Day 5: A Final Day Full of Wins

St. Dominic ended Catholic Schools week with a bang by allowing students and faculty to participate in a dodgeball tournament. The exciting event included freshmen and sophomore teams competing for the first half of empower hour before the juniors and seniors went up against each other for the second half of empower hour.

The tournaments were full of craziness: leaps through the air trying to dodge the balls, impressive shots, participants diving to catch balls, and even some acrobatics.

When junior Joey Pescarino got his brother, senior Luke Pescarino, out and watched his team win that game, he performed a celebratory front handspring, which made the crowd go wild. But not everyone was as thrilled about the team’s victory.  

“It was pretty. I got out by him so that was embarrassing but it’s cool to compete with your family,” Pescarino said, as the senior football player described what it was like to play against his brother.

In the end, seniors Jack LeComte, Tyler Sachs, Nick Huber, Adam Belding, Nathan Woerther, and Luke Pescarino won the upperclassmen dodgeball tournament and beat the juniors. Though this was the first time these boys had participated in the tournament, they had no nerves when battling the juniors.

“When I found out we were up against the juniors, I was like, let’s run ‘em into the ground,” Pescarino said.

But we can’t forget about the underclassmen! After multiple eventful games, sophomores Ben Messer, Christian Giarla, Gabe Serri, Jonathon Gil, Patrick Sullivan and Luke Bauche claimed victory at the end of the day.

With Messer as the team captain, the “Warriors,” as they called themselves, weren’t nervous for the competition. They were in fact, very confident in their dodgeball skills.

“We chose Ben as the team captain cause he’s the greatest football player of the 2021 class,” Serri said.

“Nervous? Not at all. We were very cocky,” Messer said.

Not only did these boys win the tournament, but they went undefeated.

“We expected it. We were kind of excited but when you expect something and it happens it’s just not as exciting,” Sullivan said.

Even with their cocky view towards the games, the “Warriors,” also supported sophomore friends on other teams, such as Collin Quain, Kannon Patterson, and Tate Cross.

Quain, like the “Warriors,” was very dedicated to the game, even to the point of throwing himself to the floor in an attempt to catch a ball.

“I dove. Yeah, I thought I might’ve bruised my rib but it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Quain said.

While speaking to the “Warriors,” they expressed their appreciation and respect towards Cross, who selflessly joined a freshmen team.

“Tate’s one of the better athletes of the school,” Messer said.

“Terrible competition except for Tate,” Bauche said.

“You know, I’m all for the team. I’m not an individual player. All about the team,” Cross said.

Through all the fun and games, the “Warriors,” did come out on top while enjoying the game.

“Win. All we wanted to do was win,” Messer said.

“All we wanted was a fun, holy, hardy Catholic game of dodgeball,” Gil said.

Beautifully described by Gil, the dodgeball tournament was a success. Whether on the court or in the stands, everyone enjoyed watching the friendly rivalry between classes and seeing the teachers join the competition. Including Mrs. Newton, who is a coach to the softball team, showcase some of her own softball skills with some impressive throws.

Catholic schools week 2019 is sadly over, but that doesn’t mean the celebrations have to cease! There is the varsity basketball game tonight against Borgia, where the winner of the toilet paper drive will be announced.

Tomorrow morning, the dance and cheer teams will be competing for the Triple A Conference at Christian High School. Finally, Saturday night is the Dancing Through the Decades winter dance, with a special appearance by Señorita Zilka, who is back in town for the weekend.

This year’s Catholic schools week has left us with some laughs and memories while we wait for next year’s celebrations.