2011 Season Review

For the first time since 2003, the Roncalli Baseball Team captured the Marion County Championship by holding onto a 10-8 victory over the Lawrence Central Bears at Victory Field.

Led by Head Coach Keith Hatfield, who was a senior on the team that won in 2003, Roncalli stunned the Bears ace Christian Montgomery, scoring five runs in the first inning, in route to the win.

Seniors Alex Ritchie and Ryan Parrott led the opening scoring attack with two RBI-triples, followed up with a three-run triple by junior Joey Mulinaro.

After the quick start by the Rebels, the Bears answered in the bottom half of the inning with four runs of their own, causing Coach Hatfield to bring senior Alex Simpson in to relieve starting pitcher junior Chase Steinbrunner for the top of the second inning.  The Rebels responded in the top of the third, by adding four runs, moving up their lead 9-4. Yet again, Lawrence Central answered scoring runs in two runs in the third, reaching within three of Roncalli’s lead.

Simpson pitched three scoreless innings, and the Rebels registered another run, taking a 10-6 lead into the bottom of the seventh in the process. The Bears marked two runs on the board in the seventh, before a 4-6-3 double play ended the contest, sealing the second Marion County title in school history for Roncalli, 10-8.