Carroll Catholic Crusaders off to a 3-1 record to start the junior high baseball season

[August 21, 2017]   The Carroll Catholic Crusaders, who co-op in baseball with New Holland-Middletown and Zion Lutheran Schools of Lincoln and Mount Pulaski, are off to a quick 3-1 record to start the junior high season.

Carroll Catholic 4
Stephen Decatur 3

When the season kicked off last week for the Crusaders, the team hosted the Stephen Decatur Reds at the Lincoln Rec Center and came away with an exciting 4-3 come from behind win.

According to Head Coach Howie Fuiten, five Crusaders pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts while walking three batters and allowing just two earned runs.

Drew McCray was the starting pitcher and he was relieved by Jarrett Evers. Andrew Graue pitched the middle 2 2/3 innings and struck out five batters. Clay Aylesworth and Trent Koehler combined to finish off the Reds. Aylesworth struck out four batters and did not allow a hit or a walk. Koehler earned the win by striking out two batters in the final inning.

Koehler led the offense for the Crusaders. He was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four stolen bases. Koehler also had two RBIs, one being the game winner. It was his bases loaded walk off hit to the gap that broke the 3-3 tie and gave the Crusaders the first win of the season. Kyle Gellner scored the game winning run on Koehler’s hit.

Carroll Catholic 17
Springfield Calvary 0

The Crusaders dominated the Saints 17-0 on Tuesday at Spartan Park in Springfield. Last year the Saints beat Carroll Catholic in the Regionals, so the win this year was nice.

Trent Koehler and Andrew Graue started the game with back to back triples and they never looked back, according to Coach Fuiten. Koehler and Graue each had three hits and three runs scored. Jarrett Evers had two hits and three RBIs. Parker Graue and Kyle Gellner each recorded their first career hits for the Crusaders. Gellner finished with two hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. Clay Aylesworth had two hits in the ballgame, highlighted by a three-run home run. His four RBIs led the team.

On the mound, Aylesworth earned the win by pitching the first two innings, allowing one hit and no runs. Drew McCray pitched in relief.

Carroll Catholic 2
Heyworth 7

The Crusaders lost their first game on the road 7-2 to Heyworth on Wednesday. Three games in three days is tough on any pitching staff.

Andrew Graue started the game and struck out five batters and walked two. Heyworth scored three times in the first inning off Graue. Trent Koehler would pitch in relief and Heyworth managed a couple more runs off him. Offensively, Clay Aylesworth was a perfect 3-for-3 and scored the only two runs of the game for the Crusaders.

According to Coach Fuiten, the boys struggled early defensively and stranded some base runners along the way.

Carroll Catholic 15
Springfield St. Aloysius 0

The Crusaders dominated by a score of 15-0 in this Saturday game at the Lincoln Rec Center versus St. Aloysius.

The entire Crusaders offense contributed in the win, but of special mention is sixth-grader Daniel McCormick getting his first career hit. McCormick had a two-run single for Carroll Catholic. Jarrett Evers started for the Crusaders on the mound and he struck out seven batters. Aylesworth finished the game from the mound with a strikeout.

Carroll Catholic travels across town to face West Lincoln-Broadwell today at 4:30 p.m.

[Teena Lowery]