If there is a place where the ‘Holy War’ between Christian Brothers Academy and Bishop Ludden burns the most, it’s on the baseball diamond, where both sides share the same OHSL Freedom division and high-quality programs with championship ambitions.
So it was again when the Brothers and Gaelic Knights squared off on Wednesday afternoon. CBA stayed patient, got some clutch hits in the late going, and held on to beat Ludden 3-2.
For most of the afternoon, the two pitchers – CBA’s Jack Glover and Ludden’s Tyler Dunsmoor – held sway, not allowing any runs through five innings.
The Brothers had all sorts of chances. Camilo Spinosa led the game off with a double, but got stranded on third. CBA loaded the bases in the top of the second inning but, again, could not convert as Pat Pierret flied out.
Starting in the third, Dunsmoor retired 10 in a row. Meanwhile, Glover cruised until the fourth, when Ludden put two runners on base with one out. Dunsmoor hit a grounder right to third base, though, and it turned into a 5-3 double play.
So it was still 0-0 in the top of the sixth when, with one out, Glover doubled. Up stepped Bryce Wiley, and he promptly drilled a Dunsmoor pitch deep over the left-field fence, a two-run home run that put CBA in front 2-0.
In the top of the seventh, CBA tagged on another run with Spinosa’s RBI single, and it was needed, for Ludden nearly made it all the way back.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Ciro Frontale singled and Dunsmoor doubled. Rob Wiegand singled home Frontale, and Cory Poplawski ripped a single that brought home Dunsmoor and cut CBA’s margin to one.
Though the tying and winning runs were on base, Glover kept his calm, coaxing pinch-hitter Mike Works to fly out and Alex Trunfino to pop it up high in the infield. Glover grabbed the final out himself.
And everyone, on both sides, looked forward to a CBA-Ludden rematch, which takes place May 4 at 7 p.m. at Alliance Bank Stadium.
