June 1, 2016 // Local

ICCL championship game and CYO City Meet records broken

Todays Catholic

ICCL championship game

By Joe Kozinski

SOUTH BEND — A perfect evening was the setting for the enchantment that is baseball as the Inter-City Catholic League was to crown their 2016 Champion.

The Saints of Mishawaka Catholic, behind the golden arm of Thomas Egan, faced off against the upstart squad from Corpus Christi that was pieced together using bubble gum and shoestring at the beginning on their campaign.

Both teams had navigated through the regular season facing typical ups and downs and then a post season that tested guts and resolve as they performed their swan song in front of 200 plus cheering fans.

Mishawaka Catholic’s right-handed ace and Cougar Matthew Jacobs engineered nearly perfect opening innings against the meat of their respective opponent’s order until Derek Durda’s seeing-eye single found the edge of the Saint’s outfield in the top of the second. After a couple of stolen bases, Jared Megyese’s squibber plated Durda giving the game it’s blemish on the scoreboard.

After a recorded strike out in the top of the third the bats again came alive for the Cougars as Braden Kaniewski doubled under the tag of Mason Wetty, setting the table for a two out base hit by teammate Connor Litka pushing the margin another run.

As the shadows of neighboring trees crept across the diamond in the bottom of the fourth inning, the once-dormant bats of the Saints jumped to attention as Hunter Renner started a rally with a leadoff double.

Mishawaka Catholic’s Egan drew a base on balls, and then a big blow from Ethan Allen jettisoned the purple and gold into a tie. He scored as Wetty’s nubber rolled safely in the infield.

The inning wouldn’t be over as the bases were loaded, thanks to a couple of free passes, and Corpus Christi went to a lefty in their bullpen and reliever Kaniewski did what was expected and struck out the only batter he faced ending the rally.

The Cougars didn’t get down on themselves, they got hungry as they bounced back by drawing a walk followed by consecutive hits from the heart of their order by Kaniewski and Ayden Clark — scratching themselves back into the lead by a run.

The Saints looked a bit rattled in the bottom of the fifth but a couple of walks and stolen bases later, with one out left no other than Wetty struck again as he drove in both runners reshaping the contest going into the final inning.

The Saints fate rested in the faithful arm of Egan as the fans stood and cheered as Corpus Christi’s players took their turn at the plate, one by one as the last batter drove a bouncer into the waiting glove of Josh Gill, his throw true to first basemen Allen, ending the contest 5-4.

“First our congratulations go to the Saints, but I’ll tell you I’m so proud of how our kids battled all season and where we started and where we ended up” commented Corpus Christi Skipper, Dave Johnson. “I look around and see the great fan base, kids that competed with all their might and I’m just so happy I can be a part of youth sports.”

“I’ve been fortunate to coach these boys over the last four seasons, I’m a bit sad it’s over,” remarked Saint Manager, Paul Allen. “What a game, they gave us everything they had, we hit and fielded well, but we leaned on the arm of Egan tonight.”

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CYO City Meet results

By Ron Busch 

The CYO track and field City Meet took place this year in less than ideal conditions. The temperature was estimated to be 45-50 degrees. As if that wasn’t enough, it was windy with occasional drizzle throughout the meet. However, that didn’t seem to bother the student-athletes. Competition was fierce as three individual records were set this year. Those records are shown with former records listed first.

In girls’ action:

100 meter hurdles 

Former record: 2008 Courtney Heddens (St. John New Haven) 17.66 sec.

New record: 2016 Rachel Landstoffer (St. Jude) 17.50 sec.

In boys’ results:

100 meter dash 

Former record: 2014 Colin Stroud (St. Vincent) 11.76 sec.

New record: 2016 Patrick Finley (St. Charles) 11.74 sec.

400 meter dash 

Former record: 2012 David Tippmann (St. Charles) 56.07 sec.

New record: 2016 Patrick Finley (St. Charles) 55.62 sec.

These new record holders also led their respective teams to first place finishes. First place in the girls’ team action was taken by St. Jude. The St. Charles Boys’ team, led by Patrick “Flash” Finley, ran off with top honors.

Team finish results:

Girls’ teams 

1. St. Jude (109 points)

2. St. Charles (107 points)

3. St. John (85 points)

4. St. Vincent (81 points)

5. St. Elizabeth (49 points)

6. Queen of Angels/Precious Blood (28 points)

7. St. Aloysius (19 points)

8. St. Joseph (3 points)

Boys’ teams

St. Charles (119 points)

2. St. Vincent (102 points)

3. St. Elizabeth (87 points)

4. St. Jude (60 points)

5. St. John (45 points)

6. St. Aloysius (27)

7. Queen of Angels/Precious Blood (9 points)

Highlights and individual results will be featured in an upcoming issue.

Softball championship

St. Jude  3,  St. Rose/St. Louis  0

More information will be provided at a later date.