Guerin Catholic earned a Circle City Conference sweep on Wednesday, beating Bishop Chatard 4-0 at the Golden Eagles’ field.
The win gives Guerin an early 2-0 lead in conference play and also keeps the Golden Eagles perfect on the season at 3-0.
“Obviously the conference games are important, because they’re conference games and they have a little added emphasis, especially with the conference tourney at the end of the year, because you’re playing for seeding,” said GC coach Rich Andriole. “But mostly really, at this time of the year, as important as conference is and as much as we want to emphasize that, we really are just trying to be as consistent as we can every single day that we come out here, whether it’s a conference opponent or some other opponent, we’re trying to execute consistently and play at a consistent level.”
Guerin Catholic scored its first two runs in the first inning. With two outs, Nate Bingman drew a walk, then Luke Godfrey hit a single, advancing Bingman to second. Max Engelking was walked to load the bases, and Braden Reel cashed in with a center field base hit, getting Bingman and Godfrey home.
The Golden Eagles got their other two runs in the fifth inning. Keenan Taylor got on base with a line drive single, then stole second. Godfrey drew a walk, and Engelking stepped up to hit a right field double, sending Taylor and Godfrey in to score.
Meanwhile, Engelking was having a great day on the pitcher’s mound. He got the win, throwing five innings and striking out 10 while only allowing two hits. Bennett Ely pitched the game’s final two innings. After allowing two hits to start the seventh, Ely finished the game with three straight strikeouts; he totaled four overall.
Andriole called the efforts of Godfrey, the Golden Eagles’ catcher, “awesome.”
“He’s blocked balls, he’s made plays with his arm,” said Andriole. “And I think that sometimes he’s taken for granted, because not every team has a guy like that.”
Guerin Catholic is 3-0 and will next play at the Catholic Classic at Lafayette Central Catholic this weekend.
Guerin Catholic 4, Bishop Chatard 0
Guerin Catholic AB R H RBI
Keenan Taylor 4 1 1 0
Bennett Ely 4 0 1 0
Nate Bingman 2 1 0 0
Luke Godfrey 2 2 1 0
Max Engelking 2 0 1 2
Braden Reel 3 0 1 2
Sam Lewandowski 1 0 0 0
Dominic Ferrucci 0 0 0 0
Gavin Morrow 3 0 0 0
Wes Gingerich 3 0 1 0
Totals 24 4 6 4
Score by innings
Bishop Chatard 000 000 0 – 0 4 1
Guerin Catholic 200 020 x – 4 6 1
2B: Engelking. SB: Taylor.
Guerin Catholic pitching IP R ER H
Engelking (W) 5 0 0 2
Ely 2 0 0 2
Strikeouts: Engelking 10, Ely 4. Walks: Engelking 5.
Guerin Catholic’s Braden Reel hit a two-run single in the first inning of the Golden Eagles’ Circle City Conference game with Bishop Chatard on Wednesday. Guerin Catholic won the game 4-0. (Richie Hall)