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For Wood's Lancellotti, an unbroken bond with his grandfather

Joey Lancellotti walked into the dugout at Neumann-Goretti last May already distraught over the loss that knocked Archbishop Wood out of the Catholic League playoffs.

Joey Lancellotti walked into the dugout at Neumann-Goretti last May already distraught over the loss that knocked Archbishop Wood out of the Catholic League playoffs.

The news he received from coach Jim DiGuiseppe, however, was much, much worse.

"I walked into the dugout, and coach was like, 'I have something to tell you. Your grandfather had a heart attack,' " recalled Lancellotti, now a junior righthanded pitcher for the Vikings.

John Ierardi suffered the cardiac event before the game at his home in Bensalem, and his family asked DiGuiseppe not to tell Lancellotti, who pitched that day.

"And he's like, my best friend," Lancellotti said. "I really look at him as my best friend, not even just a family member. That's how close we are."

Thanks to modern medicine and a quick-thinking neighbor, Ierardi was there on Tuesday as Lancellotti, a North Carolina commit, threw a no-hitter and struck out 14 against Neumann-Goretti, the defending league champion.

"It came full circle," said Ierardi, 74. "I didn't get to see him pitch then, but I got to see him pitch now. And it was a real thrill for me. I tried to hold myself in because I didn't want the parents to think that I was crazy. If it was up to me, I'd be screaming. I just tried to be calm."

Matt Palumbo, Ierardi's next-door neighbor, tried to stay calm last year when Marlene Ierardi burst from her front door after she couldn't wake her husband from a nap.

"She came over, crying and upset," said Palumbo, 31. "So I went inside with her, and he didn't look good. He had a purplish look to his face."

"It's ironic, because I was walking down the driveway to go out for food for my mother [Teresa Palumbo, who has brain cancer]," Palumbo said. "Had she come 30 seconds later, I would have been gone."

Palumbo, who had taken a CPR class at Bucks County Community College, spoke with 911 and administered CPR.

Paramedics took Ierardi to Aria Hospital at Frankford and Torresdale Avenues, where doctors lowered his body temperature to preserve brain function.

Paramedics told the family that Palumbo saved Ierardi's life and the quality with which the still-avid golfer lives it today.

That harrowing experience also brought Lancellotti, who transferred from Penn Charter last year, closer to his new team, which came to the hospital that night.

"The waiting room was literally covered in players and coaches," he said. "It was awesome."

And, of course, baseball, the game that always bonded grandson and grandfather, helped Lancellotti clear his mind when things looked bleak.

"He was [in the hospital] for a week and a half," Lancellotti said. "They didn't know if he was going to make it."

"I was in the batting cages every night basically trying to get better," he said. "I just kept saying, 'I just want to do it for Pop.' "

Lancellotti also credits his mom, Janine (Ierardi's daughter), and his father, Joe Sr., for supporting his love of baseball.

Now, the 5-foot-11, 205-pounder is a dual threat on the mound and at the plate for first-place Wood (7-2 overall, 5-0 league).

According to TedSilary.com, Lancelotti's no-hitter in the 6-0 victory was the first time Neumann-Goretti had been no-hit in a league game this century.

Lancellotti leads Wood with a .43 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings. He's hitting .320 with a team-high nine RBIs.

Though he isn't quite sure what he position he wants to play in college, Lancellotti said he'll let his coaches decide.

One thing is certain, not even college in North Carolina will keep his best friend away.

"I'll be there," Ierardi said, before the question could be finished. "Somehow. I'll sell my house and get an apartment. I'm about ready to do that. I can't leave him. I can't leave him."

cartera@phillynews.com

@AceCarterINQ