Game Notes
I had intended to do a totally different article tonight, but decided to post some observations about my afternoon. I stopped by Piccoli playground to catch the North-Roman baseball game. It was a real tight game and went into the 7th (and final) inning tied at 2. A North batter made it to first. I think he made it there by leaning into one (just kidding). Anyway, after failing to bunt him to second, Mike “Zoom” Zolk ripped a pitch to deep right center for a walk-off double (Note: The boxscore listed it as a triple). The Falcons are now tied for 1st at 2-1. They play at Roman’s field (Roxborough and Henry) on Thursday afternoon.
Did you notice……
…..that the Falcons are 2-0 when yours truly is in attendance, and 0-1 when he is not? We’ll see how that holds up on Thursday
.…..that there are a lot of nitwit kids around the field, including one knucklehead who was hitting golf balls with a baseball bat from the right field line into center field?
…..the guy behind the cage with the radar gun? Was he a Roman guy? Was he a scout? Who knows? I just report them
.…..the Falcons have white hats and white pants with a black stripe down the side of the leg? I’m not a baseball guy, but back in the day, North ALWAYS wore red hats and their uniforms were white with red pinstripes. I’m not liking this style. Call me a traditionalist, but this team does not resemble any Falcon team I’m used to seeing on the field. Rumor has it that the pinstripes cost too much. So what? Raise some more money. Have the parents buck up. Take up a collection during games to cover it. As for the hats, I can’t find any reason for the white hats. But, I will say that they don’t look good.
Faces in the crowd
....Entering the playground, one of our staffers ran into Mr. Koschineg, North’s Assistant Principal of Student Services. For those who don’t know what that means, he’s the guy in charge of discipline at the school. Our staffer didn’t get JUG, but Mr K did give him an update of the score
.…..Tired of reading about others at North games, Jeff Graham took in the game. We’re not sure if he was really interested in the game or if he wanted to get his name in this article
.…..Fresh off a successful weekend inducting members into the soccer hall of fame, our championship soccer coach, Jerry Brindisi caught the game from the box seat section. Boy, he must know someone at North
.…..In the “Ueker seats” in deep right field was none other than former NC baseball coach, Tim Murphy, who was accompanied by his lovely daughter, Erin, a Little Flower senior.
Tomorrow, I’ll give you some insight into how this blog came to be, how it has grown and what we’d like to see from it in the future. Stay tuned.
SRO CROWD SALUTES NORTH SOCCER HALL OF FAMERS
When the manager of Ramonos visited our sign-in table yesterday, about a half an hour before our celebration was to begin and asked "Do you think we might need some more tables?" a smile creased my face. Last year, if you remember, we had over 225 North Soccer Alumnists, fans and well wishers to induct the first ever class of soccer Hall of Famers. Our fear was how do we top that!
Well, by sheer numbers, we not only topped it, but we hit a home run. Over 300 people packed Ramonos Caterers to celebrate our 2nd class of Hall of Famers. Unlike most soccer crowds that show up at half-time, when it comes time to celebrate we clearly get there on time. About forty-five minutes before the doors opened, a crowd was gathered in the parking lot, tail-gating if you would waiting for the doors to open. It was so crowded, that many had to use the overflow lot that Ramonos just opened across the street.
Emceed by Paddy's Well and our own Paul Moore, the event went on without a hitch. The North Catholic Soccer Alumni Association inducted 11 men who exemplify the character of North soccer. Each member of the NCSA Board/Advisory Committee took turns introducing the honorees who celebrated with their family, friends and fan club. At times, the place was loud and rowdy, just like many of the neighborhoods that were represented last night (Fishtown, Front Streeters, Kensington, Merritt Square, Juniata and Germantown to name a few).
Just in one year, YOUR event has grown to a national audience, in attendance were:
- Ray Lynch's brother from California
- Ed Stangler from Boston, MA
- Jack Comey from Maryland
-Steve Baumann from New York
While the school is smaller today, Sunday shows the true heart and soul of North Catholic, what it represents and how alive it still is. Thanks for your support and we request the continued support.
