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Ritter Gets Past Providence in 2A; Cathedral Climbs Over Columbus North in 4A

June 11, 2017

By Pete Cava

PBR Indiana Correspondent

PLAINFIELD – With semistate victories at Plainfield High School on Saturday, Class 2A Cardinal Ritter and 4A Cathedral advanced to the 51st Annual Baseball State Finals next Friday and Saturday at Victory Field in Indianapolis. 

The two Indianapolis-based schools find out next week when they play, after the Indiana High School Athletic Association announces the two-day schedule. 

Cardinal Ritter’s Raiders will square off against the Raiders of Wapahani (Selma), while Cathedral takes on the Penn Kingsmen (Mishawaka). Wapahani and Penn also won semistate matchups on Saturday. 

The two games at Plainfield took place under mostly sunny skies with gusty winds and temperatures in the mid-eighties. 

1A/2A No. 3 CARDINAL RITTER 5, No. 2 PROVIDENCE 1

Senior right-hander Blake Malatestinic fired a five-hitter to knock off the defending Class 2A champion Pioneers and send the Raiders to next weekend's title game.

A year ago, Clarksville-based Providence nipped Lafayette Central Catholic 7-6 for the 2A crown. Cardinal Ritter (27-3), winners of the Indiana 2A football title last autumn, will head to the state baseball finals for the first time in school history.

Malatestinic, an Eastern Illinois recruit and this year's Indianapolis City Player of the Year, allowed one walk and struck out six en route to a complete-game victory. “It felt pretty good,” he said afterward. “We all played together as a team. We wanted to jump on them early and we did, and we had our lead.”

Providence (27-5) threatened in the top of the first after Jake Lewis reached base on an infield error with one away. Lewis stole second as Malatestinic fanned the next Pioneer batters. With Reece Davis up, Lewis swiped third. He took off for home when the pitch sailed past catcher Dillon Olejnik, whose peg to Malatestinic nailed Lewis at the plate.

Two Pioneer errors in the bottom of the frame contributed to three Raider runs. Kyle Price drew a one-out walk from Providence left-hander Jake Lewis and moved to second on Jake Kluemper's bloop single. Malatestinic's grounder forced Price at third. The next batter, Ben Egenolf, lined a shot off the glove of Lewis, who retrieved the ball and fired to first. The throw was wild, and Kluemper raced home for the first Cardinal Ritter run. Malatestinic took third on the play, and scored on Brian Bacon's line single to right. Egenolf took off for third on Bacon's hit, and when the throw from right field was over the Providence third sacker's head, Egenolf rode home for a 3-0 Raiders advantage.

Cardinal Ritter added a run in the bottom of the second on a leadoff double by Henry Woodcock and Kyle Price's two-out single.

Malatestinic pitched hitless ball until Lewis singled with one out in the top of the fourth. Preston Taylor, running for Lewis, stole second and flew home when Tommy Borden grounded a hit through the left side of the Raiders infield.

Lewis came out in the bottom of the fourth with runners at the corners after a one-out walk to Henry Woodcock and Dillon Olejnik's line single down the right field line. Providence skipper Scott Hornung replaced Lewis with right-hander Reece Davis, who started the game at first base. Brian Eisele, running for Olejnik, stole second. With the Pioneer infield drawn in, Reece got the next batter on a grounder to second. But Woodcock rode home on a passed ball for a 5-1 Cardinal Ritter advantage.

The one-hour, forty-minute contest ended on a leaping catch by right fielder Ben Egenolf that punctuated the Raider victory.

After the game, fourth-year Cardinal Ritter coach Dave Scott showered praise on Malatestinic. “He's a special kid,” said Scott. “He's been in this situation before. He doesn't get rattled. We feed off him. He's just an exciting player. He's fun to be around. He's a great, great kid.”

Scott also singled out the two-sport Raiders who were part of last year's state championship football squad. “There's our center fielder (Jake), Kluemper, (catcher Dillon) Olejnik, (first baseman Henry) Woodcock, (Ben) Egenolf, the guy who made that catch at the end. He's as athletic as can be. Those are the key guys.”

