVI a 1-0 lead.
“Good things happen when Peter Verdin gets on base,” PVI Head Coach Billy Emerson said.
Senior left fielder Zach Costello led off the bottom of the second inning with a solid solo home run to left field. Before the bottom of the second inning concluded, the Panthers led 3-0. Verdin’s double to left field scored junior right fielder Tim McCormick who had reached base via a walk.
No more runs were generated until the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, Verdin was hit by a pitch. With junior second baseman Matt Murakami up to bat, St. John’s junior pitcher Scott Silverstein’s pick-off attempt at first base sailed into right field foul territory, and Verdin ran past second base and slid safely into third base.
On the next pitch from Silverstein to Murakami, the junior drilled a line shot single to right field which scored PVI’s fourth run.
The Panthers tallied the final run of the contest in the sixth inning. With one out, Costello drilled his third post-season home run. This one sailed over the wall in deep right-center and staked PVI to the final score of 5-0.
Silverstein received a walk to lead off the seventh inning, but Mitchell got designated hitter Connor Hoehn to hit into a double play which took the steam out of St. John’s chances.
Ralston snagged the grounder, stepped on second, and drilled a strike to junior first baseman Reed Bromley to double up Hoehn.
Mitchell struck out St. John’s Josh Leemhuis to end the contest and set off a raucous PVI celebration. Mitchell, who threw a brilliant one-hitter, said his arm felt good despite pitching two days earlier versus Gonzaga.
Emerson had led the Panthers to both second place finishes the past two seasons but the 2007 title is definitely the high-water mark for the Panther coaching staff.
The top-seeded Panthers, with a 14-2 WCAC regular season record, won their trip to the finals with a 4-1 win over fourth-seeded Gonzaga. With a 1-0 score heading into the bottom of the seventh inning of the semifinal game, the Panthers had three outs to best the visiting Eagles who were 10-6 in WCAC play.

A walk from Ralston and a sacrifice bunt from Bromley put two runners on base when a wild pitch from Gonzaga starting pitcher Matt Sliwiak sent senior Scott Walsh, who was running for Ralston, to third base. Junior designated hitter Greg Wiegand went 1-1 before Gonzaga catcher Dan Sabatano allowed a passed ball that brought Walsh home for the tying run.
“That had to have been one of the five biggest plays for this team all season long,” Emerson said. “Scott Walsh showed what a good base runner he is.”
Mitchell took over for junior starting left-handed pitcher Drew Shaw in the seventh inning, and finished an inning and a half with only two base hits.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Ralston led off with a single to short center off Gonzaga’s left-handed relief pitcher Nick Frederick. The next two Panther bats scored two base hits and one out.
With the clock striking 10:30 p.m., Costello tattooed Frederick’s first pitch over the right-center field wall for the game-winning three-run home run, and the Panther’s first walk-off home run this season.