Harvey delivers as Carroll tops N-G

EVAN HARVEY enjoys no gimmes in battles vs. family members for sports recognition.

His brother, Joe, a product of the now-closed Kennedy-Kenrick High in Norristown, is a righthanded pitcher for the University of Pittsburgh. His cousin, Chris Harvey, who skipped his senior season at Germantown Academy to enroll early at Vanderbilt, is a part-time catcher.

"You have to bring something to the dinner table," Evan Harvey said, smiling. "You don't want to come home every night and just hear about what those guys did. You want to tell your own stories.

"The competition's pretty fierce, but I come up with some worthy performances."

Take Tuesday, for instance.

Archbishop Carroll bested visiting Ss. Neumann-Goretti, 5-4, in a frisky Catholic Blue game played before an involved crowd in nearly perfect weather, and the 6-foot, 215-pound Harvey, a senior first baseman and cleanup hitter, emerged as one of the heroes.

He went 2-for-3 with a walk (intentional) and two RBI, and the ribbies came on a double in the five-run fourth. In fact, that ringing smash to left capped the uprising and permitted the Patriots to wave bye-bye to a 3-3 deadlock.

Shortly into the game, Jake Keszczyk, the kicker for Carroll's football team who was seated in a lawn chair on the incline not far from first base, made a promise to pay Harvey $20 for a homer.

Turned out it was hollow.

As Harvey trotted out to first for the visiting fifth, Keszczyk hollered at him with a laugh, "A little lift on that and I was leaving!"

Indeed, the ball had too much topspin.

"It would have been nice to get under it a little," Harvey said.

Harvey owns six home runs this season, but don't assume every one has been hammered out of Carroll's more-challenging, yet-still-small ballpark. Please respect the fact that four have been launched on the road, including one of 410-odd feet at Bishop McDevitt.

No fence there. Had to run it out.

"I was huffing and puffing, but I made it," Harvey said.

Of his hitting approach at Carroll, he noted: "In close games like this one, especially late, you're tempted to try to put a big swing on the ball. But I always try to go opposite field while keeping my weight back.

"After playing in this place for 4 years, you get the hang of it. You have to stay within yourself."

Harvey feels good to be known again as a slugger. He suffered a fractured disk while playing football as a soph and just this spring began to feel completely like his old self.

The two-run double was particularly satisfying, because Harvey failed to produce in the first with two runners on base. He killed the inning all by himself, pounding into a doubleplay.

"I was mad about not getting the job done," he said.

The Patriots could have used a spark, too, because N-G had posted a two-spot in the top half. Senior righty Eric McGough, largely impressive last season, has experienced wicked struggles mostly because of few hints of control.

In this one, he threw 50 pitches (30 balls) in the first inning and was one strike away from walk No. 6 when he fired a called third strike past Nicky D'Amore.

McGough lasted five frames, posting eight strikeouts and as many walks while allowing four hits. Exactly half of his 118 pitches were balls. Junior righty Richard Funchion went two innings for the save.

"I was overthrowing . . . But it's mostly been mental," McGough said. "I don't ever give up, though. Getting that strikeout to end the first was huge. As the game went on, all my confidence came back.

"That was a lot of pitches. I'll be feeling it [Thursday]. My adrenaline was pumping, and I wanted to go out for the sixth, but [opting for Funchion] was a good call by the coach. Not worth it to waste me for the rest of the year."

N-G's starter, senior righthander Joe Kinee, worked five-plus. He allowed eight hits and one walk (three drill jobs) while fanning six.

Joe DiWilliams (RBI double; 2-for-3 total) also cracked a big hit in Carroll's fourth. None of the Saints' runs scored on hits. Joe McGinley (sac fly) and Matt Simon (perfect suicide squeeze) managed RBI.

Joe Harvey, now a reliever, owns three saves and 18 strikeouts in 19 innings for Pitt. Chris Harvey has made 12 starts in 26 appearances for Vandy and boasts a .457 slugging percentage.

Evan Harvey, who wants to major in finance, has made tentative plans to attend Delaware and try to play baseball as a walk-on.

Hey, he needs more impressive stories.