A beautiful night in May was the setting for an intense playoff match up between cross town rivals St. Mary and Notre Dame. These teams have faced off many times throughout the years in the both the regular season and in the playoffs. History has not been kind to the St. Mary’s girls, as Notre Dame has bested them in recent years.
St. Mary’s team entered the tournament as the winner of the regular season and hopeful this would be the year they changed history. Both teams fought hard through the innings, but St. Mary’s team came out the winner in a 5-3 victory. St. Mary team member, Sarah Boggs said, “we each had an inning where we struggled, but I think we just wanted it more, “ and Anna Gertsner said, “it was just great to get this win after 3 years of trying”.
Parent, Donna Barson said, “We were all beaming, almost tearing up, with fellow parent Bridget Boggs adding, “the girls were so proud but showed good sportsmanship because for as thrilled as they were, they were humble too. ”Coach Joe Schultz commented, “Great group of girls to coach! From March 1 in the gym with snow on the ground to a beautiful evening championship, these girls had the focus on this game and really had fun for the last three months. We told them early on that we were going to expect more from their level of play. They accepted the challenge and delivered…
I can’t say enough good things. Thanks to my great coaches: Laurie Organiscak, Paul Gerstner and John Schaefer. Thanks to Chris and Tim Bock for handling score-keeping duties. Thanks to the St. Mary’s Booster Club for their support. Thanks to all the parents for sacrificing part of their spring, getting the girls to all the games and sharing in the chaos and fun with us.”
It seems as if a great rivalry will continue as St. Mary’s has finally brought home their own trophy and I’m sure girls from all the CYO teams will come ready to play and be prepared to rematch in next year’s season.
