Wilmington holds off Bishop McNamara to turn tables on season-opening loss, repeat as sectional champions

BEECHER – Lucas Rink fondly remembers what assistant coach Chad Farrell told Rink and his Wilmington baseball teammates following the Wildcats’ 3-0 opening day loss at Bishop McNamara.

“He said, ‘We’re gonna get another crack at them (in the postseason) and we’re gonna make a run,’“Rink said.

The Wildcats got that crack at the Fightin’ Irish in Saturday’s Class 2A Beecher Sectional championship game, one that started off as a pitchers’ duel between Rink and Dom Panozzo.

It finished with a slew of momentum changes down the stretch, and most importantly for the Wildcats, a 5-4 Wilmington win.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 11

Members of the Wilmington baseball team await the arrival of their captains, Kyle Farrell (8) and Lucas Rink, with the Class 2A Beecher Sectional championship plaque after defeating Bishop McNamara 5-4 in the championship game Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

Last spring’s Class 2A third-place team, the Wildcats (24-8) made it two straight sectional plaques and advanced to Monday’s Geneseo Supersectional against Eureka at 6 p.m. McNamara’s season ended at 27-8, the program’s most wins since at least the turn of the century.

After Wilmington took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning, both teams found late offense and a couple of defensive errors that turned the Wildcats’ comfortable lead into a back-and-forth affair.

But through it all, the Wildcats never lost their lead.

“It’s a roller coaster of emotions, lots of highs and lows and it changes so quickly,” Wilmington coach Mike Bushnell said. “Trying to remain calm, and again, there’s just a trust with this group that I can’t even describe. I have so much belief in these guys that they’re gonna find a way to come out on top. It doesn’t matter what happens in the game, and I think they know that too.”

The Wildcats got those early runs when Declan Moran doubled in Cooper Holman and then scored on an error an at bat later. They were the only runs of the game until things started getting wild in the top of the fifth, starting when Wilmington cleanup hitter Zach Ohlund laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to bring home Rink and pad the Wilmington lead at 3-0.

“We always do bunt stuff in practice, so I told [Bushnell], ‘If you need me to bunt, I’ll get one down,’ and then he gave me the sign and I was like, ‘Oh, he gave me it, I’ve gotta get it down now,’” Ohlund said. “I just got the barrel on it perfectly placed and just ran my [butt] off to first.”

The Irish got on the board in the bottom of the inning when Braylon Ricketts hit a fly ball right-center field, where Wilmington right fielder Dierks Geiss slipped as he attempted to make the catch, allowing two Irish runners to score.

Rink got those runs back with a two-run single in the top of the sixth, but after Jacob Lotz sent his second home run of the sectional round out for a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, it quickly became a one-run game again at 5-4.

With two outs and Callaghan O’Connor on second base, Rink nabbed O’Connor with a nifty pickoff move to end the sixth. After the Irish got two outs at home plate in the top of the seventh, Rink returned to the rubber for a perfect seventh.

No matter which side the energy shifted to, Rink, who allowed two earned runs in a three-hit, three-walk, nine-strikeout complete game, never doubted himself or his teammates as they finished off the win.

“A big part of staying composed, staying in the game is trusting your guys,” Rink said. “We’re always gonna back each other up. I’ve got full faith in us. I was able to keep my head in there, especially after giving up the home run. That’s tough to come back from but I battled right through it. I’m really proud of my guys; they didn’t get down on me, had trust in me and it was really a good effort.”

Holman had a three-hit day and scored to lead Wilmington’s offense. Ohlund a double to his RBI squeeze. Aside from the Lotz homer, O’Connor’s two hits were all McNamara could muster. Panozzo allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits, two walks and a strikeout in 5 ⅓ innings before Lotz tossed a scoreless 1 ⅔.

McNamara head coach Kurt Quick knows that the hardest part of any season is the final postgame talk, one that was quite emotional Saturday. He also knows that there haven’t been many McNamara baseball teams like the one whose season just ended.

“We’ve fought all year, been in big games all year and they don’t quit,” Quick said. “That’s what makes them different. They don’t quit, they fight until the end. Wilmington just made more plays than we did.”