As one of six freshman starters on varsity in 2021, senior John Hughes realized quickly he was going to be part of significant Nazareth Academy baseball history.
“We came in, won 27 games, made a sectional. That year, all of the freshmen contributed,” Hughes said. “We knew for sure we had a special group of guys. The coaches knew. Everyone knew. I think we capitalized on it pretty well.”
The incredible run by the seniors and the Roadrunners came to an end Friday with a 5-3 loss to Mt. Carmel in the Class 4A Reavis Sectional final. Nazareth (37-1) hoped to pull off yet another state title in this season’s move to 4A after back-to-back state championships in 3A.
The season’s end was made tougher by saying goodbye to six Division I four-year varsity seniors — Hughes (North Carolina), Cooper Malamazian (Indiana), David Cox (Illinois Chicago), Nick Drtina (Louisville), Luca Fiore (Illinois Chicago) and Cole Reifsteck (Belmont). There were 14 seniors on the roster, including Danny Gentile of Riverside.
“This class is going to go down as one of the greatest classes in the history of the state,” Nazareth coach Lee Milano said. “As good as they are as baseball players, they’re even better people.”
The only loss of the season also ended streaks of 46 straight victories and 17 straight in playoff action. In all, the four-year seniors combined for 132 victories (27-34-34-37). This was the Roadrunners’ most victories in any season.
“I don’t know how many classes have that many wins in state history. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime group,” Milano said.
“We’ve had probably the craziest four years any class has had in the state,” Malamazian said. “Obviously you want to come out on top every game. We’re thankful for the last four years we’ve had. Especially right now you feel the emotions, but it’s baseball.”
The Roadrunners nearly had another victory Friday against Mt. Carmel (22-15). Nazareth tied the game 3-3 on Malamazian’s 353-foot home run over the left-field scoreboard.
But the Caravan hung tough behind sophomore pitcher Jake Matise, who threw more than 100 pitches over his six innings, along with big defensive plays. Then they scored runs in the sixth on a wild pitch and the seventh with a single, sacrifice and single. Providence beat Mt. Carmel 3-2 in Monday’s Crestwood Super-Sectional at Ozinga Field.
“It was a good game. [Mt. Carmel] flat-out beat us,” Milano said. “It’s a one-game playoff every playoff game. You play enough games, it’s not going to go your way and today just wasn’t our day.”
Nazareth had six hits but just one after the third. The Roadrunners took a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-out, two-run double by Drtina after Malamazian walked and junior Jaden Fauske doubled. Fauske and Malamazian each had two hits.
Malamazian singled with one out in the seventh after leadoff hitter Luca Fiore was robbed by center-fielder Kolin Adams’ diving catch. Hughes pitched the first three innings, followed by Andrew Kouris and Malamazian (2 innings each).
“It’s baseball and that’s why baseball’s great because anything can happen on any given day,” Hughes said. “We were on the wrong end of it today, but we’ve been on the right end of it a lot of times. Luck runs out sometimes.”
In the sectional semifinals, May 29, Nazareth beat St. Ignatius 5-0 as Cox (6 strikeouts in 6 innings) and Kouris combined on a four-hit shutout. Junior catcher Chuck Roche had three doubles.
“[I’ll remember] practicing, the games. The state championship games,” Malamazian said. “I won’t forget any of these four years of my life, the impact that this team has had on me, Coach Milano, all of the other coaches. It’s special.”