Nazareth baseball dispels Madison Ave. curse with win at Bethlehem Catholic

Bethlehem Catholic’s baseball team surged to a 5-0 lead in the first inning on Wednesday afternoon.

And Nazareth coach Bryan Wolf couldn’t help but think, “Here we go again.”

Wolf had a grand total of zero wins at Bethlehem Catholic during his tenure as Blue Eagles skipper, which began in 2013.

“My guys told me there’s no such thing as curses or jinxes, and we were going to go out and win the game,” said Wolf, the son-in-law of former Golden Hawks baseball coach and athletic director Mike Grasso.

Nazareth, ranked No. 4 by lehighvalleylive.com, rallied for a 10-6 victory over No. 5 Bethlehem Catholic in an Eastern Pennsylvania Conference East Division contest, exorcising the Madison Avenue curse that’d tormented the program.

The Golden Hawks (8-4 overall, 3-2 division) couldn’t have asked for a better opening inning. Starting pitcher Petros Tsihlis, a junior, retired the Blue Eagles in order during the top of the first.

Bethlehem Catholic’s Bryce Blawn, another junior, led off the bottom of the frame with an infield single and found himself on third base after a pair of wild pitches. Senior Brayden Rader drove in Blawn with a single up the middle for the game’s first run.

After Caden Deegan walked, Phillip Taylor shot another RBI knock between the second baseman and shortstop to plate Rader. Joey Richards was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Nazareth starting pitcher Aidan Butz fanned the following batter for the second out. Bethlehem Catholic senior Jeremy Fyrer fell behind 1-2 in the next at-bat but smacked a double to right-center field to clear the bases and give the Hawks a 5-0 advantage.

“Aside of St. Joe’s Prep (an 18-10 victory), that was probably our best offensive inning all year,” said Becahi coach Matt Corsi about the first. “... They beat us. They played better baseball than we did.”

The Blue Eagles (10-3, 4-1) erased the deficit by scoring three runs in each of the next three innings.

Nazareth opened the top of the second with four straight singles by Matthew Daems, Vincent Paar, Arye Pulli and James Tomoney to score a pair of runs.

“We had to stay focused; we had to stay in the game,” said Paar, a senior third baseman. “We knew we couldn’t give up. We had to keep working hard. We ended up jumping all over them.”

After a sacrifice bunt by Caden Mills, Jack Fitzgerald’s RBI groundout trimmed Becahi’s lead to 5-3.

Those were the first runs surrendered this spring by Tsihlis, who’s typically deployed out of the bullpen by the Hawks.

Daems, a junior, hit an RBI double to left field in the third to score Chase Kilareski, who walked. Paar tied the contest with a sacrifice fly, and a run-scoring groundout by Pulli pushed the Blue Eagles ahead 6-5.

“We felt the momentum swing,” Paar said. “Butz started to dial it in. He was really shutting them down, and then the bats started coming alive for us.”

Nazareth worked three straight walks from Deegan, who entered in relief, to force another run across in the fourth inning. Paar then shot a single through the left side of the infield to plate two more runs for a 9-5 edge.

“Teams have jumped on us in the first couple innings,” Wolf said. “We just get in the batter’s box, have quality at-bats, keep hitting the ball, keep running the bases and scoring runs ... We’re gritty, and we won’t give up on any game, no matter what the score is.”

Butz battled through 4.2 innings after his turbulence in the opening frame.

“He pitched like a senior,” Wolf said. “The first inning didn’t go well. It could have went a little different with a bounce here or bounce there. But, he gutted it out ... Aidan’s great.”

Hard-throwing left-handed sophomore Ryan Petruska pitched the final 2.1 innings for the Blue Eagles, striking out three while not allowing a hit.

“Once he found his rhythm, we were pretty confident over here that we were going to come out with the ‘W,’” Wolf said of the young reliever.

Rader and Taylor, a junior, each had a pair of hits for Becahi, which plays Easton on Thursday.

“This league is tough, tough, tough. There is no rest,” said Corsi, who along with Wolf is a new co-manager of the Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup team. “... They’re ready every day. When they’re in school, they can’t wait to get out here. They know every game is a game. You’re not going to run anybody over.”

Nazareth, which will play Pocono Mountain East on Friday, is now alone atop the East Division. The Blue Eagles, however, are without pitcher/shortstop David Bertz, who is sidelined indefinitely with a right wrist injury. Bertz is among the EPC leaders in hits, RBIs and ERA.

“Bertz is obviously a big loss. He’s a key piece of this team. He’s been doing great all year,” said Paar, who was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. “But, we’ve just got to stay focused. We have great guys to back him up, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to fill that spot for him.”

“I know it’s cliche, but it’s ‘next man up,’” Wolf said. “Caden Mills went out there and played a great game today (at second; Fitzgerald moved to shortstop) ... He’s been working towards his opportunity; he got it; and he’s taking advantage of it.”

With its 10th win, Nazareth is now the second team (behind Parkland) to qualify for the District 11 Class 6A tournament. There’s still a lot more work to be done, though.

“We’ve just got to come out every day and battle. It’s tough league,” Paar said. “Anyone can win on any day. We have to come out every day and fight.”

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Kyle Craig may be reached at kcraig@lehighvalleylive.com.