Sports
The Wildcats celebrate their win of the 2023 Bruce Mahoney.
Bruce Mahoney Series
SI 3 - 2 SHC
SI wins 2022-23 title
The SI Wildcats will keep the Bruce Mahoney trophy on 37th Avenue for another year. The St. Ignatius Wildcats and the SHC Fightin’ Irish baseball teams faced off on Saturday March 25th at SF Giants home stadium, Oracle Park.
This was the 14th time that the storied matchup had been held at Oracle Park (previously AT&T Park).
The Cats jumped out to an early lead that was never relinquished. The game led off with a windy but sunny first at-bat to Senior Gus Parker. Parker was walked and eventually scored as part of a solid two-run first inning.
The Wildcats came out firing at their next at bat with a four-run second inning resulting in a 6-0 lead by the middle of the second.
While the Fightin’ Irish mounted some decent threats throughout the rest of the game, the end result never really felt in doubt. Strong defense from the Saint Ignatius crew helped hold the Irish to only one run in the game, which came in the fifth inning. Senior Niko Gomozias pitched a stellar 3.1 innings for the Wildcats letting up no runs and on only three hits. Sophomore Beau Schaffer came in to close out the 4th inning allowing no hits and striking out 1 batter. Freshman Archer Horn sealed the deal, pitching the final three innings. Horn struck out five, allowing one run.
These two high school teams have a rich history of athletic contests. The very first game between the Irish and the Wildcats was a rugby game on St. Patrick’s day 1893 at 8th Street and Market, when the Irish beat the Wildcats 14- 4. It was the berth of a long standing rivalry between the two schools and the Bruce-Mahoney trophy itself was founded in 1947 honoring Bill Bruce, an SI graduate and Jerry Mahoney, an SHC graduate, both of whom died in World War II.
Saint Ignatius has now held the Bruce Mahoney trophy for four consecutive years of competition (excluding 2019-2020 due to the final contest, baseball, not being played as a result of Covid). Saint Ignatius intends to build upon this four year streak as the Cats chase their record 12 year trophy streak that existed from 1973-1985.
Cole Siwinski ’26 is a Vol. 71 Contributing Editor
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