FACES IN THE CROWD:
- A soon to be SuperFan in the making, Mr. Mike Ferris
- Fr. Jim Dever graced us with a blessing accentuated by his charm and good spirit
- Mr. Jim Greene, former teacher and coach of North Soccer and now Asst. Principal at Fr. Judge
- Mr. Walter Bahr again travelled from Penn State to be part of the atmosphere and ceremony
- Frankford Alumnist: Dave MacWilliams, Chunky Bono and Ed Leigh were there, thanks guys
- College coaches: Mr. Hughie McInaw (and NSCA Hall of Famer) and Mr. Pat Farrell of St. Joe's and LaSalle respectively
- High school coach: Mr. Bobby DiBenedetto (Penn Charter) and his sidekick Steve Smith and Mr. Paul Duddy (North Penn)
- Fr. Vince Smith and Tom Kaiser of North Catholic
Next up is a Celebrity BarTender function at Casper's in Mayfair (Cottman and Frankford Avenues) on April 18 from 4 to 8. On tap are: Franny Wallace, Pat Morris, Jerry Brindisi, John McCarthy to name a few and we are working on a couple of surprises as well.
Don't forget the 18th Annual North Catholic Soccer Golf Outing is April 25 at Juniata, please call or email Joe Steffa (215-783-8020/jsteffa@comcast.net), Jerry Brindisi(215-906-8496/brindinski@aol.com) or Tom Crossett (215-860-6575/tcrosset@northcatholicsoccer.com).
Well, by sheer numbers, we not only topped it, but we hit a home run. Over 300 people packed Ramonos Caterers to celebrate our 2nd class of Hall of Famers. Unlike most soccer crowds that show up at half-time, when it comes time to celebrate we clearly get there on time. About forty-five minutes before the doors opened, a crowd was gathered in the parking lot, tail-gating if you would waiting for the doors to open. It was so crowded, that many had to use the overflow lot that Ramonos just opened across the street.
Emceed by Paddy's Well and our own Paul Moore, the event went on without a hitch. The North Catholic Soccer Alumni Association inducted 11 men who exemplify the character of North soccer. Each member of the NCSA Board/Advisory Committee took turns introducing the honorees who celebrated with their family, friends and fan club. At times, the place was loud and rowdy, just like many of the neighborhoods that were represented last night (Fishtown, Front Streeters, Kensington, Merritt Square, Juniata and Germantown to name a few).
Just in one year, YOUR event has grown to a national audience, in attendance were:
- Ray Lynch's brother from California
- Ed Stangler from Boston, MA
- Jack Comey from Maryland
-Steve Baumann from New York
While the school is smaller today, Sunday shows the true heart and soul of North Catholic, what it represents and how alive it still is. Thanks for your support and we request the continued support.
FACES IN THE CROWD:
- A soon to be SuperFan in the making, Mr. Mike Ferris
- Fr. Jim Dever graced us with a blessing accentuated by his charm and good spirit
- Mr. Jim Greene, former teacher and coach of North Soccer and now Asst. Principal at Fr. Judge
- Mr. Walter Bahr again travelled from Penn State to be part of the atmosphere and ceremony
- Frankford Alumnist: Dave MacWilliams, Chunky Bono and Ed Leigh were there, thanks guys
- College coaches: Mr. Hughie McInaw (and NSCA Hall of Famer) and Mr. Pat Farrell of St. Joe's and LaSalle respectively
- High school coach: Mr. Bobby DiBenedetto (Penn Charter) and his sidekick Steve Smith and Mr. Paul Duddy (North Penn)
- Fr. Vince Smith and Tom Kaiser of North Catholic
Next up is a Celebrity BarTender function at Casper's in Mayfair (Cottman and Frankford Avenues) on April 18 from 4 to 8. On tap are: Franny Wallace, Pat Morris, Jerry Brindisi, John McCarthy to name a few and we are working on a couple of surprises as well.
Don't forget the 18th Annual North Catholic Soccer Golf Outing is April 25 at Juniata, please call or email Joe Steffa (215-783-8020/jsteffa@comcast.net), Jerry Brindisi(215-906-8496/brindinski@aol.com) or Tom Crossett (215-860-6575/tcrosset@northcatholicsoccer.com).
