The beloved St. Louis U. High tradition of the annual Intramural Bashball tournament was held last week. For the tournament, advisories battle for their class championship, and then class champions fight for the title of Intramural Bashball School Champion.

Championship day kicked off with a national anthem performance by junior Tim Browdy. After that it was time to bash, with the champions of each class now pitted against each other. The seniors against the sophomores, and the juniors against the Freshmen. Representing the freshmen was advisory J121, the sophomores 221C, the juniors 216C, and the seniors M110.

“I put these grade levels against each other so that the upperclassmen each will have an opportunity to make it to the finals,” said PE teacher Patrick Zarrick, who organizes the tournament. “I’m not saying the underclassmen can't upset them, but at least it gives them the opportunity. I don't want to start juniors versus seniors.”

Not surprisingly, the upperclassmen’s experience showed up in the semi finals. The juniors secured a convincing 6-0 win over the freshmen, and the seniors prevailed 4-0 over the sophomores in a more heated matchup.

With both teams advancing the finals were ready to commence. Immediately after tip off, tensions were high. Both teams were making runs up and down the court, but could not find the net. The seniors would have a scoring opportunity, and then the juniors would respond in kind, but no goals were to be found. Eventually, late in the first half the senior team slipped the ball in the goal making the score 1-0.

Instantly the juniors were ready to retaliate. After the senior goal, the junior class did an excellent job at maintaining possession for the rest of the period. The possession ultimately paid off and junior Miles Rittenhouse put the juniors on the board to tie the score.

The first period came to a close, but with the score being 1-1 both teams were eager for another goal. This time the seniors came out strong. Saving attempt after attempt, junior Julio Pedro seemed like a brick wall in goal. Nothing was getting by him and he was not ready to let his homeroom down in the finals of the tournament. The seniors were persistent and after taking seemingly hundreds of shots, the seniors scored a bash to make the score 3-1.

As time was running out the juniors were eager for a bash. Being down by two the best way to fill the gap was to go for the two points. The juniors held onto the ball finding multiple opportunities, but they could not seal the deal. Although they could not find a goal, the juniors were awarded a penalty shot for unnecessary shoving. The team elected Rittenhouse for the shot, and again he did not disappoint, tightening the gap for the juniors making it a one goal game. 

Now the juniors were looking for a normal shot. They needed just one shot to make it through to send the game into a potential overtime.  The seniors, though, would not allow it. Just after Zarrick announced the 1:30 time mark, the seniors found themselves an issuance goal by the hand of Louis Kertz.

The troubled juniors consulted  Zarrick, arguing that Kertz crossed the goalie crease resulting in a no goal. Zarrick did not grant them their wish and play continued on.

“It was close,” said Zarrick. “I thought he had started the shot before he got in. There are a couple of things that get real gray. If the player starts the throw, and then is tagged, it's a judgment call if he's far enough along for the throw to count. Same thing with a crease violation. If a guy starts the shot outside the crease, even if he may land in the crease, I'm more inclined to allow that. If he is standing in the crease unabated, then that's an easy one to call. Here this was not the case.”

Now all the seniors had to do was play defense in order to secure the title. The juniors would not let up trying again for bashes, but they could not find one. The final score: 4-2 seniors.

The seniors were joined by the rest of their classmates on the court celebrating this much-earned victory. The juniors conceded, acknowledging their opponents as the victors and accepted the defeat.

“We were definitely confident heading into the game,” said M216C member Tommy O’Keefe. “We had great defenders, great offenders, and our goalie Julio Pedro played outstanding. We definitely thought we could’ve won it but that senior team, they were good. They were able to find the best of us, but I’m still happy the way our team played.”

One player in particular that stood out on the senior team was Cal Krueter. Even though Kreuter himself did not tally a goal, he still played amazing, showing off his footwork skills and breaking many junior ankles. Krueter was instrumental to the senior victory.

“I feel I played a great supporting role for my teammates,” said Krueter. “We went out there to have fun, we played as a team, it felt good to get the dough. It was just fun being out there with the guys, and we were able to win it for our advisory which felt great.”

Even Zarrick was impressed by the way Kreuter played.

“Cal was my unofficial MVP of the tournament,” said Zarrick. “He pretty much won the senior round on offense, taking part in all senior goals during the game.”

Advisory M110, champions of the 2022-2023 intramural baseball championship, have shown their worth, and will forever have their homeroom’s name embedded on the trophy.

“The play was strong, “said Zarrick, “I love the strong fan turnout today. In addition, I don't believe anybody got seriously hurt, which is always a win in intramural bashball. Overall I was very pleased.”