No. 7 Marist Rallies to Beat No. 2 Brother Rice in the DISW Championship Game
April 19, 2021
Marist and Brother Rice squared off on Saturday in the Do It Stevie’s Way (DISW) Championship Game. The Marist Red Hawks battled back late to take the lead and eventually come away with the win 5-3 and DISW Championship Title.
Marist, who was trailing the entire game, found themselves down 3-1 in the sixth inning. Luke Sefcik, a Central Michigan commit, started the inning for Marist with a ground-rule double, which was then followed by a double from Chazz Clark, a Xavier University (LA) commit, to put the RedHawks within one. Junior George Bilecki would reach base via an infield hit, putting runners on first and third for Cal Sefcik.
This hit by Sefcik, an uncommitted sophomore, gave the RedHawks a 5-3 lead, which they held onto the rest of the way.
Brother Rice (3-1) got off to a fast start, by scoring two runs in the first inning. Sophomore Zion Rose, A Louisville commit, started the inning by reaching base via an error. Rose then showed off his athleticism, stealing both second and third base, to put himself only ninety feet away from their first run. Will Flanigan, a junior, grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Rose and give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead. Cameron Hill, a senior Purdue commit, would get hit by a pitch to get on base, and eventually come around to score on a Nick Daugherty single to left field to make it 2-0 Crusaders.
The Crusaders extended their lead when Nick Cipriani started a two-out rally with a sharp single to left field. Rose would go on to hit a single of his own to left field and advance Cipriani to third base.
This passed ball would score Cipriani, giving the Crusaders a 3-1 lead at the time.
The Marist RedHawks scored their first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Noah Smith, a sophomore Louisville commit, started off the inning by ripping a double to left center that one-hopped the wall. Luke Sefcik would come up to the plate and stroke a single to right field to move Smith to third base. Chazz Clark would then proceed to rip a single to left field to score Smith and cut into the Crusader lead making it 2-1.
The RedHawks were led on the mound by junior Collin Amsden, went all seven innings, allowing one earned run and striking out three. Amsden featured a fastball that sat comfortably at 82-84 MPH. He also used an effective curveball at 70-72 MPH, and changeup at 73-74MPH that he kept down in the zone to keep the Crusaders off balance. Below is the final out of the game, clinching the DISW Championship.
With this 5-3 win Marist moves to 4-0 on the season.
For more in-depth notes from the games - and all other games that we cover - visit the Illinois Scout Blog.
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