Home Local Sports Midseason struggles helped propel Salesianum School to DIAA baseball championship

Midseason struggles helped propel Salesianum School to DIAA baseball championship

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Salesianum's baseball team gathers for a photo following its win in the DIAA championship game on June 1. Dialog photo/Mike Lang

WILMINGTON — Salesianum’s baseball team certainly underwent a transformation during the month of May. The entered the month riding a six-game winning streak before hitting a rough patch that saw them lose four out of five games, leaving them with a record of 8-7.

Then, on May 13 at Archmere, the Sals trailed, 2-0, before they rallied for four runs in the fourth inning. They won that one, 4-2, and also the next seven, the last five of which were in the state tournament. The final win, a 7-3 decision over Caesar Rodney on June 1 at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, clinched the school’s seventh state championship.

The Sals were the 13th seed in the 24-team bracket. They defeated Brandywine at their temporary home, Dyer Field in Claymont, then took road games at No. 4 Delaware Military and No. 5 Sanford. After that, the tournament shifted to Frawley, where the Sals got past the top seed, Sussex Central, before defeating the Riders, the sixth seed.

Senior Jack Rossi, a starting pitcher and infielder, said the team’s 1-0 loss to Tower Hill was a wake-up call for the Sals even though they lost a close one to Sussex Tech their next time out.

“That kind of just flipped our switch,” Rossi said of the loss to the Hillers. “We just said, that’s never going to happen again. We used that as bulletin board material, motivation to carry us into the playoffs. We got hot at the right time, that’s for sure.”

Sals coach Ted Godfrey, who just finished his 12th season at the helm, said the team met after one of the losses to talk about their approach, and soon, fortunes changed.

“That meeting, I think, kind of propelled us to where we are now,” he said. “Everybody bought in, a team-oriented approach, and you see the result.

A five-run fifth inning was the difference for the Sals. Dialog photo/Mike Lang

“Our hitting approach really changed. We started to hit our pitch as opposed to the pitcher’s pitch, and that really propelled our offense.”

Jimmy Gray, a junior catcher, said the team just came together in practice and games.

“We just really started to lock in. That’s when things started going right,” he said.

When the team fell behind, as it did in both the semifinal and final, there was no panic, Rossi said.

“We never quit,” he said. “That’s one thing I would say about this team. We had no quit in the entire playoffs.”

The championship will help create a legacy for this team, said sophomore C.J. Moxley, the shortstop and second baseman who pitched his way to saves against DMA and Caesar Rodney.

“The whole purpose of winning a state championship is trying to create a legacy for us and the people behind us and the alumni, trying to continue their legacy. Being at Salesianum, there’s one goal, and that’s to win a chip,” he said.

One of the perks of earning a championship is having a banner raised in the gymnasium, and Gray will be there to see this one as a senior next year.

“It’s going to feel great,” he said. “I’m going to look at it every day.”