St. Benedict's baseball advances to Diocesan final

St. Benedict's baseball team has earned a spot in the Diocesan championship game after sweeping two playoff games last week.

The championship game, which will pit St. Benedict's against St. John the Baptist, will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 30 at Dunn Tire Park.

The first game of the doubleheader, starting at 4 p.m., is the Catholic Diocesan grammar school all-star game.

St. Benedict's (21-1) picked up where it left off after the October storm put a temporary end to the season last fall. The playoffs picked up with the quarterfinals, with St. Benedict's defeating their rival down Main Street, Christ the King, 12-1. Pitchers Peter Gregory and Dylan Blujus combined to toss a three-hitter and strike out 17 batters.

Offensively, the Tigers pounded out 15 hits, with Gregory and Marc DiLeo banging out three hits and Blujus, Patrick Glose, Paul Boerema, and Sean Tenney chipping in two hits apiece.

The semifinals had St. Benedict's taking on Nativity of Orchard Park for the third time this year. Nativity handed the Tigers their only loss of the year, so motivation was not a factor. Carrying a 3-2 lead into the second inning, St. Benedict's exploded for ten runs and finished off Nativity, 23-4.

Sean Tenney and Boerema limited Nativity to six hits, while the offense delivered 19 hits. Every starter had at least one hit. DiLeo set a school record with six hits and seven RBIs. The supporting cast included Sean Tenney (four RBIs), Blujus (three RBIs), Brendan Tenney and Gregory (two hits, two RBIs), and Glose, Boerema, and Zac Garlick (two hits each).