Lions Sports Update (4/2)

BASEBALL
The varsity baseball team opened its fourth week of play with two home contests. On Tuesday, St. Mark’s hosted HSAA. Deven Piterzak pitched two strong innings, aided by a dazzling diving catch made near the left field foul line by Jack Frary. William Everitt and Hudson DaRosa collected hits and RBIs before repeated lightning delays stopped the game in the bottom of the 2nd inning with St. Mark’s in the lead (2-0). This non-counter game will likely not be made up. With storms in the forecast for Friday, the Athletic Director’s Office wisely moved up the counter match vs. Cistercian to Thursday. After another lightning alert briefly interrupted warm-ups, both teams were charged up as they took the field. Lucas Petrikas battled valiantly against a scrappy Hawk offense, scattering eight hits, four walks, and five runs over 6.2 innings pitched. Red-hot hitting Jack Frary collected three hits, one RBI, and one run scored while stealing two bases. Hudson DaRosa collected two hits and one RBI as Jake DeBoever, Jackson Ostella, John Stephen Hohmann, and Peter Rubi added one hit apiece. After multiple lead changes, Lucas Petrikas’ clutch single to LF tied the game in the bottom of the 7th, pushing the contest to extra innings. In the top of the 9th, Deven Pietrzak pitched out of a tough jam, keeping Cistercian’s runners on 2nd and 3rd from scoring. The game was suspended after nine innings due to darkness, with the score tied at five runs after nearly three hours. This game will resume on Saturday, April 26, at St. Mark’s. At 2-0 in the North Zone and 5-4 on the season, St. Mark’s will travel to ESD on Tuesday for a counter game vs. ESD, host TACA on Thursday, and play Covenant Christian in Colleyville on Friday evening (barring weather). 

TENNIS
After spring break, the varsity tennis team faced an interrupted week, with two practice sessions canceled due to weather. On Wednesday, March 26, the Lions hosted Cistercian for a non-counter (pro-set format) which proved to be a challenge for our line 2 and 3 singles both losing 6-8, respectively. The remainder of the team did well to win the remaining three “official” matches to win the scrimmage 3-2. A great opportunity was presented for a few freshmen to demonstrate their match worth, with additional matches being organized. It was great having alumnus and former team MVP Patrick Flanagan ’24 join the team for a few practice sessions throughout the week. The Lions look forward to two counter-matches this week versus ESD and Cistercian.

LACROSSE
The varsity lacrosse team had a busy week returning from Spring Break. On Wednesday evening, St. Mark’s hosted a traditionally strong Southlake program. After short runs by both teams, the game came down to the wire, and Southlake broke a 4-4 tie with 1.5 minutes to earn a 5-4 victory. The loss propelled the Lions to have an excellent preparation day before back-to-back SPC games against Episcopal HS and St. John’s, who both made the trek up from Houston.  The Lions jumped on EHS early, built a 9-0 lead by halftime, and then cruised to a 14-4 victory.  After the victory on Friday night, the team took on St. John’s on Saturday afternoon and produced a similar result. The Lions built a 5-2 halftime lead, continued strong play throughout the second half, and earned a 12-4 victory. The weekend SPC games were the strongest outings of the season, and credit to a stout defense in front of William White and a selfless offense that had key contributions from all members.  Next up this week is a tilt at Allen HS on Wednesday at 7:00 pm.

GOLF
On March 25, St Mark’s golfers senior Luke Lemons, sophomores Peter Clark, Sam Merryman, Luke Rogers, and freshman Rafe O’Rear competed at a UIL 5A preview hosted by Arlington Heights. The event occurred at Pecan Valley Golf Course in Fort Worth, a unique course with some tricky challenges that made for an ideal host site for the 2022 SPC tournament. Despite a few errant shots early, the Lions demonstrated tremendous resilience. They posted one of their better team scores of the season (312), which outscored the runner-up host school by nine strokes and secured the championship hardware. Sam Merryman, Rafe O’Rear, and a third player from Fort Worth, Paschal, tied for first place individually, each shooting a 75. After a scorecard playoff that determined order based on each player’s score on the course’s most challenging hole, Merryman was awarded the gold medal and O’Rear the bronze. What a terrific way to start the final month of the season!

TRACK & FIELD
The St. Mark’s varsity track & field team hosted the 25th annual BVU Invitational this past Saturday. Under beautiful weather, the Lions finished 2nd in the meet to FWCD. The team was led by Riggs Bean, who got first in the 100m with a PR (personal record) and was part of the winning 4x100 Relay team and the 2nd place finish 4x400 Relay Team. Tripp Schoellkopf won the 400m in a PR and was also part of the 4x400 Relay Team. There were many PR’s set throughout the day. This week, the Lions travel to Liberty Christian on Friday, April 4th , for the Warrior Relays.