A two run first inning was all the offense Notre Dame needed as they shocked Bishop Foley 3-1 behind the complete game three hit pitching of sophomore lefthander Matt Pezolt on Saturday in the Catholic League semifinals at Madonna University. With the win, the Irish advance to the C-D Championship game for the third time in the last four years. The Irish jumped on Foley ace Justin Campbell early and the start seemed to rock the heavily favored Ventures. Leadoff man Joey Agro worked Campbell for a walk and after Brian Blakelee’s sacrifice bunt, junior outfielder Andrew Carpenter delivered the first blow with a solid single to center that scored Agro. After first baseman Ben Mancini doubled into the left field corner and catcher Ryan Knutson walked, the Irish were looking to blow the game open. Senior shortstop and co-captain Kory Czajkowski then delivered a quality at bat by fouling off several good pitches before hitting a line drive to deep right that scored Carpenter for the second run. Campbell was able to get the third out with no additional damage but he had thrown a lot of pitches and for the first time in five meetings this year, the Ventures trailed the Irish. It was Pezolt time from that point on and on this day it was the young Irish lefty who looked like the highly touted college bound pitcher. Mixing an assortment of changeups and curve balls in with a live fastball was the formula as Foley managed only the single run on a chopper in front of the plate in the fourth inning. He struck out seven and relied on some outstanding defense to back him up as he earned his fourth win of the year and the second in the playoffs. Things have not come easily to Notre Dame all year but the strangely serene coach Darren Audia was convinced his was a team of destiny on this day. “When Foley loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh I was still convinced we were going to win it,” said Audia. A smooth 6-4-3 double by Czajkowski, Blakelee and Mancini made his vision a reality. Campbell, the Central Michigan University commit, who had dominated the Irish in three other outings this season, worked six innings for Foley and gave up seven Irish hits in taking only his second loss of the year The third run scored in the sixth inning when Knutson singled, moved to second on a passed ball, was advanced to third on a groundout to the right side by Czajkowski and sprinted home on a passed ball with senior co-captain Matt Sollmer at the plate. Sollmer then singled and received the third RBI of the game for Notre Dame The Irish move top 10-17 on the year and will play twice this week against non league opponents before the championship game at 10am on Thursday at Comerica Park. “Teams can move mountains and these young me were a true definition of a team today,” said Audia. “We made it to Comerica and now we need to go finish the job.”