NORTH CATHOLIC WRESTLING BANQUET
THE NORTH CATHOLIC WRESTLING BANQUET WILL BE ON THURSDAY, MARCH 26TH AT 7:00. IT WILL BE AT ROMANO'S LOCATED AT CASTOR AND WINGOHOCKEN STREETS. WE WILL BE INDUCTING TONY CONWAY INTO THE NORTH CATHOLIC WRESTLING HALL OF FAME. TICKETS ARE $22 AND CAN BE BOUGHT AT THE DOOR.
HOPE TO SEE MANY OF OUR FRIENDS AND ALUMNI THERE!
HOPE TO SEE MANY OF OUR FRIENDS AND ALUMNI THERE!
MEDAL DREAMS TURN TO DUST FOR NORTH CATHOLIC WRESTLERS
this weekend, two north catholic wrestlers had the opportunity to wrestle in the toughest tournament in the country, the PIAA State Championships. due to our affiliation with the PIAA, this was the first time north catholic ever participated in the tournament. be it the crowd, the intensity, or the over-all experience, the two falcon warriors went 0-4 in the tournament. Adding insult to injury, the wrestlers had to watch as wrestlers that they beat the previous week went on to capture medals in the tournament. UGH!!!!!
here are the results...
145 - matt dugan -
Round 1 - Cole Baxter - Butler - L - 5-1
- in the first round matt had to wrestle the SW district champion, undefeated sophomore cole baxter. after a scoreless 1st period, matt chose bottom to begin the 2nd and escaped to take a 1-0 lead. Baxter then took matt down with about 10 seconds in the 2nd to go up 2-1. Baxter took bottom and matt let him up. Baxter added a takedown to nail down the 5-1 victory.
1st Round Consolation - Mike English - Lower Dauphin - L 2-0
- matt then wrestled mike english from lower dauphin in his first consolation. matt got in on a high crotch shot at the end of the first, however the short 1st period allowed english to not give up the takedown. matt chose bottom to start the 2nd. english was able to stop matt from escaping for the entire period to keep the score tied at 0-0. english took bottom to begin the 3rd. matt almost had english turned a few times however, english was able to slip out with 15 seconds to go to give him the win at 2-0.
matt dugan finishes his year with a 30-6 record and a career record of 106-35
160 - Kevin Mallon -
Round 1 - Jim Sheptock - Northampton - L - 6-0
- kevin had to wrestle district 11 champion and two time state medalist jim sheptock in the first round of states. sheptock is currently ranked 7th in the country by win magazine. During the 1st period, kevin was in deep on a few shots but was unable to finish on sheptock. Sheptock used a snapdown, go behid to take a 2-0 lead. Kevin was able to escape and the score was 2-1 at the end of 1. Kevin took down to start the 2nd and escaped to tie the score at 2. Sheptock was able to take kevin down 2 more times to take a 6-3 lead to end the second. Sheptock took bottom to begin the 3rd. Kevin was able to hold him down but was unable to turn him to keep the score 6-3.
1st Round Consolations - Luke Etter - Big Spring - L -5-3
- after a scoreless 1st period, kevin took down to begin the second. after a wild scramble, etter was able to slip in a bar and tilt kevin to take a 3-0 lead to end the second. kevin let etter up to begin the 3rd to be down 4-0. kevin took etter down to make the score 4-2. kevin then let etter up to make the score 5-2. kevin began to attack relentlessly but it was too late. a stalling point against etter made the score 5-3.
kevin finished the season with a record of 35-7 and a career record of 104 - 23.
thank you to all who have been keeping up with north catholic wrestling. dont worry, next season begins officially in 8 months!!!!
here are the results...
145 - matt dugan -
Round 1 - Cole Baxter - Butler - L - 5-1
- in the first round matt had to wrestle the SW district champion, undefeated sophomore cole baxter. after a scoreless 1st period, matt chose bottom to begin the 2nd and escaped to take a 1-0 lead. Baxter then took matt down with about 10 seconds in the 2nd to go up 2-1. Baxter took bottom and matt let him up. Baxter added a takedown to nail down the 5-1 victory.
