The 2008 Fenwick baseball team made its way into the school’s athletic record books on Saturday with a dazzling slugfest-most of which was buoyed by a gale-force wind blowing out.
The Friars belted seven home runs, including back-to-back-to-back jacks, to down the Ramblers 13-7 in the opener of a Chicago Catholic League doubleheader. The slugfest reversed itself a bit in the nightcap as Fenwick fell 17-4.
Will Darley, Reid Rooney and Mike Falsetti each hit two dingers apiece in the first game. The trio hit first-pitch homers-all over the centerfield fence-back-to-back-to-back in the second inning. Rooney finished with four RBIs, while Darley drove in three.
“Obviously, the wind played a major factor in those home runs, but they were towering shots that’s for sure,” said Fenwick head coach Dave Hogan. “We’ve had back-to-back homers before but never three in a row, and never on the first pitch, and hit in the same exact location like that. It was something to behold.”
Cam Verbeke earned the win on the mound for the Friars. Verbeke battled the wind, giving up seven runs-four earned-on nine hits. He walked eight and struckout six.
Loyola (12-5, 6-2) answered in the nightcap with a little power-hitting of its own. Chris Serritella had two solo homers for the Ramblers.
Falsetti knocked in all four runs for Fenwick with a grand slam in the third inning-his third homer on the day.
“We had momentum going our way briefly,” said Hogan, whose team was down 6-4 after the blast. “But then we couldn’t control the ball on defense and we couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
The Friars committed four errors and Loyola scored 11 runs in the fourth.
Fenwick was coming off a sweep of Providence. On April 23, the Friars defeated Providence 9-8 in 10 innings after resuming a previous game that was postponed due to darkness. They then downed the Celtics 6-3 in the nightcap. Joe Sweeney picked up the wins in both games.
The Friars, who are 5-4 in the CCL, travel to St. Rita for a doubleheader on Saturday (11 a.m.).