CC baseball vs CC baseball from Burlington, WI.

Anyone claiming our Central Catholic Knights schedules cupcake opposition for their sport teams only need to look at their baseball schedule each year. The supposedly easier schedule in football is because of conference games only, not enough games to schedule otherwise, this is changing as we move to a new conference. (3A) This year it gets a bit more challenging in baseball as we will play another CC team from Burlington, WI, a class 4A school that according to this article has won the state baseball title 2 of the last 3 years. My son Nick has said they have 4 titles in the past 5 years.

Last year we played several top ranked 4A schools with convincing wins over Lafayette Jeff, Kokomo & McCutcheon. Most of our varsity baseball schedule includes 2A, 3A & 4A schools. Our only roadblock the past 2 years is 4A Indy Cathedral who beat us 6-0 in 2009 & 14-0 in 2010. Both years Cathedral put Dillon Peters on the mound, a top national recruit going to Texas for baseball. Nick pitched against him both years, relieving 5 1/3 innings in 2009 giving up 1 earned run in the 7th, entering in the 2nd inning with bases loaded, 2 outs & down 5-0, we lost 6-0. In 2010 Nick got the start, again facing Peters but this day turned out to be one of those days as Cathedral scored 6 runs off him in the 1st 2 innings, some unearned.

The past 2 years we have not had an answer for Cathedral. Cathedral was runner-up for the 4A state title last year in one of the most intense pitching duels I've ever seen, including our 2009 war with Cowan in the regional finals that had Taylor Glaze (our ace) against 1st round draft pic (Tampa Bay) Justin O'Conner. They battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of 7, a 2-2 end of 9 innings.

In the state final game (4A) both Peters and the opposing pitcher went 9 innings of scoreless baseball. 3 hits given up by Peters, 2 from the opposing pitcher from Carroll (not the one in Flora, IN). Carroll squeezed a run in in the top of the 10th, Cathedral couldn't score, a 1-0 thriller!!!

In receiving this information from Nick, he sounds excited already, long wait though!!!

Burlington Catholic Central wins Division 4 baseball title

By Todd Rosiak
Grand Chute - For the second time in three seasons, the Burlington Catholic Central Hilltoppers are state champions.

Propelled by a 13-hit attack and helped by seven Chippewa Falls McDonell errors, Catholic Central beat the Macks, 14-4, in five innings on Thursday morning at Fox Cities Stadium in the WIAA spring baseball Division 4 title game.

Third baseman Mackenzie Shepherd went 4 for 4 with 5 RBI for the Hilltoppers (21-10), who were knocked off by McDonell (22-5) in the semifinals at last year's state tournament.

Catholic Central broke the game open with five runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings.

Tyler Floyd struck out six to pick up the victory for the Hilltoppers, who also won the Division 4 title in 2008.