Crusaders Bring Fierce Competition to SPC Tourney
St. Andrew's Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, and Track teams brought serious competition to the SPC tournament in Fort Worth last weekend.
Baseball
The Varsity baseball team came in to the SPC tournament as the 5 seed from the South, and they took on Fort Worth All Saints, seeded 4th in the North. The Crusaders jumped out to a 4-0 lead before All Saints scored 3 in the 6th to make it 4-3. In the top of the 7th, St. Andrew’s added an insurance run and won 5-3.
In the second round, St. Andrew’s took on Houston Kinkaid, who was the 2 seed from the South Zone. The Crusaders’ bats were hot early, as we took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. The Falcons tied it in the bottom of the 2nd. The next two innings were scoreless before Kinkaid scratched out 2 more runs in the 5th and another in the 6th. St. Andrew’s threatened multiple times but couldn't score again as the Falcons went on to win 6-3 and later captured the SPC championship.
The final game for baseball was against Trinity Valley, who was seeded 2nd in the North Zone. Behind a complete game shutout from Senior Andrew McInvale, the Crusaders defeated the Trojans 4-0. Senior John Covert led the way offensively with 2 RBI, and Senior Scott Politz (Yale signee) and Junior Blais Herman each added an RBI. The victory meant St. Andrew’s finished in 5th place, which is the second best result in program history.
Girls Lacrosse
The opening round game saw the girls lacrosse team take on the top seed from the North Zone, the Episcopal School of Dallas (ESD). The Eagles jumped on the Crusaders early and went on to win 15-5.
In the second game of the tournament, the St. Andrew’s took on cross-town rival St. Stephen’s. The Crusaders controlled the game throughout its entirety and ultimately won 17-8.
Girls lacrosse took on Houston Episcopal in the final game. The match saw each team go on several runs, and the halftime score was 8-8. The Knights came out hot to start the second half, but the Crusaders rallied to cut into their lead. EHS was able to hang on and win, 18-15, as St. Andrew’s took 6th place.
Softball
In the opening game of the SPC tournament, the softball team (seeded 6th) took on the 3 seed from the North, All Saints from Fort Worth. The Crusaders jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but All Saints stormed back to tie it at the end of 7. In the top of the 8th in extra innings, Sophomore Hannah Hornaday scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run. In the bottom of the 8th, All Saints had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Junior Shelby Bray got a strike out, and then Senior Julia Filardi caught a pop up and tagged second to get the double play and win the game.
St. Andrew’s took on Houston power and second seed, St. John’s, in the second round game. The Crusaders played excellent defense throughout the early parts of the game, and after 3 innings, the score remained tied at 0. St. John’s had a huge fourth inning, plating eight runs. They added on a couple more runs in the fifth to win 10-0.
In the final game, the Crusaders lost to top-seed FW Country Day 8-0, although the final score was not indicative of how close the game really was. The girls finished in 7th place, which tied for the best in program history.
Track
In the SPC track meet, the St. Andrew’s girls took 12th place, while the boys’ finished in 14th. These results led to points for the Crusaders:
- Senior Oliver Langselius placed 3rd in the 3200 (9:38.38) and 6th in the 1600 (4:29.69).
- Senior Nat Taylor took 5th in the high jump with a jump of 5’10”.
- The boys 4x800 relay (consisting of Seniors Brian Wongchotigul and Oliver Langselius, Junior Henry Gaudin, and Sophomore Austin Modoff) placed 5th.
- Freshman Jill Hollon placed 6th in the triple jump with a distance of 35’4”, and she also took 7th in the long jump with a jump of 16’4.5”
- Junior Hannah Blake got 7th in the 3200 with a time of 12:06.92.
- The girls 4x800 (Juniors Sara Buffington and Hannah Blake, Sophomore Blair Butler, and Freshman Esme Jaimes) placed 7th with a time of 10:32.86.
- Sophomore Olivia Nicklos finished 7th in the 300 hurdles with a time of 49.83 seconds.
- Freshman Mary Alex Frishman 8th in the triple jump with a distance of 34’4”.
