By Mike Penn

Two of the better teams in the state faced off against each other on Tuesday evening.  Division I No. 1 Brother Rice visited Division III No. 1 Bishop Foley in a clash of Catholic League titans.    

Game 1

Game one featured two solid starting pitchers as Central Michigan commit Matt Constance took the mound for the Warriors of Brother Rice, while Brian Bayliss toed the rubber for the Ventures of Bishop Foley. It was the Ventures who drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning with a double off the bat of Senior Luke Ortel.  The Hillsdale commit, Ortel, homered off of Constance an inning later to push the score to 3-1 in favor of Bishop Foley.

While the offense scored off of the stingy Constance, Bayliss was just as impressive.  Sitting 84-87 MPH, Bayliss, who is committed to Owens Community College (OH), struck out ten hitters in a complete game effort.  He seemed to be ahead all night spotting both his fastball and slider.  Constance was solid in his own right with a fastball sitting 85-86 MPH, flashing 88 MPH, and throwing a complete six innings for Brother Rice. 

Game 2

Game two featured a number of underclassmen.  Rice sent freshman Josh Smith to the hill and Foley sent sophomore Garrett Schilling.  This matchup showcased two up-and-coming talents for both teams. However, it was not Smith's night as he did not make it through the first inning before giving up 3 runs. 

Schilling, on the other hand, was dynamite.  The 6-foot, 155-pound Schilling displayed three pitches for strikes.  His fastball ranged from 79-81 MPH and his curveball was around 64 MPH. He utilized all three pitches effectively to keep the Rice hitters off balance all night.  

Despite scoring three runs in the first, Rice settled down nicely with a good pitching performance from senior Scott Bateman who finished the game.  Rice did make it interesting in the top half of the seventh, sending the winning runs to the plate, however Brett Sunde shut the door for Foley.  Sunde, who caught both games, finished the seventh by inducing a ground ball from Rice third baseman Alex Malzone.  

At the end of the night, PBR Michigan caught up with Bishop Foley head coach Buster Sunde: "Tonight was a good test for us.  They are a good ball club and we wanted to see where we are as a team.  The boys got better tonight and we are looking forward to Saturday."

Next up for both teams are the semifinals for the league.  Games will be played at Madonna University.