Archbishop Spalding baseball wins its fourth A Conference championship in five years

by James Peters

Archbishop Spalding had a disappointing start to the 2026 MIAA A baseball playoffs, but the ending was most satisfying.

The second-seeded Cavaliers began postseason play with a loss to third-seeded Calvert Hall, but they responded with five straight victories, concluding with Wednesday’s dramatic 4-3 walk-off win against top-seeded Mount St. Joseph at Joe Cannon Stadium, to capture the program’s fourth title in the past five years and eighth overall.

Spalding won three straight, including a double-dip of Calvert Hall, to win its double-elimination divisional bracket, followed by two straight over the Gaels to sweep the best-of-three championship series.

“We talk about adversity and being tough all the time,” Cavaliers coach Joe Palumbo said. “We do a lot of mental training, and they played their best baseball with their backs against the wall. It’s all you can ask for from a group of young men. They just had a fight mentality all week long, so to win, five games straight against really good compeition–it’s an awesome run and an awesome memory that they’re going to have the rest of their lives.”

The Gaels, looking for their first title since 2004, prolonged the experience of that cherished moment, tying the contest at 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning with two outs. The rally started with Trevor Mentz grinding out a walk, followed by a pair of wild pitches, and an infield hit by Chase Nemec to end Spalding starter Arian Vargas’s bid for a complete-game victory.

“That’s what this team has done all year,” said Mount St. Joseph’s coach Phil Kraska, whose squad topped the MIAA A standings entering tournament play and finished at 23-6 overall. “They just kept doing it.”

The drama continued in the bottom of the seventh as M.J. Marll singled and then reached third on an error at second base on a potential double-play as Mentz was unable to secure the throw from Yaniel Escalera-Pena, putting runners on the corners with no outs and forcing Kraska to switch starter Colin Harrison (eight strikeouts) to reliever Petyon Wholey. 

Noah Vasey then laced a 0-2 pitch up the middle to score Marll and seal the championship.

“I had a couple of strikeouts earlier in the game; I was really just trying to stay simple, not trying to do too much,” Vasey said. “I fell back 0-2 in the count, but I got a pitch I could drive, and I put it up the middle. It’s unbelievable. I actually blacked out. I’m proud of my team. We fought back. A lot of haters said we couldn’t do it, but we got it done.”

Spalding (27-7) looked to jump out to an early lead, but lefty Harrison worked out of a potential jam in the bottom of the first as a double by Anthony Badillo and a hit batter put runners on the corners with two out, but Michael Thompson grounded out to end the threat.

The Cavaliers left two more on base in the second following a single by Vasey and a walk worked by Tyler Jones, but a force play on a Braeden Martin grounder ended the inning. They did not, however, squander their next opportunity in the third as Badillo singled, stole second, reached third on a groundout, and then home on what was essentially a swinging bunt by Marll to the left side of the infield that Gaels' third baseman Maison Walsh was unable to field. Harrison limited the damage, however, with back-to-back strikeouts.

“It started from that first game,” said Badillo, who went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a run, and an RBI. “They kind of had the hunger to go out and beat us in game one. We had the hunger, too, but we fell a little short. I think from there, it was kind of a punch in the face.

“The next day, we had a hard practice, and then we just kept battling after that. We had our backs against the wall, and we just wanted to keep on battling.”

Mount St. Joseph, which stranded a runner at second in the first and third innings, finally broke through in the fifth on a two-run double to right field by Escalera-Pena for a 2-1 lead. The rally was aided by a costly error at first on a potential inning-ending double play ball.

Spalding came right back to tie the contest on a high-bouncing ground ball off the bat of Marll that got over the glove of Gaels' second baseman Trevor Mentz and into right-center field to score Cruz Luna’s courtesy runner Lucas Rocha from first base with two outs in the fifth.

The Cavaliers then regained the lead at 3-2 on a mammoth ground-rule double to right field by Badillo to score pinch runner Imani Ukiteyedi, who ran for Brady Mamula. Mamula started the rally with his own double to right field.

Vargas worked a pair of flyouts to start the seventh inning before walking Mentz, tossing the two wild pitches, and allowing the Nemec infield hit. He faced four batters or less in five of his 6-2/3 innings of work.

“He emptied the tank for us this week,” said Palumbo of Vargas. “He’s a workhorse. He’s a bulldog. Whatever catch phrase you want to use for that kid: he’s got it all. I’m very fortunate to have coached him for four years. I would have loved to see him finish it out, but he gave us an incredible outing. He was one of the big reasons we were able to walk it off there in the seventh.”

B Conference

St. Paul's moved into the driver's seat of the B Conference double-elimination championship tournament with a 15-1 rout over host Park School in the winners' brack final. The win advanced the Crusaders into the tournament finals where it will have two chances to win one game and capture the championship. The Crusaders will meet the winner the tournament's final elimination game, which will see Severn visit Park on Friday. The first game of the finals is set of Sunday at 4:00 p.m., at Joe Cannon Stadium. The second game, if necessary, will also be at Joe Cannon on Monday.

St. Paul's scored five times over the first three innings to build a 5-1 lead over the Bruins, who won the only regular season meeting between the two teams. The Crusaders grew their lead to 8-1 after six and capped things off with a seven-run top of the seventh. St. Paul's pounded out 17 hits in the win.

Luca Miller stroked two triples in the win and Drew Mitchell had a double and a triple. The pair combined for three runs scored and four RBI. In addition, Jaidyn Thornes drove in three with a bases-loaded triple.

On the mound, Eli Livingston worked five strong innings, allowing just five hits and Park's lone run, in the first inning, to get the win.

In the elimination bracket, Severn rolled to a 12-6 win over Mount Carmel to earn its trip to Park on Friday.

C Conference

Concordia Prep, which scored 18 runs in its previous tournament win, added 12 more in the winners' brack final and the Saints needed every one of them to outlast St. Vincent Pallotti, 12-11, to reach the finals of this double-elimination tournament undefeated.

The win also came in dramatic fashion, as Concordia scored four times in the bottom the seventh to claim the walk-off victory.

Amari Cook's two-run double in the top of the seventh gave Pallotti an 11-8 lead and a clear path to victory. Concordia, however, responded with a one out, two-run home run by Jordan Mentzell to pull witin one in the home half of the seventh. Wyatt Brintnall was then hit by a pitch and pinch runner Rylan Jackson reach second on a ground out to set the stage for Concordia to walk it off, literally.

Another walk and a hit batsman loaded the bases for the Saints, who then tied the score on a four-pitch walk by Liam DeVincenzo and plated the winning run when Carter Milam drew another walk.

The teams combined for eight home runs in the friendly confines of Concordia' field. In addition to Mentzell, the Saints got long balls from Ben Burton, RJ Samuels and Wyatt Brintnall. DeVincenzo added a triple and Jonathan Couser stroked a double.

Pallotti's Gus Chakmakian hit three home runs, all solo shots, in the loss. Makhai Barber also homered for the Panthers, while Amari Cook and Robert Gambale each doubled.

Concordia advanced to Sunday's tournament finals at Joe Cannon Stadium (1:00 p.m.), where it needs just one win to claim the championship. The second game of the finals, if necessary, will also be at Joe Cannon on Monday.

The Panthers will get one day of rest before traveling to Beth Tfiloh on Friday to battle for the other spot in the finals. Beth Tfiloh earned its place in that game with a 9-4 win over Key School on Wednesday.