Walk Off Wonderland

BISHOP FOLEY MAKES IT TO CHSL TOURNEY FINAL WITH LAST-MINUTE BANG

 

The big bad diamond cutters from Madison Heights Bishop Foley will be venturing southbound some 15 miles next Wednesday morning for its next ball game. Specifically, the Ventures will be playing at Comerica Park in downtown Detroit in the CHSL tournament championship game thanks to a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Allen Park Cabrini in the tourney semi-finals on Friday evening.

Senior captian, David Loeffler smacked a walk-off, game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh to win it for Bishop Foley, which runs its overall record to 28-5 with the climatic-triumph.

Head coach Buster Sunde was overjoyed with pride following the game.

"That was the most exciting high school baseball game I have ever been a part of," exclaimed the Ventures skipper. "These are the kind of games that make coaching worthwhile. To see the expressions on all the kids' faces after pulling this game out was an amazing feeling. All of the hard work put in by the players and the coaching staff paid off in a big way and in a big game today. I couldn't be happier right now."  

Falling behind 3-0 after three innings and then 3-1 after five, the prospect of making it to THA SHOW aka the tournament finale at THA COPA, seemed dim. However, the Ventures have captured nearly-30 games so far this year for a reason and that reason was evident by the resilience and rugged-clutch play displayed by the team late.

Pulling even at 3-3 going into the seventh, Foley starter, Jeff Schalk sent Cabrini down 1-2-3 in the top of the inning to set up the squad's last-gasp fireworks just moments later.

Okay, so here's where the expert-coaching and winning-instinct comes in from Field General Sunde, a one-time all-state baseball player and prop-worthy pro minor leaguer in his own right. As the game held in the balance, Sunde decided to go with his gut, a long-shot hunch that only the best of the best would run with. And run with said hunch he did. Sunde called on ailing sophomore Luke Ortell to pinch-hit and lead-off the bottom half of the frame from the plate. Under different conditions, this move would have been a no-brainer - Ortell is a very good hitter. But this season, Ortell has missed virtually the entire campaign with a broken leg. Recently recovered and suited up, Sunde obviously wasn't afraid to ring his number. And Ortell came through huge for his skip, swatting a double to open the inning and making Sunde look like the dugout genious he is. Loeffler, a starting guard on the Ventures basketball team in the winter, took over from there and the rest as the say…is HISTORY!

Going into their showdown with either Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard or Riverview Richard on Wednesday, the Ventures hold the number 3 ranking in the state in Division 3.

"These guys just kept chipping away and scratching and clawing our way back in the game after we got down early," Sunde said. "We never gave up or dropped our heads down. At the end, we manufactured some runs and made some real good things happen. This is a real talented group of kids."

Schalk didn't just bulldog his way to the win from the rubber either. On offense, he went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a monster blast of a home run in the fourth. Brett Sunde, the coach's son and prize-pupil, also had a solid day from the dish, going 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the sixth. The younger Sunde is one of the best sophomore catchers in the state regardless of class size and when you combine him with all the other tremendous young and skilled players the program has in it like, Danny Zuchowksi, THA SUPERCRAZYDEF SCHALK BOYZ (Jeff and Brad) and Billy Malak, the growth- potential for this group is very very high. As Burney's boy Van Wilder might say, "WRITE THAT DOWN"!

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