PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Catholic’s pitching continued its dominance in the Carpenter Cup championship game.
Brady Sell, John LaSpada, Jake Gorman and John Doogan combined for a two-hitter in Philadelphia Catholic’s 5-0 win over Delaware County at Dick Allen Field in FDR Park Monday afternoon.
Sell, an Archbishop Wood 2026 grad and the PCL’s Pitcher of the Year, started and threw two innings. He struck out four batters to no walks and allowed one hit – a hit-and-run single into left field.
“I was working my fastball towards the bottom of the order,” the right-hander headed to Lafayette said, “but against the top of the order I was working my slider, I was trying to dot that, getting weak contact and striking people out. Sometimes the changeup when I needed a swing and miss or needed a dribbler.”
LaSpada, a Neumann-Goretti 2026 grad heading to Rowan, threw the next two innings. He fanned a pair of batters to no walks and allowed one hit. The lefty retired the final five batters he faced.
Gorman, a Bonner-Prendergast junior, took over in the top of the fifth inning and went 1 2/3 innings. The righty struck out three batters to no walks and allowed no hits. One batter reached base against him on an error and another on a pitching violation.
“My fastball was really working well,” Gorman said. “Curveball at first and then it fell off, but my fastball was really working.”
Bonner-Prendergast’s Jake Gorman, right, is congratulated after throwing a scoreless inning for the Catholic League in the Carpenter Cup final against Delco on Monday. (PETE BANNAN-MEDIANEWS GROUP)
Doogan, a Devon Prep junior, recorded the final four outs. He struck out three batters to one walk and allowed no hits.
Across seven innings, the four combined for 12 strikeouts to one walk. They didn’t allow a hit over the final four innings.
The Philadelphia Catholic pitching staff dominated throughout the four-round tournament. They allowed just one earned run between their 3-1 opening-round win over Burlington County, 6-0 quarterfinal win over Bux-Mont, 6-3 semifinal win over Jersey Shore in nine innings and 5-0 championship win over Delaware County.
“Our pitchability,” Sell credited for the staff’s success. “Being able to get pitches over in certain counts, putting pressure on the other hitters, getting every pitch that our pitchers throw to be strikes. When you put it around the zone, you’re going to get results like that.”
“We just dominated,” Gorman, who pitched in all four games, said. “That’s all I have to say. We just played together and just dominated.”
Neumann-Goretti junior Shane Vanore, La Salle junior Alex Hisem, Bonner-Prendergast juniors Jake Coleman and Owen Lockhart and Archbishop Ryan 2026 grad Victor Corniel also pitched in the first three rounds.
Philadelphia Catholic took a 1-0 lead over Delaware County in the second inning when Cardinal O’Hara junior Connor Clark hit an RBI groundout. La Salle junior Kaden Cortez doubled the advantage in the third with an RBI double to the left-center fence.
The advantage grew to 4-0 in the fourth inning. Archbishop Wood 2026 grad Chase Cavallaro hit an RBI double to right field and Father Judge 2026 grad Will Henderson plated a run on a fielder’s choice.
Doogan’s RBI single in the sixth made it 5-0.
Philadelphia Catholic will be honored at Citizens Bank Park before a Phillies game against the Nationals on Aug. 4.