John Carroll sweeps into the MIAA A baseball finals

Rain forced them to wait a couple of extra days, but the John Carroll Patriots are on their way to the MIAA A Conference baseball championship series after defeating Mount St. Joseph, 5-2, on the road Thursday afternoon, to complete a two game sweep of the Gaels in their best-of-three semifinal playoff series.

John Carroll (26-8), the top seed, will face second-seeded Calvert Hall (23-9), which completed a two-game sweep of Archbishop Spalding, on Wednesday, ending the Cavaliers three-year run as league champions. The best-of-three will begin on Saturday at John Carroll (11 a.m.). Game two will take place at Joe Cannon Stadium on Sunday and, if necessary, game three will take place on Monday.

Kiernan Deremiek delivered from the mound for the Patriots, throwing a complete game five-hitter, allowing only single runs in the first and fifth innings.

Trailing 1-0 entering the fourth, John Carroll jumped on top with a two-run home run by Miguel Leon. The long ball helped the Patriots grow the lead in the fifth with a home run from Joey Coudon. Michael Goldsmith got that run back for the Gaels (13-3) with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Pats then took a commanding 5-2 lead on back-to-back RBI singles by Drew Jourdan and Brycen Altland in the seventh.

Calvert Hall has won a league most 12 A Conference baseball crowns but the Cardinals have not won the championship since 2019. John Carroll, which swept the Cardinals in three meetings this season, has never won the A Conference championship.