Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
2018 saw La Salle return to limelight
La Salle returned to prominence with PCL, District 12 titles
For a high school baseball team to play into June, it means that team did a lot of things right during the season.
While La Salle saw its 2018 season end in the PIAA 6A semifinals on Tuesday, the Explorers had one of those seasons. The Explorers won their first PCL title since 2013, then made states for the first time since 2014 led by a large and talented senior class.
Even without a trip to State College for the state final, 2018 was still a return to prominence for the program.
“It’s a really special group and you come across a group like this, speaking to the seniors in particular, often,” Explorers coach Kyle Werman said. “They’re so unselfish and I think when you watch how they play, you see it.”
La Salle finished the season 23-4 and had an 11-game winning streak prior to Tuesday’s semifi-
nal loss to Bensalem. With 18 seniors on the roster, the season set itself up for that class to decide how far and how long the Explorers would be playing.
Early on, the Explorers showed they could hit the ball well and they would have pitching to match it. La Salle didn’t score less than six runs in a game until its 11th game of the season and posted 10 or more runs on 15 different occasions during the campaign.
“I’ll remember the leadership everybody had and the teamwork everybody had,” senior catcher Andrew Cossetti said on Tuesday. “Hopefully for the guys coming back, they can use that and bring back another championship next year.”
Every year in the PCL, it seems like a different team in the 6A classification emerges as one of the top squads in the league. Two years ago it was Father Judge while St Joe’s Prep took the big classification’s state bid last year. This spring, the Explorers staked their claim early on.
La Salle won an eightinning game at Judge’s Ramp Park on April 9 and two days later, took down back-to-back defending PCL champion Neumann-Goretti 9-1. Those two wins sent an early message to the rest of the league this was a different La Salle squad.
After topping the Prep 9-4 on April 24, the Explorers clashed with Archbishop Carroll, the other PCL frontrunner, on April 30 at Carroll. The Patriots went on to win that game 5-4.
“I told my guys this is the kind of ballgame if you’re looking to win a league title or make a run in the state playoffs at some point – these are games you have to win,” Werman said after the Carroll loss.
That message hit its mark as La Salle didn’t lose another game in PCL play (11-1), securing the top seed with a 10-2 win at Archbishop Wood in the league finale. After losing to powerhouse St. Augustine Prep on May 4, La Salle won five straight games going into the PCL playoffs, all by at least five runs.
La Salle found itself tested immediately in the PCL quarterfinals against archrival St. Joe’s Prep. Faced with their first close game in nearly a month, the Explorers found a way to win that one, edging the Hawks 2-1.
From there, the Explorers handled Judge in the semis then burst out to a 7-0 first inning lead in a rematch against Carroll in the PCL title game, winning 10-0 in five innings to emphatically claim the title.
“This is my fourth year here and coming in not having been around this league or from this area, I didn’t appreciate what it means to have a Catholic League title,” Werman said that day at Immaculata University. “Until you’re in the league for a few years and realize how tough it is, we’ve had a few hard losses the last few years, these guys are all hungry and it’s not easy. This means a whole lot.”
For the entire team, but especially the seniors, it was validation.
“We had one of the greatest seasons I’ve ever been a part of,” senior outfielder Joe Sortino said. “It’s hard to be disappointed about it, I know we didn’t get what we wanted at the end but we had such a great season, winning the PCL. The past three years, I don’t think we made it past the first round of the playoffs so I’d say we did pretty well.”
La Salle added a District 12 title to its haul with a win over Frankford. Werman noted after that win that any opportunity to play for a championship is a big one for a team and the players also realized they couldn’t overlook that chance.
“We worked very hard and always want to come out every game, perform our best and win,” first baseman Brian Schaub said after the District 12 championship. “No matter what opponent we’re facing, especially when it’s someone from the city, it’s a special opportunity for our team.”
No team makes the state semifinals by accident and the Explorers knew they lost to a very good Bensalem team on Tuesday, complimenting and wishing the Owls well in the state title game. While it wasn’t the note any of them wanted to end on, the Explorers knew it wasn’t enough to take away anything from the rest of their run.
“You lose a one-run ballgame in eight innings, I don’t think anybody should feel ashamed with how things played out,” Werman said. “The chips just didn’t fall for us.”