Early Exits

By Billy Lowry
Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2005

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Monday night was not exactly a high point for Brophy athletics. To be honest, it couldn’t have gone any worse. Two teams, two first round playoff games, and two eliminations.

The volleyball team played its first round match against Gilbert. The young Brophy team, whose regular season didn’t go quite as well as they had hoped, still wanted to make a statement with a solid run through the state tournament. Gilbert had other ideas, taking the match in 2 games (25-19, 25-16). The Broncos put up a good fight through most of both games, but let them slip away towards the end. With a rally starting in game 1, Brophy was able to get within two points of Gilbert, 18-16, but the Tigers stood strong and finished the game. Then in second set, even at 10-10, the Broncos fell apart and let Gilbert’s Mike Nielson dominate in the middle to cruise to the easy victory. Jon Taddie had 5 kills for the Broncos. Luckily for the Broncos, they lose only one graduating senior, and look good to make a title run next season.

And then there is the baseball team. Ranked number one in the state, and coming off last week’s region title, taking down Horizon in 2 out of 3 games, the Broncos knew they had what it took to win it all. But unlike the Red Sox, who were able to break their curse last October, the Broncos could not break theirs, falling in a heart-breaking 1st round loss to Tucson. Chris Highmark had 6 strikeouts on the mound for the Broncos, but a 3-run 5th inning homerun was too much for the Broncos to overcome. Brophy was only able to tally one run, and failed to capitalize on early 7th inning hits. With the 3rd major meltdown in three years, the Broncos again turn to next season. They will return most of their team, losing only 5 seniors this year. But certainly the talent of those seniors will be missed, especially Chris Highmark, Paul Crowder, and Sean Nicol.

This wraps up Brophy sports for the year. It wasn’t the most successful compared to year’s past, but with a strong junior class, the Broncos look to be title contenders in almost every sport. Let’s just see what happens and hope for the best.

Good season boys, better luck next year.