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Division 4 Team Of The Week: 4th Edition - Cardinal Mooney

MARINE CITY - Six wins that included three shutouts has Cardinal Mooney on a roll.

“I believe we started off the season ranked ninth in Division 4 and I would have agreed with that then, but this team seems to overcome adversity recently no matter what the situation is,” explained David Bowen, the first-year head coach of the Prep Baseball Division 4 Team of the Week. “We’ve beaten some higher division teams than the division we play in, yet no movement in our rankings. That gives us a little chip on our shoulders, which I'm fine with.”

Now 14-5 on the season, the fifth-rated team in D-4 by Prep Baseball won four games over perennial state power Riverview Gabriel Richard, the 11th-ranked Division 4 team in Michigan, 5-2, 8-2, 13-3 and 1-0 last week while shutting out Lumen Christi twice, 2-0 and 5-0.

“George Szep continues to put up crazy pitching stats,” pointed out Bowen, an assistant at Mooney the past four seasons before taking over for Mike Rice as head coach this year.

Szep was 2-0 this past week, giving up five hits and no earned runs in 11 innings with 17 strikeouts to push his season numbers to 6-0 with a 0.92 ERA. In 34.2 innings, the 40th-rated senior right-handed pitcher in Michigan has 55 Ks and opponents are batting just .164 against him.

At the plate, Cameron Spezia has been huge. In the 5-0 win over Lumen, the 198th-rated junior in the state was 3-3 with a home run and three RBIs.

The Mooney roster features four college commits. Sergio Calagna (OF) is going to Madonna University, Anthony Girling (IF) is headed to Adrian, Charlie Rzeszutek (LHP) is an Alma signee and Ty Boedeker, the 33rd-rated senior shortstop in Michigan, is committed to Macomb.

“What has surprised me the most about this team is the ability of these players to believe in themselves and trust our process as a team to get to the level we as coaches want them to be at,” Bowen explained. “What a difference it makes when you trust the process.”

A doubleheader tonight with D-2 23rd-rated Divine Child is expected to decide the Catholic High School League regular-season champion, with Mooney currently in first, percentage points ahead of Divine Child. The league semifinals are Thursday with the finals next Tuesday.

“Our keys to success are simple,” Bowen concluded. “We throw strikes, we play defense and we hit the ball. When we do that, the scoreboard takes care of itself.”

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