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Coach: Randy Belk RBBelk@charlottecatholic.com and Bob Sherman BLSherman@charlottecatholic.com Team Parents:
Chair – Carolyn Culicerto
ccsc@bellsouth.net Vice Chairs - Lisa Shefte lbshefte@duke-energy.com
and 2007 Recap: In 2007 The Cougars Varsity baseball team completed a very successful season. For the first time in school history, the team finished as the Queen City Conference Champions, and the Queen City Post Season Tournament Champions. The Cougars also went undefeated in conference play, while finishing in the Charlotte Observer Sweet 16 Poll. The team also made their second consecutive state tournament appearance. MVP – Connor Gavigan Best Defensive Player – Christian Culicerto Leadership Award - Nick Verhein All Conference Honors: Nick Verhein, David Hanson, Matt Sidari, Christian Culicerto, Danny Vliet 2008 Preview: As the Cougars take the field for the 2008 season they have some big shoes to fill. The team returns only three starters from 2007. The Cougars will need younger players to step up and fill the roles of the talent that has graduated. With only 6 returning players, leadership and fast developing chemistry will be important. The good news is that the Cougars will return players in key positions. Senior Christian Culicerto will man centerfield where he has been for two seasons, while heading up the all important leadership role this team will certainly need. Danny Vliet will return to his role as the top pitcher, while throwing to Rus Shefte behind the plate. These two Juniors have been in their roles, on the varsity, since their freshman year, and have a strong chemistry between them. Senior Aaron Blackshaw will fill the other starting pitcher positon this season. Blackshaw logged a lot of mound time in his junior season, and his experience will be invaluable. Junior Adam Rusak and Senior Stefan Kallander will both continue to contribute greatly, as Rusak moves into a full time starting position in the outfield. Kallander will be behind the plate more frequently, allowing Shefte to help on the infield where graduation hit the hardest. Good luck Cougars! The 2008 team would like to wish Nick Verhein (class of 2007) best wishes as he begins his collegiate baseball career at Coastal Carolina University! The 2008 team would also like to wish Brendan Van Popering (class of 2006) best wishes as he continues his collegiate baseball career at Mars Hill! News: 5/6/08 Cougars begin playoffs versus Kings Mountain @ S Meck - Friday, May 9th @ 7:00pm Adam Rusak, Christian Culicerto and Danny Vliet name as “Players to Watch” by The Charlotte Weekly for the 2008 Varsity Baseball Season. Week of 4/7/08: Danny Vliet has been named “Athlete of the Week” by the South Charlotte Sports Report for his performances this week vs. Northside Christian and Cabarrus Home School. Cougars Varsity Baseball is starting roll with 7 of last 8 games, and 5 wins in a row. Mid Season Stat Leaders: Pitching:
Aaron
Blackshaw:
3 wins, 1 loss, 25 innings, 20 K’s, 1.96 ERA Hitting:
Matt
Zutell
.500
2-28-08 CC 1 vs S Meck 7 It was a tough start to the season for the Cougars at South Meck. In a 7-1 loss, they managed only one hit (senior Daniel Swiger) and scored their lone run in the 6th inning on a pair of walks (junior Adam Rusak, junior Rus Shefte) Rusak and sophomore Eric Hogue (pinch running for Shefte) advanced to 3rd and 2nd, respectively, by stealing the bases. Rusak then scored on a pass ball by the South Meck pitcher. Defensively, the Cougars were adequate with one costly error in the outfield allowing 2 South Meck base runners to score and open a 4-0 lead. South Meck went on to add 3 more runs. Play of the game was Carolyn Culicerto entering the South Meck press box to correct the announcer on the pronunciation of the Cougars names. WP – Shealy (South Meck); LP – Aaron Blackshaw (0-1). 