The Roselle Catholic alumni came together in an amazing effort to raise the necessary funds to bring baseball back to the RC campus last year with the upgrade to the baseball field. RC Baseball coach Dan Olear (RC '85) gave the baseball alumni a chance to play on the newly constructed field named in their honor at Alumni Park by hosting the 1st Roselle Catholic Alumni Baseball Game on Saturday, September 16th.
Over 50 Roselle Catholic alumni came out and played in the event, ranging from Jeff Ryan (RC Class of '73) to Matt Rembish (RC Class of '14). In addition, over 100 family and friends of the RC community came out in support to watch the game and enjoy the barbeque and games throughout the day. Children had a blast playing in the bounce house or throwing a ball at the target on the Dunk Tank. And most importantly, the game was exciting to watch. A big thank you to Dave Benoit, Jeff Ryan, John Scmidt, and Joe Kropa, Sr for coming out to the game as former Lions coaches.
Dennis Burke ('89) was named Most Valuable Player for the green team. Dennis was exceptional in 4+ innings on defense for the team, and most notably wore his RCHS uniform to the game. Jeff Ryan ('73), the oldest alumni at the game, played 4 innings in the field and also received one of the Most Valuable Player awards for the green team. Jeff coached almost half of the players in attendance at the event. For the gray team, Joe Kropa, Jr ('06) was the only player to hit a homerun during the game, his first ever homerun hit at Roselle Catholic. John Lyp ('00) pitched 2 innings and played several more in the field.
While only one homerun was hit during the game, during the pre-game batting practice, many alumni were up to the task of taking on the green monsters in left and right fields. Mike Calleja ('95), Nick Nolan ('06), Joe Kropa, Jr ('06), Kevin Cowen ('10), and Stephen Bara ('13) all hit homeruns which not only cleared the fences, but also either landed in the creek in left / left center field, or went over the creek. An amazing feat for sure.
To keep up to date on all of the happenings with RC Baseball and any future alumni events, including next year's alumni baseball game, please check out http://rcalumnibaseball.com
GO LIONS!!