1st Round Consolation - Mike English - Lower Dauphin - L 2-0
- matt then wrestled mike english from lower dauphin in his first consolation. matt got in on a high crotch shot at the end of the first, however the short 1st period allowed english to not give up the takedown. matt chose bottom to start the 2nd. english was able to stop matt from escaping for the entire period to keep the score tied at 0-0. english took bottom to begin the 3rd. matt almost had english turned a few times however, english was able to slip out with 15 seconds to go to give him the win at 2-0.
matt dugan finishes his year with a 30-6 record and a career record of 106-35
160 - Kevin Mallon -
Round 1 - Jim Sheptock - Northampton - L - 6-0
- kevin had to wrestle district 11 champion and two time state medalist jim sheptock in the first round of states. sheptock is currently ranked 7th in the country by win magazine. During the 1st period, kevin was in deep on a few shots but was unable to finish on sheptock. Sheptock used a snapdown, go behid to take a 2-0 lead. Kevin was able to escape and the score was 2-1 at the end of 1. Kevin took down to start the 2nd and escaped to tie the score at 2. Sheptock was able to take kevin down 2 more times to take a 6-3 lead to end the second. Sheptock took bottom to begin the 3rd. Kevin was able to hold him down but was unable to turn him to keep the score 6-3.
1st Round Consolations - Luke Etter - Big Spring - L -5-3
- after a scoreless 1st period, kevin took down to begin the second. after a wild scramble, etter was able to slip in a bar and tilt kevin to take a 3-0 lead to end the second. kevin let etter up to begin the 3rd to be down 4-0. kevin took etter down to make the score 4-2. kevin then let etter up to make the score 5-2. kevin began to attack relentlessly but it was too late. a stalling point against etter made the score 5-3.
kevin finished the season with a record of 35-7 and a career record of 104 - 23.
thank you to all who have been keeping up with north catholic wrestling. dont worry, next season begins officially in 8 months!!!!
WERE HEADING TO HERSHEY!!!!!!
NORTH CATHOLIC WRESTLING PLACES 12TH AT SOUTHEAST REGIONAL. SENDS TWO TO STATES!
the north catholic wrestling team wrapped up a great weekend at their first ever southeaster pa regional at oxford this weekend. north catholic brought 8 wrestlers fighting for a shot to go to the piaa state championships this weekend in hershey pennsylvania. (the top 4 advance to the state championships.) here are the highlights....
Mike McCall - 103 - round of 8
mike went 2-2 on the day. he made it to the round of 8. he missed placing by 1 match and advancing to states by 2 matches. mike wrestled extremely hard. he finished his season with a record of 34-9.
David Davidson - 119
david went 1-2 in the tournament. he opened up with a tech-fall win. he then lost to the eventual champion from council rock north. david finished his season with a 30-14 record.
TJ Van Horn - 130
tj had a very hard draw in the tournament. he finished 1-2 to end his north catholic career. tj wrestled like a warrior this weekend. he fell a bit short of his goal but im sure he will bounce back. tj was chosen to wrestle in the pa-nj all-star classic on March 11th. TJ finished his season with a 32-10 record. he also finished with 113 career wins!
Shane Rand - 140
shane went 1-2 at regionals. not bad considering it was up in the air that he was going to be able to wrestle in the postseason at all! shane lost to the eventual 2nd place finisher and 3rd place finisher. shane finished his season with a 21-14 record.
Matt Dugan - 145 - 3rd place
matt became north catholics first state qualifier with a 3rd place finish. matt went 4-1 in the tournament. he lost to the eventual champion pennridge. matt came back to win 3-1 with a takedown in the 3rd with 30sec to go to punch his ticket to states.
Kevin Mallon - 160 - 3rd place
kevin joined matt on the podium and punched his ticket with a 3rd place finish. kevin may go down in history of giving me the biggest hart attack ever in this second match of the tournament against devon passman from central bucks east. kevin was on his back for 40 seconds in the final period. i dont think i can ever go through that again! kevin went 4-1 on the day and has a season record of 35-5
AJ VIZCARRONDO - 189
aj had a tough weekend. he opened up with the eventual champion in the first round. he wrestled tough but lost a close decision. he then was winning 9-2 when he got headlocked and pinned in the wrestle backs. aj was not happy. he was planning on starting his march to states the day after the tournament ended. he finished his freshman campaign with a 29-18 record. he is on pace to shatter the career win totals at north catholic.
