WASHINGTON, D.C. - With a 6-0 victory over Scranton on Friday, Catholic has won its 30th game in the regular season for the first time in program history. Sophomore pitcher Roman Tozzi was his usual dominant self, earning his eighth win of the season with 7.0 shutout innings. 

The Cardinals have put together a 30-win season for the third time under Ross Natoli, but 2024 marks the first time they've done it prior to postseason play. The third-ranked team in Region V, the Cardinals will enter the Landmark Conference Tournament as the number two seed. 

Tozzi put the cap on what proved to be a remarkable first season in D.C., striking out six and allowing just one hit. The sophomore enters postseason play with an 8-0 record and an ERA of 1.82 in 59.1 innings. The southpaw has a WHIP of 0.84, striking out 69 batters and allowing a batting average of just .138. Sam Fairhurst pitched the final 2.0 innings in relief to close out the victory, striking out four, and lowering his ERA to 2.97 in 33.1 innings pitched. 

The Cardinals made life difficult for Scranton start Matthew Moreira, forcing him from the game without finishing the first inning. Catholic put up a five-run inning, tallying three hits and drawing three walks in the process. 

With runners on first and second and one out, Logan Eilbacher opened the scoring with an RBI double down the left-field line to score Steve Thomas. Mitchel Johnson would drive in Sammy Burman and Eilbacher with a line shot past the shortstop to make it 3-0 Cardinals. Jesse Lacefield was retired, but Derek Zelesnick ripped a two-out double to keep the inning going before a wild pitch scored Johnson. Now 4-0, Moreira issued a walk to Jack Elwell before exiting the game for Matt Scepkowski. Matt Perlin singled to score Zelesnick before Scepkowski finally got the Royals out of the inning. 

Burman drove in the final run for Catholic with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, scoring Thomas to extend the lead to 6-0.

With two RBI on the day, Johnson retook the team lead with 41 RBI in 2024, marking his second consecutive 40+ RBI season. His 41 runs batted in is tied for seventh in a single-season in program history. Tozzi becomes the fourth player in the last 13 years to earn eight or more wins in a season. His current ERA would rank fifth all-time in program history. 

With a 17-7 record in Landmark play, Catholic will be the number two seed in the tournament at Scranton next weekend. They will open up play with a rematch against third-seeded Scranton.