The weekend of March 10 marked the official conclusion of all Irish winter sports, as the men’s basketball team fell in the Regional to Ben Davis by a score of 63-53, but it also marked the beginning of spring sports season for a few teams. Below is everything Irish fans need to know about the upcoming spring sports season.

Baseball

The baseball team is coming off of a season in which they reached the State Championship, but were defeated by Penn 3-0. It was the team’s third appearance in the finals in the last six years under Head Coach Mr. Ed. Frieje ‘99, as after a 12-10-2 regular season, the team got hot, putting up ten or more runs in each of their tournament games. 

The team lost some graduating talent, specifically from the pitching staff. Ben Gomez, Dylan Haslett, Henry Birk, Alexander Wright and Nick Bassi have all graduated, and all threw over 15 innings last season. Wright, Gomez and Jake Tomich will also have to be replaced offensively.

Despite these losses, the team returns a lot of experience this year, especially at the plate. Seniors Carson Johnson, David Ayers and Kyuss Gargett will return for their fourth year of varsity baseball. Johnson led the team in batting average last year. Gargett was second, and led in home runs and triples. Juniors J.T. Stiner and Patrick Mazur and sophomore Eli Bennett also return after accumulating over 80 at-bats last season. Seniors Tommy Davey and Griffin Sinsabaugh and sophomore Bo Cooper also have varsity experience. 

Upcoming: The team will begin their season on March 29 at North Central, followed by a double-header in Cincinnati versus St. Xavier. They will play their first home game on April 5 against Franklin Central. 

Softball

The softball team finished last season with a 20-10 record and a loss in the Semi-State Semifinals to Corydon Central, 4-0 under Head Coach Mr. Tony Matthews. That loss snapped a nine game winning streak for the team, and they will look to build on that success heading into this season. 

The team graduated just one starter, Julia Jennings, who led the team in RBI and doubles while hitting for a .440 average, good for second on the team. They will return all pitchers, including junior Jade Sloan, who had an impressive 20-9 record last season with a 2.44 ERA. Sophomores Anna Moore, Maddie Liter and Angela Valentine hit over .350 as freshmen, with Moore leading the team in hits and Liter leading in home runs. Senior Emmerie Stump as well as juniors Mary Hughes and Aubrie Wright all return with lots of varsity experience. 

Upcoming: The team kicks their season off on March 22, with a visit to Danville. They play their first home game on March 23 against Lutheran. They begin April with games at Harrison on April 4, vs Brownsburg on April 5 and at Southport on April 8. 

Men’s Lacrosse

The men’s lacrosse team began their season on March 11, as they traveled up to Culver to play the second ranked Culver national team. They took a tough loss, 29-1, but will look to bounce back and make a run to the State Championship after losing 14-10 in the Semistate last year. 

This year’s team is somewhat inexperienced, as many starting and rotating players have graduated, namely Jeff Utzinger, Jack Wajda, Beau Howard, Reid Betner, Johnny Kraege, Kevin Berutich and Zach Fuzy. However, the team does return some varsity experience. Senior Jackson Edwards handles the faceoffs and juniors Jack Bedich and Campbell Reid return offensively. Junior Joey Konesco and sophomore Jake Mayer are returning starters on the defensive end. 

Upcoming: The team will travel to Cleveland on March 17 for a matchup with St. Ignatius (OH). The next day they will face Western Reserve Academy (OH). They finish out the month with a game vs Fishers on March 21 along with two spring break games, with opponents yet to be determined.

From Head Coach Mr. Andy Gruber: “The boys’ lacrosse team is young, but are focused on a return trip to the finals and string results throughout the season.”

Women’s Lacrosse

The women’s lacrosse team began their season with a trip down south, as they played three games in two days in Evansville and Louisville on March 10 and March 11. They came out of the weekend with a 1-2 record, defeating Assumption (KY) 16-5 and dropping games to Evansville North and Kentucky Country Day (KY) by scores of 9-8 and 17-5 respectively. 

This year’s women’s team graduated some talent, such as Ella Maher, Mary Kate Bedich and Isabel A’Hearn. They return quite a few starters, including senior goalie Kara McCarthy, juniors Emma Schnur, Abbie Grace Tobias and Chloe Cox and sophomore Mallory A’Hearn. 

Upcoming: The team plays at Heritage Christian on March 16 for their next game. They will finish out the month with games at Penn on March 18 and their first home game vs Hamilton Southeastern on March 20.

