Saint Joseph has a rich baseball tradition dating back to the start of the school. The highlight of the baseball program was in 2017 when the team won the state championship. This year the Huskies got off to a hot start beating great teams like Mishawaka in extra innings and Mooresville. The team then faced Marian in a hyped up matchup and the team wanted revenge in the Holy War because of last years playoff lost to Marian in the sectional. The game was close at the beginning, but a combination of superb hitting from Marian and errors from St. Joe propelled Marian to a 17-9 dominant win in the Holy War.
A loss like this can be vital to a team. It can either derail a team and send them into a downward spiral, or it can motivate a team to work harder and reach higher than ever before. Owen Balint says that the team has already begun to do the latter. Balint is a junior catcher that has been a key piece and leader to the pack this year and has been on the team for the past two years. He was on the team when they beat Marian his freshman year in sectionals and last year when they lost to Marian in sectionals so he knows how the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat tastes.
Balint said the team has already begun working harder in practice and focusing more to really maximize their improvement. He says the team knows they have a very good chance of seeing Marian in the sectional again later this year with the season on the line, and this time the team knows they have to win. Better practices, more focus, less cockiness and more confidence is the key to a great season for the Huskies.
The teams new mentality has already shown great results as they won the 2024 Catholic Classic baseball tournament in West Lafayette, highlighted by a very impressive win over #10 in the state Guerin Catholic. Brody Zielinski got tournament MVP and the pack has no intentions of slowing down.
