By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – The Guerin Catholic baseball team is still perfect for the early season.
The Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 by winning their Circle City Conference opener Tuesday at Grand Park. Guerin Catholic beat Bishop Chatard 8-3, exploding for multiple runs in the first and fourth innings.
Will Fremion led off the Golden Eagles in the first with a base hit, and Anthony Ferrucci hit a single to move Fremion to second. Clay Patton drew a walk to load the bases, then Davis Wagner smacked a hit into center field, scoring Ferrucci and Fremion. Patton then scored on an RBI groundout from Sam Tabor, and that put Guerin up 3-0.
The Trojans got on the board in the top of the fourth inning, scoring a couple runs to cut the Golden Eagles’ lead to 3-2. But Guerin Catholic responded nicely, pouring in five runs in the bottom of the fourth.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases to start, with Bryson Dorsey hitting a leadoff single, Ryan Zimmerman getting a walk and Matt Cosell absorbing a hit by pitch. That brought up AJ Nunley, and he doubled into center field to score all three.
Guerin Catholic coach Keith Nunley said that hit was “a sparkplug for us to get rolling and I think our guys fed off that a little bit.”
Nunley got home soon after, as he scored on Fremion’s sacrifice fly. Ferrucci then got his second hit of the game, advanced to third base on an error, and was sent home by Patton’s sacrifice fly. Following that, the score remained 8-2 until the top of the seventh, when Chatard scored a run. But that was with two outs, and a groundout finished the game.
Ferrucci and Dorsey both had two hits. Patton got the pitching win, with five strikeouts in three innings. Zimmerman relieved him and got the save, tossing six strikeouts in four innings.
Keith Nunley is in his first year coaching the Golden Eagles; he previously coached at Monroe Central for five years. Nunley said he “can’t say enough” about the players he has for his first year at Guerin Catholic.
“They’re really learning,” said Nunley. “They’re buying in and just trying to have the right culture and trying to put them in competitive situations on a daily basis and they’ve done a nice job.”
Guerin Catholic travels to the Trojans’ field this afternoon to complete the conference series.
GUERIN CATHOLIC 8, BISHOP CHATARD 3
Guerin Catholic AB R H RBI
Will Fremion 2 1 1 1
Anthony Ferrucci 4 2 2 0
Clay Patton 2 1 0 1
Davis Wagner 4 0 1 2
Sam Tabor 2 0 0 0
Bryson Dorsey 3 1 2 0
Ryan Zimmerman 1 1 0 0
Matt Cosell 2 1 0 0
Cuinn Morrow 0 0 0 0
AJ Nunley 2 1 1 3
Caden Ratcliff 0 0 0 0
Totals 22 8 7 7
Score by Innings
Bishop Chatard 000 200 1 – 3 9 3
Guerin Catholic 300 500 x – 8 7 1
2B: Nunley. SB: Ferrucci. SAC: Fremion, Patton. HBP: Ratcliff, Cosell.
GC pitching IP R ER H
Patton (W) 3 1 1 3
Zimmerman (S) 4 2 2 6
Strikeouts: Zimmerman 6, Patton 5. Walks: Patton 5, Zimmerman 2.