The Cardinal Ritter crew has no intention of slacking off in the coming week, according to Malatestinic. “We're still gonna work hard,” he said. “We didn't come this far just to participate. We came to win.”

Malatestinic said he wasn't on hand to watch Providence's 2016 triumph at Victory Field. “The last time I was there for the state championships was my freshman year, when we went to semistates” he added. “I knew then I was gonna get there before I left.”

4A No. 2 CATHEDRAL 6, COLUMBUS NORTH 0

 Nick Eaton and Tommy Kafka combined on a six-hit shutout to send the undefeated Irish (28-0) to the state championships for the first time since 2013. 

“A good day,” said first-year skipper Ed Freije, a 1999 Cathedral graduate who played for the man he replaced, Irish legend Rich Andriole. “I’m happy for our guys and our staff. We came out ready to play.” 

The current winning streak isn’t something the Cathedral coaches and players dwell on, Freije said.“It’s not necessarily something we talk abut a whole lot,” he explained. “But it is one of those things. At this point, lose and you’re done, so we’ve got to keep it going. The guys really embrace that, and today they came out and fought.”

The Irish took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Columbus North starter Parker Maddox plunked the first two Cathedral batters, Tommy Kafka and Charlie Gomez. One out later, Irish cleanup hitter Kevin Flood drove the first pitch he saw to the center field fence for a triple. Flood sped home when the throw to third was off the mark. 

“Those three runs in the first are always important,” said Freije. “It’s nice to start out with a lead and go out there with Eaton on the mound.” 

Eaton held the Bull Dogs (17-13) hitless until Wade Rankin’s infield hit in the top of the third. 

Cathedral struck again in the bottom of the inning. Jared Poland opened the frame with a single and took second on Flood's hit. Jake Andriole drew a walk, and when ball four skipped past the Bull Dogs catcher, Poland came home to increase the Irish lead to 4-0.

Columbus North wasted an opportunity in the top of the fifth when a two-out walk to Grant Tinkle and Tyler Finke's single to center gave the Bull Dogs runners at first and third. The rally fell short when the next batter flew out to center.

The Irish added a run in the bottom of the frame on a walk to Eaton, a sac bunt by Jack Myers, and Jake Andriole's RBI single up the middle.

Bull Dogs coach Ben McDaniel relieved Maddox with left-hander Logan Jones in the sixth. Cathedral scored its final run when pinch-hitter Jack Kozyrski drew a bases-loaded walk.

Tommy Kafka relieved Eaton in the top of the seventh, moving from second base to the mound.The senior right-hander closed out the two-hour contest with a strikeout, igniting a Cathedral celebration on the field and in the stands. 

Senior third baseman Kevin Flood and junior center fielder Mack Murphy paced the Irish attack with two hits apiece.

Eaton gave up five hits over six innings, walking two and fanning six. Asked if Saturday’s win was the biggest of his career, the Indiana U. commit replied: “I’d say so. Definitely. I just tried to come out and have all of my three pitches going for strikes early. The offense putting up six runs is huge.That helped me out.”

Eaton is expected to get the nod in next weekend’s title game against Penn. It’ll be his second start this season at Victory Field. “I like it a lot,” said Eaton about the International League ballpark, where he pitched a complete-game victory over Heritage Christian in the City Championships on May 15.“I guess City was kind of like a warmup for state.” 

While Coach Freije never made it to the state championships as a player, he served as one of Rich Andriole’s assistants when the Irish played for all the marbles. “I don’t remember when off the top of my head,” said Freije. “But this is our staff’s first trip, and Cathedral’s first since 2013. So these guys are hungry. They’re excited about it, and they deserve it.” 

Pete Cava is the author of “Tales From the Cubs Dugout” and “Indiana-Born Major League Baseball Players: A Biographical Dictionary, 1871-2014.”

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