St. Francis baseball defeats Whitmer 9-1 for Division I district title

BOWLING GREEN — Moments after a high fastball from St. Francis de Sales pitcher Mana Bublick darted past the bat of Whitmer's Connor Barber, the senior right-hander, as if sensing the momentum stick with the Knights, pumped his fists and let out a bit of a primal yell.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Bublick and the Knights had just escaped trouble while maintaining their lead in what would be a turning point of their 9-1 Division I district final victory Saturday at Carter Park.

“Earlier in the game, he hit one up the middle to get a base hit on me,” Bublick said. “I learned from that mistake because I went curve ball and it was a 3-2 free fastball for him. I had him 1-2 that count and gave him a high fastball because he got low to the ground and I wanted to give him one at his eye level. He swung and missed and it was a really hyped moment. I knew it would be a huge momentum shift if we got that one and we got that one.”

Bublick was brilliant all game, giving up just one unearned run in his seven innings, scattering three hits to go with three walks and four strikeouts.

“He came out throwing strikes right away,” St. Francis coach Bobby Edgell said. “He was our number one for most of the season and then [Collin Hennessey] kind of came on in the last three or four weeks. So when you have a 1-A and a 1-B that you can count on and only give up one run in two district games, you are going to win.”

With St. Francis leading 4-1, Bublick ran into one of his only trouble spots of the game in the fifth. Joseph Naparstek led off the inning with a double, and a one-out walk to Joaquin Janatowski and a single by Sean Doren loaded the bases. Bublick got a flyout that was not deep enough to advance the runners, which then set up the key at-bat with Barber.

“We did a mound visit before he faced Connor because he is a really good hitter, and I told him, 'You will break their backs if you get this out',” Edgell said.

Edgell was prescient with his advice because Bublick led off the top of the sixth with a double and set up a five-run inning that featured a run scored by Charlie Kryzminski on a wild pitch after he pinch ran for Bublick, an RBI single from Nick Hood, a sacrifice fly from Joey Meredith, and a 2-RBI single from Cooper Lajiness.

“After we got in [to the dugout] I thought why not put it together with the bat and shut them down and bury them in the ground and we did exactly that,” Bublick said.

St. Francis scored two runs in the first on an RBI single from Drew Tucker and a sac fly from Meredith and two in the fifth on an RBI single from Meredith and a run scored by Hood on an error.

Whitmer's run came in the fourth when Barber scored on an error by Hood on a ground ball off the bat of Connor Westray.

The Panthers were unable to put much of anything together against Bublick and coach Mark Rabbitt was left lamenting some of the miscues in the field and free passes extended to the Knights offense.

“The thing that they did well is they played great defense and we did not,” Rabbitt said. “And then we gave them too many free bases. You can't do that to a St. Francis team because they will bunt, steal, and do all those things. I think we gave up nine walks and one hit batter and you just can't do that against that team.”

Nonetheless, it was a memorable season for Whitmer who made a district title appearance under Rabbitt, a first-year head coach, for the first time in the careers of the program's nine seniors.

“They made this program a winning program and changed the culture around in this program,” Rabbitt said. “They never made it past sectionals before. Then they get this far and they are hoping that it can continue. But to see it end is very sad for them.”

St. Francis, meanwhile, is riding some hot bats and the pitching duo of Bublick and Hennessey at the right time of the season.

“This team is rolling,” Bublick said. “Me and Hennessey are cooking right now and we are doing really well. I think we should be able to make a run.”

After playing a tough schedule in the Catholic High School League, Edgell and St. Francis believe they can compete with any team in the state.

“It's a great feeling, but we are not satisfied,” Edgell said. “This is one goal of many goals this season. We've kept crossing them off the list. We've got to this one and we will keep pushing forward.”