SPRINGFIELD, MO -- After a 13-10 regular season, the Irish found themselves in a unique spot as the top seed in the C3/D10 tournament. Their regular-season record didn't seem to work against them during the seeding process. The Irish took down New Covenant 7-1 in the opening round and matched up against Clever after they beat Sparta 3-1 in the semi-finals. 

Catholic jumped out quick on the Blue Jays scoring in the bottom of the first when Ben Smith drove in Jack Schoen on a triple that found the corner of the right field fence. The Irish would add 5 more in the second with hits from Logan Ripper (2B), Weston Cline, Colton Galligos and Jack Schoen.

The Irish never looked back and added 5 more runs, reaching the 10-run rule in the 6th inning. Ben Smith was electric on the mound striking out 14 Clever batters while throwing 74% strikes and giving up only 1 "hit". The Irish batters were led by Logan Ripper (3-3 with a double), Coleman Morrison (2-4, RBI), and Jack Schoen (1-3, 2 RBI). The rest of the lineup generated 5 more hits and the defense played error-free for the first time in 5 games. 

The Irish will advance to the Class 3 Sectional game where they will face off against the Hartville Eagles at US Ballpark on Tuesday 5/24.