By Brian McKim
In this week’s column, I’m going to explore the Sacred Heart Irish baseball teams from 1968 and 1969. That’s right, Sacred Heart ran nine men onto the diamond long before we had the Tiger baseball team. The baseball season ran in conjunction with Sacred Heart’s track, tennis and golf seasons. Crazy right?
In year one of the program, SH made it to the Class B District final before their season ended. The following season wasn’t so kind to the Irish as they fell in round one of District play and finished the season with just one win. The following spring, in 1970, it was announced that the program would be discontinued.
In the March 26, 1968, Falls City Journal, it was announced that SH would field a ball club and be coached by Don Armstrong. Scheduling was tricky, and the Irish opened the year with only four games on tap, not including districts. The team consisted of four seniors, Bill Hill, Mike Gibson, Mike Schlosser and Dick Hall. The juniors were Jim Bauman, Charles Guilliams, Don Sells, Tom Hill and Jim Olberding. Sophomores on the squad were Rick Santo, Steve Bird, Bob Olberding, Phil Aitken, Bill Hoy, Tony Ahern, Jim Hines, John O’Grady and Dave Snider, and freshmen included Dan Bird and Pat Hoy.
Due to poor spring weather, Sacred Heart’s season opener was on Saturday, April 27. SH dropped both games of a doubleheader against Ralston, 1-2 and 0-11.
In game one, the contest was tied at 1-1 in the sixth when Ralston plated a run against Irish pitcher Bill Hill to get the 2-1 win. Hill struck out eight batters and walked three in the loss. In the seventh inning of game one, Tony Ahern was struck by a pitch in the head and had his day come to a close. SH’s only run came in the fourth when Bob Olberding singled home Hill to make it 1-1.
Game two was an entirely different story as the Irish fell 0-11 in 4 ½ innings.
The Irish fell to 0-3 on April 29 when they lost to Elmwood 8-5 at City Park. Tom Hill took the loss, allowing four hits and six runs in 2 1/3 innings. Bill Hoy, Tom Hill, Phil Aitken and Jim Olberding all singled in the loss.
On Wednesday, May 1, the Irish earned the program’s first win, 7-6 in extra innings over Johnson. With the score tied at 7-7 in the eighth, Mike Gibson reached base after getting hit by a pitch. Gibson moved to third on a bad pickoff attempt and a wild pitch. He slid across home plate, scoring the game-winning run on a squeeze bunt attempt. Hoy got the win, pitching 7 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, three runs and struck out four.
SH picked up another victory the following day, defeating Adams 6-4. With the game tied at 4-4 in the seventh, Bob Olberding walked, Gibson reached on an error, and Bill Hoy came through with a two-run single to give the Irish the win.
Bill Hill earned the win, throwing 4 2/3 innings, surrendering three hits, one run, two walks and striking out nine.
The Irish made it three in a row on May 10, earning a 5-0 shutout win against Adams in the first round of the Class B Districts.
Don Sells scored the first run of the game. Sells reached after getting plunked and scored on a Dick Hall single. It was all the runs the Irish would need. Bill Hoy and Tom Hill each added singles and Hill drove in three runs.
The Irish moved on to the district finals with a 15-2 win over Sutton. Gibson added two hits and two RBI, Jim Olberding went 2-4 at the plate, and Tom Hill went 3-4 with four RBI. Bill Hill got the win, throwing five innings, allowing two hits, and two runs, while striking out nine.
SH ran out of gas in the finals, falling to Norris 8-3. Tom Hill launched a three-run blast over the left field fence in the first inning to account for all of Sacred Heart’s runs. Hill finished the game 2-3 with the HR and three RBI. SH fielders committed eight errors in the loss.
Year two was not so kind to the Irish. SH fell to Johnson-Brock 11-3 in the season opener. Trailing 6-0 in the fourth, Bill Hoy slammed a HR driving in Phil Aitken to make it 6-2. The game’s final run for SH came when Bill Simon hit a sac fly, scoring Tom Hill and making the final 11-3.
On April 21, 1969, SH defeated Adams 3-1. The Irish rallied in the sixth for two runs to earn the win. Hoy got the win on the mound, going seven innings, allowing eight hits and one run while striking out seven.
SH fell to Johnson-Brock again three days later, this time 9-4. The Irish trailed 3-0 in the third inning when Bill Dunbar walked, Aitken doubled, and Hoy singled to make it 3-2—Hoy later scored on an error to tie the contest at three. In the sixth, Simon singled and later scored on a Steve Hutfles base hit to make the final 9-4. Ron Rathbone of Johnson-Brock went 1-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The Irish fell to 1-3 on April 28, with a 7-5 loss at Sterling. The Irish left 14 runners stranded on base in the loss. The Irish loaded the bases twice and couldn’t push a run across the plate in the loss. Hoy went 2-4, Hill was 2-4, and Aitken was 1-3 with two RBI.
Sacred Heart’s season ended on May 23 in the first round of the Class B District with a 10-7 loss to Murdock. SH led 1-0 after one inning and 3-0 after three, but Murdock fought back for five runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. The Irish rallied in the seventh for two runs but left two runners on base as the game ended. Third baseman Bob Olberding pounded a single and double to lead the Irish. Right fielder Dave Snider added two singles, and Mike Hoy and Jim Olberding each singled.
The following spring, it was announced that the baseball program would be discontinued.
