Photo Courtesy of Marist School

Marist School took both games of a May 28 doubleheader from Whitewater High School of Fayetteville to repeat as Class AAAA state baseball champions. In the first game, Marist fell behind 3-0, but in the fourth inning they were able to pull within one run after RBIs by seniors Chesny Young and Daniel Spingola. In the top of the fifth inning, Whitewater extended its lead to 5-2 with a two-run homer. In the bottom of the fifth, Marist scored eight runs, including a two-run homer by senior outfielder Kevin Gale, to capture its first lead of the game. After a sacrifice fly by pitcher Blake Stevens in the bottom of the sixth inning scored Marist’s final run, they would go on to win game one 11-5.

Unlike game one, Marist scored in the first inning of game two. Then a second inning grand slam by senior outfielder George Durot pushed the lead to 5-0. Whitewater scored its only run in the second inning. After a three-run homer in the fifth inning by Gale, Marist added three final runs to secure an 8-1 victory. In six innings of pitching Marist hurler Brandon Leibrandt allowed only one run on five hits and struck out 11 batters.

Marist finished the season with a 33-4 record. They also ended the season with national rankings of eighth and 12th by Baseball America and USA Today, respectively.