Lion Sports Update (04/23)

Baseball
Taking a brief break from counter play, the varsity baseball team had two away "friendlies" vs. SPC opponents. On Wednesday, the Lions headed over to Greenhill for an afternoon contest. St. Mark's jumped on the Hornets early as Jack Frary scored on a wild pitch after singling to CF in the top of the first. Both Frary and Aaron Augustine had two hits to lead the offense, resulting in a five-run cushion by the fifth inning. That's all Deven Pietrzak, the team's ace, would need as he delivered another brilliant outing (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 SO) to secure the Lions' sixth win of the season. The following day, St. Mark's traveled to Fort Worth Country Day for a 6:30 p.m. start. Trying to build on a two-game winning streak, the Lions unfortunately came out completely flat, surrendering six runs to the Falcons in the bottom of the first. Botched routine plays have plagued the defense all season, and FWCD quickly capitalized on multiple mistakes (a dropped pop-up on the IF, an errant throw on a bunted ball, a spiked throw to 1B after a fielded grounder, and a mistimed diving attempt on the IF) as the Falcons were staked with an insurmountable lead after one inning of play. William Everitt, Jackson Williams, John Stephen Hohmann, Jake DeBoever, Grayson Redmond, Jack Frary and Jackson Ostella all scattered a hit each, supplying St. Mark's with two runs before the game ended in a 12-2 run-rule victory for FWCD in 5 1/3 innings. Seven of the 12 runs given up by the Lions were unearned, and the Lions will need to fix their defensive issues before Tuesday's counter game at Trinity Valley (7:00 pm) and Friday's Senior Appreciation Day home counter vs. Greenhill (5:00 pm).   
 
Tennis
Varsity tennis partnered with Hockaday on Tuesday to play mixed doubles for senior night. Hockaday celebrated their 9 seniors and the 6 St. Mark’s seniors by playing against Oakridge and winning some fun matches. On Thursday, we matched up against FWCD and kept our undefeated season alive by defeating them 4-1. Great doubles play for the #2 doubles team of Kian Foshee and Tejas Allada! This week, the Lions go on the road against TVS on Tuesday and then against Greenhill on Thursday at Hockaday!
 
Crew
The rowers of St. Mark’s journeyed to Waco for the Texas Rowing Championship last weekend only to be rebuffed by foul weather.  Saturday’s racing was canceled due to high winds.  Racing on Sunday began with a delayed start. Only 3 out of the 20 entries St. Mark’s intended to race were able to complete a race before the remainder of the racing was canceled.  Despite water breeching the gunwales of the rowing shells and waves catching oars, the Varsity 2x of Eli Kraus and Ian McGowan raced the third-best time in a field of 14 boats to earn the Bronze medal. Marksmen rower’s next opportunity to race will be May 4-5 in Oklahoma City at the Central Youth Championship.
 
Lacrosse
Varsity lacrosse battled district opponent, Allen HS, on Monday evening.  In a hard fought match the Lions would come up short, losing 7-9.  Following a few days of practice, the squad traveled to take ESD to take on the Eagles in the SPC semifinals.  A quick start found the Lions up 2-0, but the remainder of the game did not go as well, ultimately losing 3-14.  The rainy weather on Saturday cancelled the 3rd place game against Kinkaid.  This week the team closes out the regular season with a home game against McKinney HS on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. 
 
Track & Field
The Lions traveled down to St. John’s in Houston for the Nick Finnegan Invitational.  It’s important to see the teams from the south to gauge the strength of the St. Mark’s team prior to the SPC championships.  The Lions were not at full strength, but still traveled with a very competitive team.  The team earned 14 personal records (PR’s) and 5 SB (seasonal bests) throughout the two days.  Certainly, the highlight of the meet was the performances of the distance crew.  They had a very good meet across the board.  Parker Steinbrueck led that group with PR’s in the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m, along with being a part of the winning 4x800 Relay team.  Raja Mehendale had a solid performance along with freshman Harman Pope.  Ethan Singleton won the 400m and produced a PR in the 200m.  He was also part of the 4x100 relay team that ran a seasonal best.  Tripp Schoellkopf and Julian Gerstle ran PR’s in the 400m while AJ Thomas ran a PR in the 110 hurdles and qualified for the SPC Meet. This week, the Lions will take part in the Hockaday Throws/Jumps competition so that group has a chance to improve on their marks.  The rest of the team will take part in an intrasquad meet on Friday to give some boys one last chance to improve their PR’s.  The SPC championships will take place at Greenhill on May 3-4.
 
Golf
On Tuesday, April 16th, the golf team competed in the Prestonwood Christian Academy Invitational held at the Lakes Course at Firewheel.  Senior Jordan Feldman got the Lions off to a hot start with an early par-3 birdie (six inches from being a hole-in-one!), and freshmen Wyatt Gair and Henry McGill also burst out of the gates to add to the team’s commanding lead.  However, a stretch of unexpected rain altered the course conditions a bit and halted some of the initial “SMomentum.”  Thankfully, though, junior Oliver Rubarth turned in a personal best score, as did sophomore Mason Pedroza.  Senior Henry Hoak strung together 7 consecutive pars toward the end of his round, and when all the dust settled, St. Mark’s won first and second in their division in team scoring:  Feldman, McGill, Gair and the 1st and 2nd-place individual medalists, freshmen Peter Clark and Nolan Wartman, slightly eclipsed the runner-up team of Rubarth, Pedroza, freshman Frank Brown, and juniors Zachary Yau, Aidan Lannen, and Russell Higgins (Higgins posted the best score of his competitive career and placed third among individuals).  What a great experience for the team and a testament to the regular-season success enjoyed by so many golfers this spring!  This week, the team will fine-tune in preparation for the SPC tournament held at The Golf Club of Houston (Tournament Course) in Humble, Texas April 30th-May 1st.