2-29-08 CC 4 vs PD 4 The Cougars (1-1) got their first win of the season Friday afternoon vs. cross town rival Providence Day. Unlike the day before vs. South Meck the Cougars were able to use their bats effectively to battle back and forth with the Chargers all afternoon. Providence Day struck first, with a lead off, first pitch, home run off Cougar starter, Junior Danny Vliet, and a 1- 0 lead. In the second inning Catholic managed to load the bases, but could not draw blood and still trailed 1-0. In the top of the 3rd, Catholic took advantage of Providence Day errors and pushed three runs across. Junior Sean Barcelona led of the inning with a triple, and scored on senior Christian Culicerto’s fielder’s choice. Juniors Adam Rusak and Rus Shefte followed up with back-to-back singles, and Rusak scored on a throwing error on Vliet’s infield hit. Junior DH Adam Guess executed a perfect hit-and-run to push Sophomore Eric Hogue (pinch running for Shefte) across for a 3-1 Cougar lead. Providence Day came right back in the bottom of the inning by parking a Vliet fastball over the centerfield fence to tie the score at 3-3. In the fourth, Providence Day again used the long ball to take a 4-3 lead when a Charger player drove a solo home run over the right centerfield fence. In the top of the 5th Cougar catcher, Shefte, led off with a single. Pinch runner Hogue, stole 2nd, then advanced to third on a wild pitch by the Charger pitcher. Hogue then scored when Vliet (2 RBI’s) hit another fielder’s choice to the right side of the infield, and Catholic tied the game back at 4-4. In the top of the Catholic 6th Shefte, 3 for 3 on the day, again led off the inning with a single. Junior Jeremy Hachens laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that the Charger catcher misfired down to 1st base on, advancing pinch runner “professional pinch runner” Hogue all the way to 3rd, and Hachens to 2nd. But Providence Day threw to 3rd base to try and gun down Hogue, and again had trouble fielding the ball, allowing Hogue to advance home for the go ahead, and winning, run. Catholic starting pitcher Vliet (1-0) went the distance for his first win collecting 8 K’s, 4 BB’s, 5 Hits, along the way. Hitters for Catholic; Shefte - 3 singles, Freshman Alex Jensen added 2 singles, Barcelona - triple, Rusak and Guess - singles 3-06-08 CC 5 vs S Meck 7 The Cougars got off to a slow start last night on defense and pitching. Junior starter Danny Vliet (1-1) took the loss, but struck out 3 in the first 2 innings, and allowed 4 walks. Errors on defense allowed three of the 4 walked batters to score, spotting South Meck a 3-1 lead. The Cougars had drawn to a 1-1 in the top of the 2nd when Junior Jeremy Hachens reached on an error by South's pitcher. He advanced to 2nd on a fielders choice by Junior Adam Geuss and scored on Senior Christian Culicerto's fielders choice. Junior Matt Zutell entered on the mound for the Cougars in the 3rd and pitched well, followed by Senior Aaron Blackshaw. The Cougars spotted South Meck a 7-1 lead until the top of the 7th inning when the bats finally came alive. Culicerto led off with a single and advance to 3rd, while Geuss reached 1st on an error by the second baseman. Sophomore Eric Hogue followed with a walk to load the bases, with no outs. Junior Sean Barcellona hit a sacrifice fly to score Culicerto. Freshman Alex Jensen flied to short left field, but it wasn't deep enough to score a run. Junior Adam Rusak then ripped a drive into right field to score 2 runs and close the gap to 7-4. The next batter, Junior Catcher Rus Shefte, hit a blast to left center field that was just short of a home run, landing at the base of the fence at the 350 ft mark. That hit scored the 5th and final run to close the game out at 7-5. The Cougars showed great heart in fighting back. Hitters: Rusak 2-4, Barcellona 1-2, Zutell 1-1, Hogue 1-1, Shefte 1-4 2B, Culicerto 1-3.
3-07-08
CC 10 vs NSCA 3
3-11-08
CC 0 vs Olympic 3
In a tough conference opener the Cougars faced Olympic
and one of the top pitchers in the Charlotte area. The Cougars had a hard
time putting the bat on the ball, managing only 3 hits. The night started
promisingly when Sophomore Eric Hogue and Junior Adam Rusak both reached
base on consecutive errors, and only one out on the board. Then Rusak was
picked off of first base, and the next batter struck out to end the threat.
