CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Notre Dame High School’s baseball program has established itself as a consistent contender out of Class A over the last few years.
And this season has been no different as the Irish (11-7) have worked through a difficult schedule in hopes of returning to the state tournament for a third straight year.
In 2013, Notre Dame fell 4-3 in the semifinals to Magnolia. And then last year, it was another heart-breaking loss — this time coming in the championship game to Man — 12-10 in 10 innings.
And while last year’s Class A title game will be remembered for a while to come, the Irish were still left without a first baseball state championship.
“I tried to put a lot of it into perspective,” said head coach Patrick Marozzi. “First and foremost, what a great opportunity we had to play for a state championship. In Notre Dame High School’s rich history of baseball, it’s really only played for a state title three times – we were one of those teams.
“After (the loss last year), I tried to put that into perspective for the kids after the game with the group of kids who graduated,” Marozzi said. “What an incredible run over the last four seasons — a couple of conference championships and getting to the state tournament two straight years. Ultimately, we didn’t finish. But, we put ourselves and our program exactly where we wanted to be, which is right around the top of our classification.”
Notre Dame lost seven seniors (six starters) from that state runner-up team, returning essentially five players who served in prominent roles. One of those key returning pieces is junior Jordan Miller who pitched in the championship game last year. He entered the state tournament last year with 56 strikeouts in 58 innings and a 7-1 record.
Junior Josh Baker, along seniors Chad Morrison and Spencer Harlow round out the rotation on the mound for the Irish.
Offensively, Baker has been one of the anchors, hitting three combined home runs in Notre Dame’s first four games.
“(Baker) has meant a lot to us from an offensive standpoint as well,” Marozzi said. “If runners are in scoring position, he’s brought the element of driving them in for us. From a catching standpoint, (Harlow) has been incredible behind the plate. Not many people are running on him and he gives us a good opportunity to throw guys out.”
Morrison, also Notre Dame’s center fielder, is batting around .430 on the year and is one of Notre Dame’s overall leaders.
“He’s probably been all-around our most consistent player right now,” Marozzi said. “We’ve had some guys who have really stepped up and hopefully they can carry us into the tournament, getting us back to where we want to be.”
As a team, Notre Dame entered the week batting .319 on the season.
“We’ve hit the ball pretty well this year,” Marozzi said. “We’ve been pretty solid 1-9 in the order. Our biggest thing is if we get runners in scoring position, we have to drive them in – that’s crucial for us.
“Pitching depth is something that is still a question mark for us – and sometimes our defense has been a little suspect,” he continued. “I’m hopeful these last couple of weeks of the regular season we can freshen up on our game and hopefully start playing our best baseball of the season.”
The Irish face South Harrison(14-6) in sectional play and would have several different potential Region 2 opponents if they get past the Hawks. Pendleton County (17-3), Moorefield (10-5), East Hardy (10-9) and Tygarts Valley (13-8) are a few of the teams that could also challenge Notre Dame in postseason play.
“Probably, this will be by far the most competitive this region has been in a while,” Marozzi said. “When you put all the teams up on a pedestal, you see that there is good quality there with probably about four or five teams.
“The nice part about high school baseball is that you really get 32 practice games before it counts,” he continued. “For us, it’s not about having a 20-win season that we’ve been accustomed to having these last couple of years. If we go 15-10 or whatever it is, that really doesn’t bother me. I know that we’ve been battle tested for when it really counts – and that’s here in a couple of weeks.”
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| NOTRE DAME 2015 Baseball Schedule |
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| 1 | 03/30/15 | 05:00PM | A | CAMERON | 15 | – | 4 | W |
| 2 | 03/31/15 | 05:00PM | H | GILMER COUNTY | 11 | – | 1 | W |
| 3 | 04/01/15 | 05:00PM | H | DODDRIDGE COUNTY | 17 | – | 4 | W |
| 4 | 04/02/15 | 04:00PM | H | SOUTH HARRISON | 17 | – | 3 | W |
| 5 | 04/07/15 | 2:30PM | A | Kenmore East, NY @ (Mingo Bay, SC) | 1 | – | 6 | L |
| 6 | 04/08/15 | 10:00AM | A | Princeton (@ Mingo Bay, SC) | 14 | – | 2 | W |
| 7 | 04/09/15 | 3:30PM | A | Carroll, OH (@ Mingo Bay, SC) | 6 | – | 11 | L |
| 8 | 04/10/15 | 02:30PM | A | P:ortsmouth, VA (@ Mingo Bay, SC) | 3 | – | 8 | L |
| 9 | 04/13/15 | 06:00PM | H | TYGARTS VALLEY | 13 | – | 6 | W |
| 10 | Cancelled | 07:00PM | A | SOUTH HARRISON | – | |||
| 11 | Cancelled | 05:00PM | A | PHILIP BARBOUR HIGH SCHOOL | – | |||
| 12 | 04/18/15 | 10:00AM | H | SAINT JOSEPH CENTRAL | 13 | – | 1 | W |
| 13 | 04/18/15 | 07:00PM | H | CHARLESTON CATHOLIC | 6 | – | 2 | W |
| 14 | Cancelled | 05:00PM | A | CLAY-BATTELLE | – | |||
| 15 | 04/21/15 | 06:00PM | H | Bishop Donahue High School | 8 | – | 13 | L |
| 16 | Cancelled | 06:00PM | H | GRAFTON | – | |||
| 17 | 04/24/15 | 5:00PM | A | BRAXTON COUNTY | 6 | – | 4 | W |
| 18 | 04/25/15 | 12:00PM | H | MOOREFIELD | 8 | – | 5 | W |
| 19 | 04/27/15 | 07:00PM | A | GILMER COUNTY | 4 | – | 5 | L |
| 20 | 04/28/15 | 05:00PM | A | BISHOP DONAHUE | 5 | – | 1 |
W |
| 21 | 04/29/15 | 06:00PM | H | EAST FAIRMONT | 2 | – | 5 | L |
| 22 | 04/30/15 | 06:00PM | H | ST. MARYS | 7 | – | 9 | L |
| 23 | 05/01/15 | 06:00PM | A | TYGARTS VALLEY | – | |||
| 24 | 05/02/15 | 01:00PM | H | BUFFALO | – | |||
| 25 | 05/02/15 | 03:00PM | H | BUFFALO | – | |||
| 26 | 05/04/15 | 05:00PM | A | TRINITY | – | |||
| 27 | 05/05/15 | 4:30PM | H | CLAY-BATTELLE | – | |||
| 28 | 05/05/15 | 06:30PM | H | CLAY-BATTELLE | – | |||
| 29 | 05/06/15 | 07:00PM | H | PHILIP BARBOUR | – | |||
| 30 | 05/08/15 | 06:00PM | A | ROBERT C. BYRD | – | |||
| 31 | 05/14/15 | 6:00PM | H | South Harrison (Section) | – | |||
| 32 | 05/15/15 | 6:00PM | A | South Harrison (Section) | – | |||
| 33 | 05/16/15 | 12:00PM | H | South Harrison (if Necessary) | – | |||
| wins: 11 lost: 7 ties: 0 | ||||||||