The Gehlen Catholic baseball team won their first game over Remsen St. Mary’s since 2023 on Wednesday night defeating the Hawks 6-4 in Remsen.
In a rivalry that has been alive for decades, any win is a good one. When it ends a winning streak, that makes a victory even more special. Gehlen Catholic head coach TJ Britton says it is a good win, but he wants his guys to try and treat it like any other victory.
Gehlen capitalized on a massive six-run second inning that saw 11 hitters come to the plate. Coach Britton says Gehlen’s speed combined with some Hawk defensive mistakes helped prolong the inning.
Overall, the Hawks committed seven errors in the field defensively. Remsen St. Mary’s head coach Dean Harpenau says it is disappointing, but it is inevitable sometimes with a young team.
Despite that bad inning, the Hawks gave themselves chances to win. Remsen St. Mary’s scored three runs in response in the bottom of the third to attempt the comeback, and starting pitcher Dalton Klein came back to finish his outing strong in his next three innings. Coach Harpenau says he was happy to see Klein remain calm after a bad inning.
Following the six-run second, the Jays were unable to score again the rest of the way. Some of that can be chalked up to great pitching from Klein, but Coach Britton says his guys did not play like they should have the rest of the way.
The loss snaps Remsen St. Mary’s three-game winning streak and drops them to 5-3. This Hawk team has been trying to bring along some young players this season after graduating a stellar senior class last year. Coach Harpenau says the young guys are going to have to play more confident and with less fear to have success the rest of the way.
Gehlen Catholic continued their winning streak to eight games improving to 8-1 on the season with the win. The Jays will have three more chances this weekend to extend their winning streak including a matchup with Class 3A No. 4 Bishop Heelan on Saturday. Coach Britton says his team has responded well to the challenge of going on a long streak and will be eager to keep it going this weekend.
Gehlen Catholic returns to action on Friday with a home game against Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. Remsen St. Mary’s will host South O’Brien on Friday. Both teams will then host a portion of the CYO Tournament on Saturday morning and afternoon starting at 10:00 AM.
