Last season, the Fighting Irish of York Catholic finished third in Division IV of the York Area League with a record of 4-8, which, given the Irish’s once dominant play in the District 3 and PIAA state playoffs a decade ago, the subsequent climb back to the top has been a tough slug. This season, Division IV has been merged into an expanded Division III where the Irish will run into a few tougher foes on the diamond.
York Catholic got its first win of the season on the road against the Thunderbolts of Littlestown on March 26. The Irish jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead by belting three consecutive extra base hits to blitz the ’Bolts’ starting right-handed pitcher, Colton Kabrick. The Irish added another 3-spot in the fourth and held on for a 7-4 win on a bright, but chilly (low-40s temps) afternoon to post a key early league win. The Irish were clean in the field, committing two errors while the ’Bolts had five miscues. While modern baseball is all about slugging and big cut at-bats, old schoolers will tell you that great pitching and solid defense still wins you more baseball games in the long run.
In the pre-season pressday interviews, senior catcher Jack Lawrence told the press, “It’s time to come have fun for sure, but we want to win.” He also went on the say that building an atmosphere of winning now will help the younger players with great potential take the program back to its previous glory of winning big baseball games come playoff time in May when the weather is warm and the chill of March is but a distant memory.
(Photos by Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness.)
By Chris Heisey, The Catholic Witness