Track and Field

The track and field team has been very active in the offseason, running in indoor meets in preparation for the start of the outdoor season. The women’s team is just two years removed from a historic State Championship, and they placed 11th at the State Meet last season. The men’s team did not advance as a team last season, but will look to do so this year.

The program suffered a few key losses, like Reese Sanders, a key member of the 2021 State Championship team who is now running at Notre Dame. Milani Kimble is also gone from that team. Michael Page and Qujuan Cannon have graduated for the men. However, for the women, seniors Kailee Swart and Sidney Sanders return, and both are committed to compete at the division 1 level. Senior Karsyn Kramer also returns as a long jumper after competing at the State Meet last season. For the men, senior and University of Chicago commit Liam Eifert returns as a distance runner, and junior Jonathon Phillips returns as a sprinter. 

Upcoming: The team will finish their indoor season on March 25, when they will compete in the Indoor State Championship. They will compete in their first outdoor invitational on April 8 at Bishop Chatard.

From Head Coach Mr. John O’Hara ‘02: “This year we return a lot of young and experienced talent. Both the women’s and men’s team will have a lot of representation at Indoor state on March 25th. We will be led by our talented senior group.”

Men’s Golf

The men’s golf team will look to have a repeat of last season, when they made an appearance in the State Championship as a team, taking fourth place overall. The team loses the experience of Ryan Ford and Rocco Browning, the former of which is now competing at Cincinnati University.

 However, the other three members of that fourth place team will return. Seniors Jake Cerar and Max McGinley will lead the team, and junior Aidan Storms is back after shooting a 79 in last year’s Regional. Junior Drew Adams also competed on varsity as a sophomore, and will continue to do so this season. 

Upcoming: The team kicks off the regular season with a trip to Floyd Central on April 8 for the Floyd Central invitational. They have a quick turnaround, as they play in a match versus Noblesville just three days later. 

From Head Coach Mr. Ryan Brammer: “Our goals remain the same of being the best team in Indianapolis, which includes the preparation required to be City and Sectional Champions.  Our expectations for 2023 are to advance from the Regional and make a run at the program’s 2nd ever State Championship.  We also want to have the most seniors ever nominated for Academic All State in the program’s history this season – so our focus will remain strong in the classroom as well.”

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team won their Sectional last season before falling short in the Regional. They had a highly successful regular season in Head Coach Mr. Jeff Giles’s first year as the head coach. Giles, with one year under his belt, will look to aim even higher this season. 

The team had a lot of youth last season, so most of the varsity team will return this year. Sara Wojtalik, last year’s #3 singles player, has graduated, but juniors Izzy Carillo and Tess Wojtalik both return at #1 and #2 singles. Sophomore Izzy Ireland, senior Ava Russell, and junior Riley Kavanaugh will return with varsity experience playing doubles. 

Upcoming: The team will begin their season on April 12 with a home match against Fishers. Just two days later they will play their first away match against Hamilton Southeastern. 

From Coach Giles: “The girls tennis team has high expectations this year and should have a strong season as we return all but one senior from last year’s regional runner-up team.  Our goal is to continue to improve as players, win more matches than we did last year and make it further in the postseason.  I really like the character and drive of this team.  They push each other at practice, which makes everyone better.”

Men’s Volleyball

The men’s volleyball team boasted a 22-12 overall record last season, culminating in a loss in the Semistate to the eventual State Champion Roncalli Royals in three sets. This year’s team returns a lot of talent, and they have already begun their season, taking four straight victories before falling to Roncalli on March 14. 

One of the team’s main focuses was to replace seniors Ty Walsh, Andrew Miller and Will Langfeldt, who have now graduated. Replacing them so far has been juniors Scott George, Lincoln Heiser and Adam Miller. They fill the only holes in a lineup that returned Seniors Brayden Moyars, Gavin Weed and Mitchell Coolbaugh as well as sophomores Nick Whitley and Ryan Peterson.

Upcoming: The team will play in the Fishers March Madness Tournament on March 18, and will face McCutcheon and Forest Hills Northern (MI). They will host a rivalry game with Bishop Chatard on April 4. 

From Head Coach Mr. Tyler McClure: “The goal for this season is the same as every year – win a state title. The seniors are determined to win the program’s 10th state title. To reach our goal we have to get better every time we step on the floor and be relentless in our pursuit of excellence.”