Jeremy Reith - 215
jeremy finished the tournament 1-2. jeremy showed a lot of improvement as the season went on. jermey had a pretty modest jv record his freshman year. this year, he finished with a 21-16 varsity record with about half of those losses coming in the first 3 weeks of the season.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT NORTH AT THE REGIONS...
- north finished in 12th place. 2.5 points out of 10th.
- 75 teams were represented
- north only had 1 pin in the tournament. with a few more we would have moved in the top 8.
- north went 14-14 in the two day tournament.
- north had a huge fan base at the tournament. the cheers heard with every win was awesome!
- i still get chills thinking about matt dugan pointing up to the fans after his consolation semi-final win....PRICELESS!!
LASTLY....
i was hoping to have some podium shots of kevin and matt but cosimo was in the bathroom when they were on the stand. not bad since this was cosimo's only job of the weekend...
Thanks for all who have been following us this season. if you see kevin or matt wish them well at hershey. we are not content on just showing up! we want some hardware!
the north catholic wrestling team wrapped up a great weekend at their first ever southeaster pa regional at oxford this weekend. north catholic brought 8 wrestlers fighting for a shot to go to the piaa state championships this weekend in hershey pennsylvania. (the top 4 advance to the state championships.) here are the highlights....
Mike McCall - 103 - round of 8
mike went 2-2 on the day. he made it to the round of 8. he missed placing by 1 match and advancing to states by 2 matches. mike wrestled extremely hard. he finished his season with a record of 34-9.
David Davidson - 119
david went 1-2 in the tournament. he opened up with a tech-fall win. he then lost to the eventual champion from council rock north. david finished his season with a 30-14 record.
TJ Van Horn - 130
tj had a very hard draw in the tournament. he finished 1-2 to end his north catholic career. tj wrestled like a warrior this weekend. he fell a bit short of his goal but im sure he will bounce back. tj was chosen to wrestle in the pa-nj all-star classic on March 11th. TJ finished his season with a 32-10 record. he also finished with 113 career wins!
Shane Rand - 140
shane went 1-2 at regionals. not bad considering it was up in the air that he was going to be able to wrestle in the postseason at all! shane lost to the eventual 2nd place finisher and 3rd place finisher. shane finished his season with a 21-14 record.
Matt Dugan - 145 - 3rd place
matt became north catholics first state qualifier with a 3rd place finish. matt went 4-1 in the tournament. he lost to the eventual champion pennridge. matt came back to win 3-1 with a takedown in the 3rd with 30sec to go to punch his ticket to states.
Kevin Mallon - 160 - 3rd place
kevin joined matt on the podium and punched his ticket with a 3rd place finish. kevin may go down in history of giving me the biggest hart attack ever in this second match of the tournament against devon passman from central bucks east. kevin was on his back for 40 seconds in the final period. i dont think i can ever go through that again! kevin went 4-1 on the day and has a season record of 35-5
AJ VIZCARRONDO - 189
aj had a tough weekend. he opened up with the eventual champion in the first round. he wrestled tough but lost a close decision. he then was winning 9-2 when he got headlocked and pinned in the wrestle backs. aj was not happy. he was planning on starting his march to states the day after the tournament ended. he finished his freshman campaign with a 29-18 record. he is on pace to shatter the career win totals at north catholic.
Jeremy Reith - 215
jeremy finished the tournament 1-2. jeremy showed a lot of improvement as the season went on. jermey had a pretty modest jv record his freshman year. this year, he finished with a 21-16 varsity record with about half of those losses coming in the first 3 weeks of the season.
SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT NORTH AT THE REGIONS...
- north finished in 12th place. 2.5 points out of 10th.
- 75 teams were represented
- north only had 1 pin in the tournament. with a few more we would have moved in the top 8.
- north went 14-14 in the two day tournament.
- north had a huge fan base at the tournament. the cheers heard with every win was awesome!
- i still get chills thinking about matt dugan pointing up to the fans after his consolation semi-final win....PRICELESS!!
LASTLY....
i was hoping to have some podium shots of kevin and matt but cosimo was in the bathroom when they were on the stand. not bad since this was cosimo's only job of the weekend...
Thanks for all who have been following us this season. if you see kevin or matt wish them well at hershey. we are not content on just showing up! we want some hardware!