PHILADELPHIA -- There are weeks that shape standings.
And then there are weeks that reveal who’s driving them.
This was both.
Behind a dominant stretch from Joey Pagano and another tone-setting performance from Thomas Shurtleff, two programs didn’t just win games — they created separation at the exact point in the season where it starts to matter most. Performances like these are exactly what the Philadelphia Baseball Review Weekly Awards — presented by Wheelhouse Cards, the official baseball card sponsor of the Philadelphia Baseball Review — are built to recognize.
Pagano set the tone offensively.
The Saint Joseph’s senior outfielder put together one of the most complete weeks of the spring, helping power the Hawks to a statement stretch that included a Liberty Bell Classic win over Penn and a firmer grip on the Atlantic 10 race.
He didn’t just produce — he controlled the pace of games.
Over five contests, Pagano went 9-for-21 (.429) with 8 runs scored and 9 RBIs, anchoring the middle of the order and delivering in the moments that tend to swing weekends. The defining performance came in a doubleheader at La Salle, when he erupted for four hits and seven RBIs in a single game, turning a competitive matchup into a runaway.
But the impact went beyond one afternoon.
Pagano reached base, worked counts, applied pressure, and created opportunities inning after inning. Against Penn, he helped establish early control with a multi-hit performance, setting the tone in a rivalry game that still carries weight locally.
By the end of the week, Saint Joseph’s wasn’t just winning — it was separating.
The Hawks extended their Atlantic 10 lead to five games, with Pagano right in the middle of it all. For a lineup that has searched for consistency at times, he provided something more valuable:
Stability. Production. Dominance when it mattered.
And on the mound, Shurtleff matched it — pitch for pitch, inning for inning.
For the second consecutive week, the Penn senior right-hander takes Pitcher of the Week honors, continuing a stretch that has turned him into the defining arm in the Ivy League race — and reinforcing why he’s been one of the most valuable arms in the region this spring.
This time, it came against Harvard.
Seven innings. Ten strikeouts. Complete control.
Shurtleff allowed just four hits and two runs, issuing only one walk while consistently getting ahead in counts. There was no wasted motion — just execution. When there were moments to escape, he didn’t bend. He finished them.
And it’s becoming routine.
The outing followed his 10-strikeout performance against Princeton the week prior, giving him 20 strikeouts over his last 14 innings, with just two runs allowed in that span. That’s not just a strong stretch — that’s command of a conference.
And it’s arriving at the right time.
Penn sits atop the Ivy League at 12-6, and Shurtleff has become the kind of arm that stabilizes everything around him. The Friday anchor. The tone-setter. The one who makes the path forward clearer.
There’s a difference between contributing to wins…
…and defining them.
This week, Pagano and Shurtleff did exactly that — the kind of performances that not only shape seasons, but are worth recognizing and remembering.
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