York Catholic scores first win, runs away from Delone Catholic
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Joe Gurreri entered this week unsure what to expect.
The York Catholic baseball coach had only one full-time starter back from the Fighting Irish's postseason run to last year's district finals and state tournament. He planned to start a freshman and a handful of sophomores this season.
Two days in, the coach feels better.
A 13-5 win Wednesday against visiting Delone Catholic helped. The Squires are the defending YAIAA Division IV champions and return a little more experience than the Fighting Irish.
"To play as well as we have, I'm proud of the guys," said Gurreri, whose team left Gettysburg on Tuesday with a 3-3 game suspended after seven innings.
"We didn't know how we would perform. We had no games. We had five postponements."
Of the young crew, sophomore Will Catterall took the mound at Gettysburg. He moved Wednesday to third base while senior Jake Krevetski — the lone starter back — took a pitching turn.
Catterall batted fifth, behind a freshman cleanup hitter and a sophomore in the leadoff spot. Krevetski and C.J. Burnside hit between them, and the seniors' swings were instrumental in setting the tone against Delone Catholic starter Jimmy O'Boyle.
"This is definitely a great confidence booster," Burnside said. "We're definitely very excited about this win."
Neither team took control early. Each time one scored, the other side answered. They traded blows until York Catholic's seven-run fifth, which Burnside called an "intense" inning. The Irish (1-0) belted five hits, took advantage of two errors and everyone got a turn to bat while Delone (1-2, 1-1) swapped pitchers.
"They had some good pitchers," senior designated hitter Brady Wilking said, "but we got them at the right time."
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Delone returned a pair of all-league performers in O'Boyle and catcher Austin Roth. The Squires possess more veterans, but had made a defensive change or two even with them. Afterward, coach Doug Arnold stressed his team would address its defensive miscues Thursday in practice. Delone committed five errors, a product of more practices in a gym instead of a field.
"You can't really do anything outfield wise in the gym," Arnold said. "You can't make excuses, for sure, but it's something we need to work on better."
He credited a young York Catholic team, which capitalized and supported Krevetski's pitching effort.
"They played us tough," Arnold said. "They hung in there, and Jake's a heck of a player. He's one of the best players in the league, and their younger guys battled."
Of those younger guys, sophomore leadoff hitter Dillon Hippensteel batted 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Catterall added two more hits and two RBIs. The seniors, specifically Burnside and Wilking, also helped.
"I guess you could say it's eye-opening, but I think we knew," Wilking said.
His reasoning behind not being so surprised was the experience gained years ago during the summer. Wilking, Burnside and others played for their church team against other teams around York County. In their first meeting against a rival, it paid to the tune of 12 hits in what turned into a comfortable win.
"Anytime we can beat Delone, it's a nice thing," Gurreri said.
Contact Matt Goul at 771-2045.
York Catholic 13, Delone Catholic 5
Delone Catholic | 001 | 121 | 0 | — | 5 | 3 | 5 |
York Catholic | 001 | 372 | x | — | 13 | 12 | 3 |
DC, Jimmy O'Boyle, Tyler Groft (5), Ethan Slusser (5), Dylan Hartlaub (6) and Austin Roth. YC, Jake Krevetski, Brenden Kennedy (6) and Frank Skehan, Bill Walker (5).
SO-BB — DC, O'Boyle 5-4, Groft 0-2, Slusser 0-1, Hartlaub 0-0. YC, Krevetski 4-4, Kennedy 0-1; W — Krevetski; L — Groft; 2B — YC, Kennedy; 3B — YC, Krevetski, C.J. Burnside.