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Bishop Foley wins fourth consecutive CHSL C-D title with 4-2 win over Riverview Gabriel Richard
Detroit – Over the course of the past six years, Madison Heights Bishop Foley has become a fixture in the Catholic League C-D Finals held at Comerica Park.
The Ventures making their sixth consecutive appearance in the C-D Final were looking for their fourth consecutive title as they faced Riverview Gabriel Richard.
Bishop Foley, behind a 3-run third inning led by senior Nate Grys and the pitching of sophomore Justin Campbell, went on to win their fourth consecutive CHSL C-D Title with a 4-2 win over the Pioneers.
First year Bishop Foley coach Justin Robinson, said that winning a Catholic League title and now preparing for the state playoffs is a great position for his team to be in.”
“It’s huge, anytime you can win it, it’s a great feeling,” he said. “It’s what we play for, we have an early league (final), we win this and now it’s all about the state playoffs afterwards. So it’s great. You can’t beat that.”
After Gabriel Richard’s Jake Lipetzky started retired the first six batters he faced, Bishop Foley found some life in the third inning.
After a pair of walks, Grys, a Baseball Player of the Year Candidate, roped a line-drive to the right-center gap and motored around the bases for a 3-run inside-the-park home run to give the Ventures a 3-0 lead after the top of the third inning.
“I knew I had to let it come to me,” he said. “I needed to get it up the middle and to the right side to get those runs in. Coming through the ball, I definitely knew it was a gapper, but I didn’t think it’d go all the way to the wall.
“All the way, I was thinking stand-up triple, and then I see them keep rounding me and I looked back to make sure he (the third base coach) isn’t crazy and ended up standing up at home, so that felt really good.”
Grys and Cam Horwath, one of the players who scored on Grys’ home run, each picked up their fourth Catholic League title as members of the Bishop Foley team.
“It’s a special legacy,” said Robinson of Grys and Horwath winning 4-straight C-D titles. “But Cam and Nate are two guys that can say that and they deserve it. Those guys have worked hard on varsity since they were freshman so it’s a pretty special honor for them.”
In the bottom half of the inning, the Pioneers got a pair of runs back by way of an RBI single from Lipetzky, who later scored on a sacrifice bunt to cut the deficit to 3-2 after three innings.
Gabriel Richard (19-3) coach Mike Magier said that he was pleased with the way his team responded in the bottom half of the third inning after falling behind.
“We didn’t seem to be too bothered by it,” he said. “They kept their energy and we had good at bats starting off and it was really good.”
Bishop Foley (18-6) would tack on an extra run when Mike Ryan scored on a throwing error to give the Ventures a 4-2 lead in the fourth.
After working his way in and out of trouble early in the game, Bishop Foley starter Justin Campbell settled in late in the game as he retired the final 10 batters he faced to seal the win for the Ventures.
“I realized that I needed to shut this down,” said Campbell, who finished with 11 strikeouts on the day. “I let those two runs in, and first of all, I shouldn’t have done it and I just made a mental note to not let anything else happen.”
Bishop Foley now turns its attention to the state playoffs as the Ventures will face the team that stopped its run of three straight Division 3 titles last year, reigning Division 3 state champion Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett
