On Friday, June 2, the Blessed Trinity High School Titans, accompanied by hundreds of fans, headed for Columbus to participate in the young baseball team’s first-ever Class AAA state championship series against Columbus High School. In a best-of-three series, the Titans shut out the Blue Devils by a score of 1-0 in the first game and 2-1 in the all-important second game. During both games, pitchers Eric Maust and Evan Tieles only allowed six hits in the 14 innings of play.

One of the games’ most spectacular plays happened in the sixth inning of game 2. With a Columbus base runner on third, the batter flew out to right field. Titans’ right fielder, Jonathan Kolowich, threw the ball 200 feet to home plate where catcher Jameson Contratto was waiting for the ball and Columbus’ base runner. Contratto got the out and set the Titans up to win the championship. The next inning Tieles struck out the last player along with the hopes of the Blue Devils, a nine-time state championship team.

According to BT’s varsity baseball coach Andy Harlin, being able to hold the state championship trophy is a tremendous accomplishment, but it is the character of the young men playing of which he is most proud. “It was a special year, with a special group of kids who did something magical.”

“They are such a great group of young men, and they represented the school in a first class manner,” he said. “They deserved this. It’s not about winning championships because only one team goes home with a trophy every year. It’s about the relationships you make and the life lesson in doing something right from start to finish, whether you win or not.” Harlin noted that while there were some great individual efforts, more importantly, it took every team member to reach this success.

“The greatest thing was seeing them mob each other in the middle of the field after the final out. Who would have thought that those 17 kids would affect so many people? They put smiles on faces of parents, teachers, students, grandparents and fans. I told them not to get consumed with a T-shirt, or a medal, or a trophy. Those things really don’t matter, but for a moment in time, they were the very best, and that is something no one can take away from them … ever,” he said.