The Cougars didn't manage their first hit or next base runner until Hogue
reached base in the 4th with a line drive single, but never threatened home
plate. The Cougars managed 2 more base runners in the 6th when Senior Aaron
Blackshaw and Hogue both singled, but consecutive strikeouts ended the
chances. On the mound Junior Danny Vliet went all 6 innings, and weathered a
scary moment in the 4th when a come back line drive drilled him in the right
thigh. Vliet was down for several minutes, but was able to shake it off and
finish the game. Pitching: LP Vliet (1-2) 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 Earned, 2 BB's,
12 K's. Hitting: Hogue 2-3, 2 1B's; Blackshaw 1-1, 1 B. 3-14-08 CC 17 - Harding 0 The Cougars improved their conference record to 2-1 (4-3 overall), with a decisive win over Harding University. Harding pitchers struggled to find the strike zone early, and walked many batters throughout a game that was called after 5 innings on the “Mercy” rule. On top of having good eyes at the plate, the Cougars tried to swing the bats as often as possible with very good success. In the field, Catholic was solid except for back-to-back errors in the 3rd inning allowing Harding to have 2 base runners on board. Other than the 3rd, Harding never really threatened to put any cleat marks on home plate. Junior Danny Vliet went the distance for Catholic throwing; 5 innings, 1 H, 0 BB’s, 8 K’s, 0 R’s to move his record to 2-2. Leading hitters: Seniors Christian Culicerto 1-2 2B, Aaron Blacksaw 1-2, Juniors Sean Barcelona 1-1, Adam Rusak 3-3, Danny Vliet 1-1, Matt Kornegay 1-1 2B, Freshman Alex Jensen 2-3 2B.
In the first game the Cougars dropped a 2-1 decision as the bats forgot to come back from spring break with the team. The Cougars only run came 4th when Junior Catcher Rus Shefte hit a double to right center just short of the 370 ft fence sign. Senior Aaron Blackshaw drove Shefte in, to cut the Patriots lead to the final score of 2-1. The Patriots were able to push both their runs across the plate in the second with runners on 2nd 1st and 2nd the Cougar defenders committed the costly error of throwing the ball into the visiting teams 3rd base dugout trying to gun the runner out at 3rd base. Junior starter Danny Vliet (2-3) took the loss going 4 innings, allowing 4 hits, 4 BB’s, 6 K’s. 3-29-08 CC 8 - Patrick Henry 6 (game 2) Senior Aaron Blackshaw took the mound in the second game and the Cougars allowed the Patriots to jump out to an early lead. The Cougar bats finally arrived from the south and hit the ball around the park. With a completely new lineup on the filed there were many highlights. Junior Austin Butler made a terrific backhanded stop down the 3rd base line, that Junior Matt Zutell made a great stretch and dig out of the dirt, to get the Patriot runner in a close play. Zutell also added to hits in the game. Junior Rus was the versatile player of the day, starting game 2 at short stop before entering the 5th inning on the mound for his first appearance of the year, and garnering the win. The player of the game was Junior Adam Geuss knocking in the game winning RBI on a 2 run single in the 5th inning. Shortly before his hit, Geuss made a nice catch in right field squashing a Patriots rally. As Geuss ran off the field, he jumped into the air clicking he heels together like a ballerina, and into a belly roll on the right field line to the enjoyment of the crowd in attendance. Definitely the highlight of the trip for all. 4-1-08 CC 19 - Garinger 0 Senior Aaron Blackshaw had near miss on a no hitter on Tuesday, April 1st vs. Garinger. Blackshaw gave up a hit in the 7th inning with 2 outs to break up the opportunity with a terrific 1 hit performance. At the plate and in field, the Cougars far outmatched Garinger from the start. The Cougars put 12 runs on the board in the first inning and coasted to an easy finish. Top hitters in the game were: Senior Daniel Swiger 1-1, Juniors – Sean Barcelona 2-2, Rus Shefte 1-1, Matt Zutell 3-3, Adam Rusak 2-3, Danny Vliet 1-1, Jeremy Hachens 1-1, Johnny O’Boyle 1-1, Austin Butler 1-1, Sophomore Eric Hogue 1-2. 