The moment Archbishop Carroll coach John Pascucci finally exhaled came in the seventh inning.
With his Patriots clinging to a tense 3-0 lead against powerful Bonner-Prendergast in the Philadelphia Catholic League softball championship on May 22 at Conwell-Egan High School, senior Vickie Lehatto ripped a two-run double down the left-field line to provide the finishing touch on a historic afternoon.
“I never want to take any team for granted but honestly, I couldn’t relax at all until Vickie’s huge hit,” said Pascucci. “The whole thing is so gut wrenching. You just know you’re playing a team that at any point of the game can come back and take control.”
When the final pop up settled into junior shortstop Emily Russ’ glove moments later, two-seed Carroll had secured the first Philadelphia Catholic League softball championship in program history with a 5-0 victory over the top-seeded Pandas.
Ironically, Carroll was also the only team to defeat Bonner-Prendergast during the regular season, earning a 4-1 victory in the league opener on April 7 before bookending the season with an even bigger triumph.
“It felt absolutely amazing for all of us,” said junior pitcher Olivia Zanetich, who tossed a four-hit shutout while also contributing two hits, a run scored, and an RBI double. “We knew about the school not winning a PCL softball championship, but our goal as a team was to win a PCL championship, and making history in the process just made it that much better.”
Carroll seized control early.
Russ led off the game with a double and scored the game’s first run on an RBI double by senior Annette Engle.
The Patriots added two more runs in the third inning when freshman Camryn Hannon knocked in a run before Zanetich helped herself with an RBI double to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Still, against one of the league’s most dangerous offenses, nobody inside the Carroll dugout felt comfortable.
“It was nice to know we had a solid fielding team behind our outstanding pitcher,” Pascucci said.
That pitcher never wavered.
Using multiple selections from her arsenal, Zanetich frustrated the Pandas with her control, tossing 68 of her 103 pitches for strikes. To their credit, the Pandas worked three walks and collected four hits, but two of Zanetich’s five strikeouts stymied B-P threats in the fifth and sixth innings.
Archbishop Carroll won their first PCL softball championship, defeating Bonner-Prendergast, 5–0. (Photo by John Knebels)
“I have to just forget everything that happened the pitch before and focus on the next one,” said Zanetich. “It’s hard to say that there isn’t a psychological component because there is, but for me, if I don’t keep a clear headspace, I tend to mess up.”
Zanetich also took pride in delivering offensively in the biggest game of her career.
“I was very pleased,” said Zanetich. “I was speaking to my family before we went to the game and I said that I really wanted to pull through in this game for my team, since I haven’t really done super well all year at the plate. I was very glad that I was able to knock a run in and help my team win this game.”
Russ ignited Carroll’s offense throughout the afternoon, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and triple before catching the final out.
In a 17-2 District 12 championship win over Science Leadership Academy on May 28 – the program’s first ever – Russ remained red-hot by going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, and three RBI.
“We worked really hard on hitting at practice,” said Russ. “We started playing more as a team and started believing in ourselves more as the season progressed. We are more in sync with each other now.”
Engle contributed two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored in the final PCL game of her career.
“It’s definitely cool to have been a part of the first-ever PCL championship with this team and to have been a senior,” said Engle. “I definitely hope to see the younger girls continue to work hard like we did this year and fight their way to the championship again.”
The future appears bright for Carroll, which returns all but three players from its championship roster. Half of the Patriots’ 14 hits were contributed by underclassmen.
“Even though there are big shoes to fill with the seniors graduating, I think we’re ready for it,” said Hannon. “We have a lot of underclassmen who gained experience this season, so it’s exciting to think about how we can keep growing together.
“One of the biggest things I learned this year was how to stay calm in pressure situations. There were definitely moments when the games were really close, but I learned to trust my teammates and focus on what I can control. I think that experience will help a lot next season, especially now that we know what it takes to win.”
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Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on ‘X’ @johnkknebels.
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