By Mike Moore
Sports Correspondent
Set back by lingering injuries in the starting rotation, the Catholic Central baseball team began to find its groove on the opening night of its annual Metro Classic Challenge.
The Hilltoppers tallied their first win by topping Gibraltar 6-3 on Friday night at Beaumont Field. With his usual stable of pitchers either ailing or short on rest, Coach Tom O’Connell turned to junior Nolan Girard against the Door County high school.
Usually the one giving the signs to the pitcher, the standout catcher proved comfortable on the mound. He covered five innings without surrendering a run.
“We were kind of in a bind,” O’Connell said. “He responded very well.”
Girard, who pitched a few innings last season, also went 2-for-4 for Catholic Central (1-2). One of those hits went for a double.
Things looked downright sunny for the Hilltoppers when they brought out pitcher Tegan Miles for Saturday’s game against Kimberly. The senior had been unable to pitch because of a back injury he suffered during the basketball season.
Unfortunately, that debut was washed out after only a couple of batters. Lightning and heavy rain led to the cancellation of the remaining tournament games.
Earlier in the week, on April 9, the Hilltoppers lost a home game 9-5 to Milwaukee’s Riverside University High School. After falling behind 6-0 early, they rallied with four runs in the fourth inning but crept no closer.
Although Riverside was ranked 18th among Division 1 schools in the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association’s preseason poll, much of the damage to Catholic Central was self-inflicted. Its pitchers gave up 10 walks, and the hitters left runners stranded on base.
“We had chances early in the game to score runs and didn’t capitalize on them,” O’Connell said.
Girard went 2-for-4 in that contest, as well. Junior Jobe Wagner, one of the players battling to be the regular shortstop, went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases.
But Mother Nature may have dealt the cruelest blow of the week. Weather disrupted Catholic Central’s tournament for the third straight year.
Not being able to face Kimberly disappointed O’Connell. The Papermakers, who entered the season ranked No. 4 in Division 1, brought 60 players down from the school in the Appleton area.
“I like to play the bigger schools, to have our guys go against top competition, because it makes them stronger,” he said. “You’ve got to have a lot of mental toughness.”
Catholic Central, itself ranked 10th in Division 4 by the WBCA before the season, also had been scheduled to play Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday. The games will not be made up.
On the plus side, the team now has 10 days off to rest its ailing arms. Besides Miles, junior pitcher Kross Krueger has dealt with tightness in his triceps.
After the Easter layoff, O’Connell hopes to have his core group of four pitchers available. That coincides with the point of the season where he typically allows the starters to pitch deeper into games.
“Hopefully, when we start back up again, it’ll be like a new year,” he said.
The Hilltoppers open Metro Classic Conference play April 22 against St. Thomas More in St. Francis.
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