The Fenwick baseball team’s season ended Saturday with a loss to a familiar foe. The Friars fell to rival Oak Park 8-4 in the Mt. Carmel Sectional Championship, ending an impressive 2008 campaign.
The two teams were tied 4-4 in the top of the fourth when Oak Park’s Jo Jo Maldanado belted a three-run homer to break the game open for the Huskies.
Fenwick (22-10), fresh off an impressive 7-6 sectional semifinal victory over Mt. Carmel last week, drew first blood against the Huskies. With Mike Stephany and Reid Rooney aboard via a walk and double, respectively, catcher Mike Falsetti (2-for-2) hit a bloop single to right that scored Stephany. The Friars then executed a double steal that scored Rooney to take a 2-0 lead.
Fenwick struck again in the second when Stephen Puisziz started the frame with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Joe Ketcik. Two hitters later, Rooney hit a gapper that scored Puisziz.
“I felt bad for Cam,” said Fenwick coach Dave Hogan of Cam Verbeke, his starting pitcher. “He had only had two bad pitches and boy did they capitalize on them with those two [home run] shots. We knew Oak Park was going to score runs, but we left too many guys on base especially in the last three innings.”
In the fifth, Fenwick loaded the bases with one out, but Scott Rasley fanned Puisziz and Ketcik flied out to right to end the inning.
The Friars made one final push in the seventh as Colin Tobin, Puisziz and Ketcik all walked to load the bases yet again. However, Rasley battled back by getting Brian Moore to hit into a game-ending double play.
“I thought we had Oak Park,” Stephany said. “They got a couple of key hits which put them back in the game. I’ll never forget this game. I live in River Forest, and I know all these guys from Oak Park.”
The feeling of mutual respect echoed in Oak Park’s dugout.
“A lot of us are friends,” Oak Park pitcher Drew Golz said. “It was really a fun game to play. It’s even tough to see them lose.”