4-2-08 CC 5 - Latin 4 In a great baseball game on Tuesday, April 2nd the Cougars were able to hold off a late rally by the Hawks and seal their third straight victory. Junior starting pitcher Matt Zutell staked the Cougars to an early 4- lead by keeping the Hawks hitters off balance. It wasn’t until the 4th inning that Hawks were able to cut the Cougars lead to 4-3, but the Cougars came right back adding a run in the 6th when Sophomore Eric Hogue reached base on an error by Latin’s 3rd baseman. Junior Rus Shefte advanced Hogue to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt, and Hogue advanced to 3rd on Zutell's single, his third hit of the day, and then scored on a deep fly ball to right by Junior Adam Rusak. The Hawks threatened in the bottom of the 7th when Zutell got into a little trouble after retiring the first 2 batters on the inning. The Hawks were able to again cut into the Cougars lead and close the gap to 5-4. But in dramatic fashion, with the tying Latin run at 3rd base, Zutell got the final out of the game on a called third strike on a beautifully located pitch on the outside corner of the plate. Leading hitters for the Cougars: Juniors, Sean Barcellona 2-3 RBI, Rus Shefte 2-3 RBI, Matt Zutell 2B 2 RBI, Danny Vliet 1-2 2B RBI, Freshman Alex Jensen 1-2 RBI. Pitching - Zutell (2-0) 7 Innings, 6 H’s, 3 K’s, 6 BB’s, 4 Runs
4-7-08 CC 3 - Northside 2
It was an exciting night at "The Jack" in Pineville as the Cougars
came from behind in the bottom of the 7th inning to gain the victory
vs. Northside Christian School. It took a while for the Cougar bats
to get warmed up, as the Northside pitcher kept the team off balance
for most of the night. Things looked promising in the first when
Junior Rus Shefte hit a triple with two out in the books, but
the Cougars were unable to push him across. Senior Aaron
Blackshaw started on the mound and pitched very well, with
little run support behind him. Northside was able to score 2 runs in
the 3rd when their catcher, the leadoff hitter, hit a drive over the
left field fence for a 1-0 lead. Then they pushed another run across
the plate in the inning on a hit batter and single. The Cougars got
their first run in the bottom of the 4th when Junior Matt Zutell
lead off the inning with a walk, and advanced to 2nd on a fielder's
choice by Junior Adam Rusak. Zutell then took 3rd base
on a wild pitch and scored on Senior Christian Culicerto's
shot for a double down the left field line. Culicerto's hit
was only the 3rd on the day by the Cougars up to that point. Then in
the 6th , Blackshaw ran into a little trouble by walking the
2nd batter. The next batter reached on an error, and both advanced
to 3rd and 2nd on the error, with 1 out. Coach Belk then made a
pitching change and brought in Junior Left Hander Danny Vliet,
who struck out the next 2 batters to end the threat. The Cougars
were unable to threaten Northside in the bottom of the 6th and still
trailed 2-1. Vliet returned for the top of the 7th to strike
out the side and keep the game within reach, which was the
opportunity the Cougars needed ... and they seized the moment.
Blackshaw led off the final inning by grounding out to the
pitcher for the first out. Then Freshman Alex Jensen singled
to get the tying run on base. Vliet then hit a double down
the 3rd base line to advance Jensen, the tying run, to third
and himself to second with one out. The Northside team issued an
intentional walk to Junior Johnny O'Boyle to load the bases.
