Baseball Posts Third Straight Shutout, Faces O’Connor in Semifinals
The Brophy baseball team posted a 5-0 shutout over O’Connor to advance in the AIA 6A Conference playoffs on May 4. The Broncos will face No. 6 O’Connor in the semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m. at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa. The Eagles won an elimination game on Tuesday over No. 3 Liberty.
Brophy (24-5) is looking to make its first AIA semifinal since 2012, when the Broncos played Chaparral in the final.
Johnny Casale (8-1) pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, and Benton Hickman closed the game with two scoreless innings.
Brandon Wirtz knocked in the first run with a second-inning single to score Jack Ryan. Wirtz finished 2-for-3. Matt Niezgodzki had the big hit in the fifth. After loading the bases with walks to Casale and Meissner and a single by Cornejo-Farner, Niezgodzki singled to plate two runs, recording his 28th and 29th runs batted in on the season. They added a fourth run on a wild pitch.