The Red Knights can breathe a sigh of relief after slipping past Holy Angels on Monday to win 5-4 in their final regular season game.

BSM’s defense held down Holy Angels’ fight to take the lead throughout and kept Holy Angels from bringing in too many runners. One of the key defensive plays came in the third inning when Junior Patrick Duda made a diving catch in center field. Also, a double play in that inning kept BSM’s lead at 5-2.

However, in the fourth inning, Holy Angels struck back with two runs, reducing BSM’s lead to only one run. But BSM’s defense responded once again in the bottom of the fourth inning, getting the third and final out at first base with two men on, securing their lead at 5-4.

From that point on, the teams traded a few big hits with a few big catches that found BSM with a 5-4 win after seven innings. Louie Mondale, who pitched six of the seven innings, kept the Stars from pulling ahead. “Louie held it down and pitched a great game,” said Coach Hoemke.

James Kopp, the second baseman, played an equally significant role. “He made a huge mistake out there,” said Hoemke. “He dropped a flare and brought in two runs. But he didn’t hang his head down. He went up in the sixth inning and smacked a double.”

Kopp himself said that it was a “relief to get that hit after making a big error.” The key plays, according to Kopp, were “getting on [base] to start the bottom of the sixth and Brashad driving me in.”

The key victory places BSM in sections this coming weekend. Looking ahead to those games, Hoemke said that they need to be “positive and patient and can’t get ahead in the count. In the end, they’ll get it done.”

Evan Bakker