Then Sophomore Eric Hogue hit the first pitch he saw to the
2nd baseman to be forced out at 1st base, but scoring the tying run,
and Vliet advancing to 3rd, and O'Boyle to 2nd. Then
Northside issued their second intentional walk to Shefte to
again load the bases with 2 outs. Junior Matt Zutell, the
Cougars hottest hitter the last 5 games, came to the plate, 0 for 2
on the day. He drove the pitchers offering up the middle for the
game winning, walk off single, and the Cougars victory! Leading
hitters: Seniors: Aaron Blackshaw 1-3, Christian Culicerto
1-3 2B RBI, Juniors: Johnny O'Boyle 1-1, Rus Shefte
1-3 3B, Matt Zutell 1-3 GWRBI, Danny Vliet 1-3 2B,
Freshman: Alex Jensen 1-2. Pitching Aaron Blackshaw:
ND, 5.1 Innings, 5 K's, 2 BB, 1 HB, 2 Hits, 2 Runs. Danny Vliet:
Win, 1.2 Innings,, 5 K's, 0 BB, 1 H, 0 Runs.
4-8-08 CC 4 - CHS 3 Add another exciting finish to the Cougars resume tonight at "The
Jack" as they came from behind again, and took extra innings to get
the win. Junior Lefty, and last game's hero, Matt Zutell
started on the bump for the Cougars and pitched very well. The
Cougars took the early lead when Junior Johnny O'Boyle led
off the game with a walk. O'Boyle advanced to 2nd on a wild
pitch, and then scored from all the way from 2nd when Junior Rus
Shefte hit a deep fly ball to center field. In the 2nd inning
CHS took the lead back against the Cougars with back-to-back hits to
start the inning. They were able to sacrifice both runs in for the
2-1 lead. In the 3rd CHS was able to push another run across on a
stolen base and Cougar error, and a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the
4th Senior Christian Culicerto reached base on a single and
then stole 2nd. He advanced to 3rd when Junior Adam Rusak
reached on an error by the CHS 3rd baseman. Culicerto then
scored and Rusak advanced to 3rd when Freshman Alex Jensen
singled down the 3rd base line. Rusak scored when Junior
Danny Vliet hit into a fielders choice to the CHS 2nd baseman,
and the score was tied at 3-3. In the 5th Zutell ran into
some trouble with 2 walks, and the Cougars made an error to load the
bases with no outs. Coach Belk then brought in Vliet again
for the 2nd night in a row, and he responded by striking out the
next 3 batters to preserve the tie. CHS and the Cougars battled for
the next three innings with neither team being able to mount a
scoring threat. The game moved to the 8th inning and the Cougar
defense held. In the bottom of the 8th Vliet came to the
plate with 2 outs, no one on, and ripped a triple to the gap in
right center field. O'Boyle then came to the plate and drove
a shot to right field to score Vliet with the game winning
RBI. Leading Hitters: Senior, Christian Culicerto 2-4;
Juniors: Johnny O'Boyle 2-4 GW RBI, Rus Shefte 1-3 SAC
RBI, Matt Zutell 1-3 HBP, Danny Vliet 1-4 3B RBI,
Freshman: Alex Jensen 1-4 RBI. Pitching: ND - Matt Zutell,
5 Innings, 3 H's, 4 BB's, 1 K, 3 R's, 2 Earned; Danny Vliet,
4 Innings, 2 H's, 0 BB, 5 K's, 0 R's
4-10-08 CC 4 - CH 2
In the second of the home-and-home series this week vs. Cabarrus
Home School, the Cougars staked themselves out to a 4-0 lead,
rather than fight to come from behind, and stayed there for
their sixth straight victory, and move their record to 10-4.
Senior Aaron Blackshaw navigated through 4 flawless
innings, allowing no runs, for the win. The Cougars scored 3
runs in the 4th with Junior Rus Shefte leading
off the inning with a walk, and Junior Sean Barcellona
came into to pinch run and proceeded to steal 2nd
base. Junior Matt Zutell then reached on an error, and
Barcellona scored the first run. Blackshaw
followed with a walk and Senior Christian Culicerto hit
into a fielders choice to advance the runners. Junior Adam
Rusak cam up next and ripped a double over the center
fielders head to score 2 more runs, and a 3-0 lead. The Cougars
scored their 4th and final run in the 6th
when Freshman Alex Jensen singled. The CHS pitcher then
walked three consecutive batters loading the bases, and forcing
Jensen across for the 4th run. CHS threatened
the Cougar win in the 7th when Junior Danny Vliet
allowed a single and then walked 2 batters to load the bases.
