Newman Catholic Baseball Preps for Postseason

The Newman Catholic baseball team was a force in the Marawood South conference last season, and things this year have been even better. Entering last Monday, the squad was 10-2 overall and ranked 10th in the state of Wisconsin in Division 4. However, the Cardinals couldn't manage to get past Assumption; they lost in extra innings 4-3.

Following the Card's loss, they were able to funnel all the negativety they experienced the previous 48 hours.  After the loss, they were seeded #2 in regionals, even though they had a better record than the team higher than them.  On Tuesday, they were able to go out and beat Pittsville 7-3 on Senior Night.  Newman Catholic ace Luke Prososki pitched a complete game gem as the Cardinals were able to get a key victory against a Pittsville team who was ranked in the top ten in Division 3. Prososki's performance triggered the other pitchers to continue the success later in the week.

MATC Milwaukee recruit Adam Rutz followed up the Pittsville victory by throwing a complete game, one-run outing on the road at Auburndale. Rutz struck out 12, only allowing four hits and two walks, and was aided by a home run from junior Brad Knoblock. Seniors Justin Heeg and Nick Bush also combined for four hits and six RBIs.

Friday rolled around, and Newman Catholic traveled to Assumption for at redemption against the team that beat them on Monday. Sophomore Nick Janke couldn't have given a bigger clutch performance on the mound as he threw a complete game, while Newman Catholic won 11-1 in 6 innings, because of the ten run rule. Janke only threw 40 pitches through four innings and was able to keep his pitch count under 80 by the end of the game, as he used his defense to retire batters.

The Cardinals take on Rib Lake tonight in the Marawood North-South Crossover game at 4:45 at Wausau's Athletic Park. This is the team’s final game before entering playoffs next Tuesday. Admission is free tonight and they hope all can make it to cheer them on and send them off for the playoffs next week as they hope to make a big run this postseason.