The Gehlen Catholic baseball team concluded their home regular season schedule with a 12-1 five inning victory over Sioux Central in non-conference play on Friday night.
Two hits and one run were all the Rebel bats could muster against David Begnoche who settled into a rhythm early on. He also recorded seven strikeouts in five innings on the bump. Head Coach Loi Kraft says Begnoche got his breaking ball going early, and that made him dominant.
The Gehlen Catholic bats got back into a rhythm in the win. This came after not capitalizing on run scoring opportunities on Thursday night against Akron-Westfield. Against the Rebels, the Jays scored a pair of two-out runs in the first inning to take early advantage of an opportunity. Coach Kraft says the guys did not let Thursday night get them down, and they treated yesterday like a new day with the same approach.
The Jays then scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to force the run rule and get their 17th win of the season. Ryan Augustine capped off the win with a three-run homer, the first by any Jay this season. Coach Kraft says Augustine has a smooth swing that allows for this kind of contact.
The Jays improve to 17-3 heading into the final week of the regular season. Pitching has faced its fair share of injuries this season for Gehlen Catholic. The goal this week is for guys to get back into the swing of things on the mound by getting into a rotation that they can ride into the tournament.
Gehlen Catholic is at Remsen St. Mary’s on Monday and plays four straight road games to finish the regular season.