CHS pushed 2 runs across on a Cougar fielding error, before
Vliet was able to stop any additional runs. Leading
Hitters: Juniors: Johnny O’Boyle 1-3, 2-2 2 RBI, Freshman
Alex Jensen 1-3. Pitching: Aaron Blackshaw,
Win, 4 Innings, 4 H’s, 1 BB, 0 Runs; Danny Vliet, Save,
3 Innings, 2 H’s, 3 K’s, 3 BB’s, 2 Runs, 0 ER. 4-16-08 CC 4 - West Meck 5 It was a heartbreaking night for the Cougars at West Meck on Wednesday. In a game that was a make-up from April 7, the Cougars fought hard to the end. West Meck scored 2 runs in the first inning off Cougar Junior starter Danny Vliet. Vliet gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in the opening frame and West was up 2-0 after the Cougars failed to score in the top half of the inning. In the top of the 3rd inning the Cougars drew even at 2-2 when Vliet hit a double to left field with 1 out in the books. Junior Sean Barcelona advanced Vliet to 3rd on a fielders choice, and he scored on Senior Christian Culicerto’s single. Culicerto was followed by Junior Rus Shefte who proceeded to rip a triple past the West Meck first baseman and score Culicerto all the way from 1st base, to tie the score at 2-2. Both pitchers settled in and either team was able to generate much offense, and the game ended regulation play still tied a 2-2. The Cougars came up in the top of the 8th, and after the first Cougar batter struck out, Junior Adam Rusak was hit by a pitch. The next Cougar batter struck out and it looked as if the Cougars would strand Rusak at 1st base. Up to the plate stepped Freshman Alex Jensen. With Freshman Cougar fan Riley Vliet sitting in the stands cheering, she encouraged Jensen to hit a triple, and he did just that. Jensen drove the West Meck pitcher’s offering down the right field line and past the diving Hawks right fielder. The hit scored Rusak from 1st and the Cougars had their first lead of the night. With Jensen standing on 3rd base, and the Cougars leading 3-2, Vliet came to the plate again, and hit a hard ground ball to the Hawks 2nd baseman. He could not handle the grounder and as it rolled into right field, Jensen scored to expand the Cougar lead to 4-2. With a two run lead and the Hawks coming up in the bottom of the extra inning, Coach Belk went to his bullpen and inserted Senior Aaron Blackshaw on the mound for Vliet, who had gone the first 7 innings. After getting the first batter to ground out, Blackshaw issued a walk to the next batter. Then with a fly ball out to outfielder Barcelona, the Cougars looked poised to escape the unfriendly confines with a win. The next batter then drove a ball to the gap in right center field for a triple, scoring the runner from 1st and trimming the lead to 4-3. After Blackshaw issued another walk Coach Belk brought in Junior left hander Matt Zutell. Zutell gave up single and the game was again tied, and moved on to the next inning after Zutell secured the final out. In the top of the inning the Cougars managed to get the leadoff hitter Culicerto on base with a single, but three straight outs couldn’t get him across the plate. Zutell returned for the bottom of the 9th. After walking the lead off batter, the next Hawks batter reached base on a sacrificed bunt. A Cougar error on the play allowed the runner to reach safely, but advanced the previous runner all the way to 3rd base. The next Hawks batter managed to drop a single in front of the diving Culicerto, and the winning run scored from 3rd base. Leading hitters: Senior: Christian Culicerto 2-4 RBI; Juniors: Rus Shefte 2-5 3B RBI, Adam Rusak 2-3 HBP, Danny Vliet 2-4 2B RBI; Freshman Alex Jensen 1-4 3B 2 RBI. Pitching: Danny Vliet – ND, 7 Innings 6 H’s, 6 BB’s, 10 K’s, 4 R’s, 3 ER; Aaron Blackshaw – BS, 2/3 Inning, 2 BB, 1 H, 1 R’s, 2 ER; Matt Zutell – L, 1 Inning, 2 H’s, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 R’s, 1 ER
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