May 27, 2015 11:57 PM
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Jubilant Central Catholic coach Tony LaCava took some photos on the field with his older brother, Tony, the assistant general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays. Central Catholic players celebrated with some of their parents.
Jack Tumulty had a silent celebration with his Dad — somewhere.
“I tried not to think about him during the game,” Tumulty said. “After the game, I just said to him, ‘I hope I made you proud.’”
Jack Tumulty Sr. was his son’s biggest fan before dying suddenly a year ago. Junior had a lot more fans after Wednesday night.
Jack Tumulty pitched a six-hit shutout that propelled Central Catholic to its first baseball championship in school history. The Vikings shut out Norwin, 2-0, in the WPIAL Class AAAA title game at Consol Energy Park in Washington.
Tumulty, a sophomore, pitched a gem. It was only the second shutout in 10 years of Class AAAA baseball championships. It came against a Norwin team that had not allowed a run in three postseason games. But Tumulty turned the tables. His performance was all the more special after what he went through with his father.
“His dad was awesome. He was at our practices or games every day,” Frank LaCava said. “I’m just so happy for him and his family. I tell him every day that his dad is still here watching. He did this with his dad.”
Tumulty struck out six, walked only one and the Vikings (12-7) played stellar defense behind him. It was the first time Norwin (15-5) was shut out since the 2013 season.
“That kid threw a heck of a game,” Norwin coach Mike Liebdzinski said. “I thought for sure we would get at least a few runs off him, but we weren’t able to.”
Norwin looked to be in great position in the fourth when Reno Rainey led off with a double and went to third on Nick Amendola’s single.
With no outs, John Druggers hit a grounder to third baseman Joel Shaffer, and Rainey broke for the plate. But Shaffer easily threw out Rainey. Tumulty then got two flyouts to end the inning.
“He’s a high school kid and he got excited a little bit and took off when he shouldn’t have,” Liebdzinski said. “But there were enough things we didn’t do well, other than that thing.”
Central Catholic scored single runs in the third and sixth innings. In the third, Matt Morrone doubled and scored on No. 9 hitter Antonio Falbo’s single.
In the sixth, catcher Dom DeRenzo hit a long double off the fence. Shaffer hit a grounder to Druggers, who threw to first for an out. Rainey then tried to throw out DeRenzo heading to third, but his throw got away, allowing DeRenzo to score.
This was Central Catholic’s second championship appearance. The other came in 1979 with a team that had Dan Marino, Tony LaCava and Mike Berger, now the GM of the Miami Marlins. Berger came to the game Wednesday after the Marlins were swept by the Pirates and was on the field after the game along with Joe Emanuele, coach of the 1979 team.
You could say Central Catholic is an unlikely champion. In the first round, the Vikings scored six runs with two outs in the final inning to win by a run, and they trailed by two runs in the final inning of their semifinal game.
“We’re known mostly as a football school and a hoops school,” Frank LaCava said. “I’m just honored to say I’m part of a team that won a championship here. It’s been a crazy season. Honestly, I didn’t think we would be where we’re at. It’s just a no-quit team that loves playing with each other.”
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1975 and Twitter @mwhiteburgh.
First Published May 27, 2015 7:58 PM
