Golden Eagles fly to first-ever sectional title

The REPORTER

The Guerin Catholic baseball team made a historic breakthrough on Monday.

For the first-time ever, the Golden Eagles won a sectional championship. Guerin Catholic triumphed at Class 3A Sectional 25 at Brebeuf Jesuit, edging out the host Braves 5-3 in the afternoon semifinal before sailing past Crawfordsville 10-1 in the championship game.

It was a memorable first season for GC coach Dave Schrage, who spent nearly 40 years coaching college baseball before coming out of retirement to mentor the Golden Eagles. Schrage understood the assignment after Guerin Catholic athletic director Ryan Davis took him into the Eagles Nest right after hiring Schrage and asked if he noticed anything.

“Yeah, baseball’s blank,” said Schrage.

“Yeah, we’re 0 for 20 years,” said Davis.

“Well, got to start sometime,” said Schrage. And the Golden Eagles started this spring.

“Real credit to our players, how hard they’ve worked this year,” said Schrage. “It was something we talked about way back in the fall when we first got together, and just great to see these kids accomplish this.”

While the sectional took place at Brebeuf, Guerin Catholic played as the home team in its semifinal game with the Braves. The Golden Eagles scored their first run in the first inning; Nolan Ratcliff got home after Carson Kail reached on an error.

Brebeuf went up 2-1 in the top of the third inning on a two-RBI single. Kail tied the game in the bottom of the third, scoring Ratcliff again with a left field double.

Ratcliff scored a third run in the fifth inning, with Grant Beard batting him in. The Braves tied the game in the top of the sixth with an RBI single, but Karson Smith put GC on top for good with a two-RBI left field hit that brought in Jackson Baker and Ratcliff for his fourth run of the game.

Ratcliff went 3-for-4 at the plate. Tate Troxell got the win, striking out 10 in six innings. Finn Holden pitched the seventh inning, striking out two.

Same energy

Beating their rivals got the Golden Eagles a date with the Athenians, so Guerin Catholic knew it had to stay focused.

“We just had to know that this team was coming to play and coming to compete,” said Holden. “The Brebeuf game, we had to push it behind us and had to bring the same energy to Crawfordsville.”

“After a big win like that against our (Circle City) Conference rival, we had to lock in and prepare for the championship game against another team,” said Troxell.

The Golden Eagles had the energy from the start, scoring three runs in the first inning. Kail doubled in Smith, then Brody Cain came in to run for Kail. Ian Taylor was next, and he doubled Cain home, then Taylor scored on an error.

Guerin Catholic added two runs in the second inning. Ben Canada kept the double parade going, sending Ratcliff home with left field line drive. Smith then singled in Canada for a 5-0 lead.

Crawfordsville scored its run in the top of the third on an RBI single. Holden answered that in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly that brought Troxell home.

The Golden Eagles finished things up with four runs in the fourth inning. Canada and Smith both scored on an error, then Taylor tripled Kail home. Taylor scored after Beard reached on an error.

Canada, Kail, Taylor and Daulton Phillips all had two hits, while Beard hit a second-inning double. Luke Gremelspacher went five innings for the win, tossing seven strikeouts. Holden struck out the side in the sixth inning, then Vaughn Schwietert closed things out in the seventh, including one strikeout.

Guerin Catholic is 17-12 and plays Cathedral in the regional on Saturday. The game site and time will be announced today.