Trinity Catholic Falls in Sectional Final

LOWELL – After two innings of the North Division 4 final was tied at zero with Georgetown in an incredibly even game, and then the rain came. Over the next two hours and 44 minutes, players from the Falcons played catch, danced the "Dougie," and did whatever else to kill the time.

But when they stepped back on the diamond, it was a completely different game; Georgetown exploded for four runs in the third inning en route to defeating the Falcons 9-2 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell yesterday afternoon.

The Falcons finish the season with a 13-10 record. It was the best Trinity Catholic team ever.

“They jumped on us pretty good after the rain delay,” Trinity Catholic coach Craig Genualdo said. “They’re a quality ball club. I felt like we hung in with them as best we could for a while. The rain delay hurt us a little bit, but it was the same for both teams. We had a phenomenal season; the best season in school history. So, we’re very proud of that.”

The Falcons had a chance to score early when they loaded the bases in the first inning with only one out. But sophomore Joey Brennan struck out swinging and freshman Sean Haugh grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the rally and strand the runners.

Each team had one hit after two innings when the rain came in, but Trinity Catholic was unable to keep up with the Royals after the long delay.

Georgtown scored four runs in the third inning and three runs in the fourth inning to open up a 7-0 lead, and the Falcons were never able to make a serious rally again.

Trinity was able to push across a run in the fourth and another in the sixth, but that was it. Freshman Jin Young Kim and junior Brett O’Keefe provided the Falcon scoring.

Even in defeat, it was all smiles in the Falcon dugout from start to finish.

“We had never won a tournament game in school history before, and this year we won two,” Genualdo said. “We were one game away from the state finals. We got to play on a beautiful field. I’m very proud of the way they played and hung in there until the end. No complaints.”

For the two seniors on the squad, captain Kevin McAdam and Jose Sanchez, their careers as Falcons are now over, but the future looks bright for Genualdo’s team as 15 players will return next season.

“Kevin’s been everything to us,” Genualdo said. “He’s our MVP. School athlete of the year. He carried us on his back. Jose came along his junior year and really got better as the years went on and played hard to the end. I love those guys, and I wish them nothing but the best.”

Although the Falcons lost, the highlight of the game belonged to O’Keefe, who started on the mound for Trinity. In the top of the fourth inning, Georgetown’s Patrick Slack popped a bunt up down the first base line. O’Keefe sprinted off the mound and made a fully-extended dive to make the out.