The Bishop Hendricken baseball team is heading back to the Final Four, but the road there certainly wasn’t easy.

The Hawks lost to La Salle 2-1 last Wednesday to fall into the losers’ bracket, before defeating North Providence and La Salle twice to punch their ticket to McCarthy.

Facing elimination, Hendricken defeated La Salle 3-2 in a game that spanned two days and 14 innings to set up a winner-takes-all game with the Rams on Monday.

The Hawks would carry the momentum they built in the marathon game over to Monday. Their offense scored five runs over the first two innings and Matt Kennedy went the distance on the hill, tossing a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts en route to a 5-0 victory.

Hendricken head coach Ed Holloway was pleased to be going back to McCarthy, but he felt that the offense, in particular, could’ve played a more complete game.

“We certainly built some momentum [Sunday],” Holloway said. “The key was getting out early, one in the first, four in the second. But, to be honest, I’m kind of disappointed because we kind of died after that.”

Kennedy yielded two singles in the top of the first, but he would work out of the jam and only get stronger after that.

And Hendricken’s offense would strike early to help its ace settle in.

Matt Sweeney drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the first, and he would come around to score thanks to some sloppy play from La Salle’s battery.

Sweeney advanced to second on a passed ball, before jogging to third on a wild pitch by Ryan Ramos. Another passed ball allowed Sweeney to sprint home with the game’s first run.

And, in the bottom of the second, Hendricken broke the game open.

Nico Salvaggio drew a walk to lead off the inning and Tucker Flint followed with a single to put runners at the corners with no one out.

A chopper to short off the bat of Colin McBride was good enough to plate Salvaggio to make it 2-0, and Hendricken was far from done.

The No. 9 hitter, Andrew Hopgood, followed with an RBI single that scored Flint, lunging at a low, outside pitch and flaring it to right field.

Dante Baldelli launched a double to continue the hit parade, scoring Hopgood to make it 4-0 and knock Ramos out of the game.

Monday marked Ramos’ third start against Hendricken this season. Although Ramos had a great deal of success in his first two outings, Hendricken wasn’t going to change its approach at the plate.

“It didn’t matter, him or anybody, we’re just trying to get the first guy on every inning,” Holloway said. “We wanted to get good pitches to hit, not chase curveballs. I thought we were patient and the energy was there, especially early in the game.”

La Salle then brought in Will Lonardo out of the bullpen, who was welcomed rudely by Sweeney, as he lined an RBI double on the first pitch to score Baldelli and make it 5-0.

Hendricken wouldn’t score after that second inning, but those runs were all that Kennedy needed.

The offense getting up early benefited his confidence tremendously.

“We usually don’t score runs until later in the game, so when that happens, it just boosts my confidence so much,” Kennedy said. “It lowers [La Salle’s] confidence, so it makes the game a lot easier.”

Kennedy was lights out after the first inning.

After allowing a pair of singles to two of the first three batters he faced, Kennedy didn’t allow a hit for the rest of the game.

His breaking ball was sharp and he was spotting up his fastball at will, resulting in a high strikeout total of 11.

“My curveball was really on and I had a lot of tilt on my fastball, so that really helped,” Kennedy said. “And I think that was the umpire who called my no-hitter against Pilgrim. I knew his zone and it was awesome.”

La Salle put two on in the fourth, but nothing materialized.

With two down in the inning, Peter Rouse drew a walk and Kennedy hit Sean Dandeneau with a pitch, but the right-hander would strike out Michael McCann to end the threat.

In the seventh, La Salle also put two on after an error and a walk to Dandeneau to start the inning.

But, once again, Kennedy would maneuver out of the jam.

He struck out McCann for the third time for the first out, before Jordan Huntoon flew out to Baldelli in center.

The runner at second tagged and went to third, but he clearly left early. Hendricken appealed and the umpire called him out to end the game.

Holloway has been impressed with Kennedy, particularly over his last four or five starts. He’s arguably throwing the ball better than anyone in the state right now, and that’s the kind of pitcher Holloway and the Hawks need Kennedy to be as the playoffs push forward.

“He’s been getting stronger over the last four or five starts he’s had,” Holloway said. “He gets stronger as the game goes on, which is good because that’s always the worry with the heat. He pitched great and kept [La Salle] in check. That was the difference in the game.”

Hendricken will now play Cranston West in a best-of-three series for a trip to McCoy Stadium.

The Hawks and Falcons played to a 1-1 tie in the season series, with each team winning a one-run game at home.

“All the teams are good right now, so it doesn’t really matter who we play, we just have to play good ball,” Holloway said.

Game 1 of the series was set for Wednesday night, but inclement weather pushed the start of the series back a day. Hendricken and West will now play Game 1 tonight at 7:30 p.m. Game 2 will be played Friday at McCarthy at 5 p.m. If the series goes to a third game, that will be played on Saturday at a time to be determined.