Trojans rally, beat Indiana for 4A crown

When the No. 6 seeded North Catholic Trojans baseball team saw Indiana plate its fifth run of the game in the third inning of Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 4A championship, they had every right to start panicking. Their star pitcher was getting hit around, their bats were cold, and their fielding wasn’t stout. Instead, the confidence of coach Andy Przybylek, and the entire North Catholic dugout, never faltered.

It’s safe to say it all worked out in the end.

The Trojans (17-4) went on to score six unanswered runs to defeat the No. 9-seeded Indiana Indians (13-10), 7-5, Wednesday afternoon at Wild Things Park in Washington and earn the program’s fifth WPIAL championship.

“That’s what high school sports is all about,” Przybylek said. “We did it the right way. We never gave up, never hung our heads, and competed all seven innings.”

After striking for a run in the first and second innings, Indiana used a pair of long home runs by senior Ben Ryan and sophomore Charlie Manzi to take an early 5-1 lead.

Still, the senior-heavy Trojans kept battling at the plate.

“These kids knew that there was a chore at hand, and we’ve come too far to sulk or drop our heads,” Przybylek said.

Over the next three innings, North Catholic used timely hitting by the middle of its order to slowly claw back into the game and knock Indiana starter, and Texas Tech commit, Greg Minnick, out of the game. The bottom four of the Trojans’ lineup accounted for four of the team’s seven hits and four of their six RBI.

The Trojans scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, three runs in the bottom of the fifth and a run in the sixth.

Number nine hitter Landon Eifler started the comeback with a two-run, one-out single to right field in the fourth inning. Later in the sixth inning, senior shortstop Thomas Koroly reached base with a triple and was later brought in by senior center fielder Ryan Shantz. Sophomore second baseman Owen Beatrice singled home Shantz to tie the game, before Trojans right fielder Josef Safar gave North Catholic its first lead of the game with a double over center fielder.

“We were down in the first, but we didn’t let it get to our heads,” Safar said. “When [we felt] the energy start to shift, it was contagious.”

Safar finished 2 for 2 with a triple, a double, and an RBI, while Shantz went 2 for 2 with a pair of RBI.

“I was just trying to get my front foot down as fast as I can and just react,” Safar said. “Not trying to swing hard just trying to get the bat out there.”

After laboring through the first few frames North Catholic starting pitcher Tommy Schafale (9-0) bounced back, like usual, to deliver a complete game effort.

“If he’s never lost [a game] for you, how do you take the ball away from him?,” Przybylek said. “He deserved that victory and [he deserved] being on the mound for the last out. … To stay in there like the competitor he is, hats off to [Schafale]. That’s one of the best pitchers in the WPIAL.”

Between the team’s attention to detail in practice and their body language during difficult stretches of the season, Przybylek said the resiliency of his team is what led to the success.

Now it won them yet another WPIAL title.

“Just a game I’ll never forget,” Przybylek said. “I’ve been around baseball for a long time and this was my favorite game of all time.”