There will be no trip to the class 1A state tournament this year for the Bishop Garrigan baseball team, as the #9 ranked Golden Bears season came to an end in the class 1A – substate 3 championship game with a 10-3 loss to #3 ranked Newman Catholic in Forest City.
After a tightly contested five and a half innings, the Knights removed all doubt with a five run bottom of the sixth inning. With Newman Catholic leading 5-2, Andrew Fitzsimmons began the inning with an infield single, but the inning looked like it would end quietly after that. Bishop Garrigan’s starting pitcher Daniel Meis, still working in the sixth, induced back to back flyouts, as Newman Catholic had a runner at first and two outs, but the inning unraveled for Bishop Garrigan after that. A Meis balk moved pinch runner Thomas McGuire to second base, then a groundball by Gage Peterson got past Bishop Garrigan third baseman Keaton Helleseth for an error and scored the first run of the inning, making the score 6-2. A single by Cal McGuire and an intentional walk to Malachi O’Brien reloaded the bases for the Knights. Another free pass to Vinny Joslin scored a run to make the score 7-2, then a three run triple to right field by Toby Kesten gave the Knights a 10-2 lead. Five straight batters reached, and five runs scored in the inning, all after the second out had been recorded by Meis.
Newman Catholic did the bulk of their scoring in the late innings, turning a 3-2 lead into a 5-2 lead with a couple of big runs in the fifth. Cal McGuire led off the frame with a double and O’Brien was intentionally walked to put runners at first and second. A sacrifice bunt by Joslin moved the baserunners to second and third, and a well executed squeeze bunt by Toby Kesten made the score 4-2, as Bishop Garrigan had to settle for the out at first base on the play. The Golden Bears were on the verge of limiting the damage to one run, but a wild pitch with two strikes on the next batter West Cole scored another run to give Newman Catholic a 5-2 advantage.
Bishop Garrigan never led, as Newman Catholic struck for their first run in the bottom of the first inning. Peterson was hit by a pitch from Meis to start the game, a bunt moved the runner to second, and O’Brien brought home the first run of the game, attacking the first Meis pitch he saw for an RBI single to center field. The Golden Bears would turn a 6-4-3 double play against Joslin after that, limiting the Knights to one run in the first.
Bishop Garrigan scored their first run of the game in the third inning after a quiet first trip through the batting order against O’Brien, who started on the mound for Newman Catholic. A one-out double to deep left field by Tate Foerstch and a double down the left field line by Drew Lappe tied the game. Carter Schwab followed Lappe with the Golden Bears third straight base hit, singling to left-center. Lappe was held at third base as Schwab advanced to second base with the throw getting away from the cutoff man. With runners at second and third with one out, O’Brien extinguished the threat, striking out Benjy Trainer and Keaton Helleseth to end the inning.
For most of the night, Bishop Garrigan could not come up with the big hit they needed against O’Brien, stranding 11 runners on base. The Golden Bears left runners on first and second base in the first, fourth, sixth, and seventh innings. In the fourth, Bishop Garrigan could not take advantage of back to back two out errors by Newman Catholic, as O’Brien fanned Foertsch to end the inning.
Newman Catholic broke the 1-1 tie and took the lead for good in the fourth inning, as O’Brien led off with a triple. Joslin brought home a run after that with an RBI single, then later in the inning, Kellen Kantaris walked with the bases loaded to make the score 3-1. The Knights had an opportunity for an even bigger inning, with the bases still loaded and only one out, but back to back fielders choice outs at home got Bishop Garrigan out of the inning without further damage.
Bishop Garrigan fought back for one run in the top of the fifth, as Drew Lappe walked to lead off the inning, then with one out, a hit and run by Benjy Trainer resulted in a single and runners at the corners. After O’Brien struck out Helleseth, the Golden Bears called for a rundown play, as Trainer left first base and stayed in a rundown long enough to allow Lappe to score from third and make the score 3-2.
O’Brien got the win for Newman Catholic, pitching 5.2 innings of four hit ball, walking three and striking out 13 before hitting his pitch count limit and passing the baton to Adam Henrich with a 5-2 lead. Henrich picked up a save, pitching the final 1.1 innings, striking out three, walking one, and allowing one run on two hits. Meis went the distance on the mound for Bishop Garrigan, allowing nine hits and walking six while striking out two. He allowed 10 runs, only five of which were earned.
Bishop Garrigan ends the season with a 24-6 record, while Newman Catholic is now 31-5 and advances to the state tournament for the 26th time in program history.
