St. Pius X Spring Sports Wind Down in State Playoffs

The spring sport season is winding down at St. Pius X as the end of the school year approaches. Boys’ tennis finished as state runners-up while both soccer teams have advanced to the state semi-finals. Baseball stayed alive with two wins in decisive game threes to advance to the quarterfinals while each lacrosse team ended its season. Boys’ golf waits another week before participating in the state championship.

Boys’ soccer has yet to allow a goal in the post-season as the squad shut out both Cartersville and Chapel Hill to advance to the semi-final round. The Golden Lions (17-0-2) were led by two goals from Alex Kowalski in a 3-0 win over Cartersville. St. Pius X then had to go on the road to face Chapel Hill and won 10-0 as Tyler Alexander found the back of the net three times while Kowalski added two more. St. Pius X will host Oconee County Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to the championship game Saturday versus the Woodward-East Hall winner.

Girls' soccer advanced to the semi-finals with two wins last week. The Golden Lions (17-1-3) defeated North Oconee 4-0 before travelling to Chapel Hill and taking a 5-1 win. Amanda Vocelka had one goal and four assists in the win over Chapel Hill. Unlike football where teams would flip a coin if they were seeded the same out of respective regions, the top-ranked Golden Lions must to travel to No. 2 Buford (19-0), as the host school is pre-determined by the playoff bracket. The winner of Tuesday’s contest will take to the pitch Friday for the championship against the winner of the Blessed Trinity-Woodward match.

Baseball advanced to the state quarterfinals with two game three wins last week. The Golden Lions defeated Buford, 7-4, to take the series two games to one as Will Robertson got the win. Jack Spear recorded the save. In the second round, St. Pius X defeated North Oconee two games to one. After losing game one, the Golden Lion starting pitchers twirled back-to-back complete game shutouts. Mike Krill fanned nine  while allowing just one hit in an 8-0 game two rout. In the decisive game, Robertson sprayed five hits in the 4-0 win. St. Pius X will hit the road again on Tuesday for a doubleheader at Pike County. If game three is needed, the two teams will square off on Wednesday.

Boys’ tennis traveled to Waycross last Monday to defeat Brantley County in the semi-finals, setting up a third match against Region 6 foe Blessed Trinity. The teams had split the two earlier meetings and the Titans knocked off the Golden Lions in the state title match. The doubles team of Jack Cote and Parker Jones took the one point for St. Pius X in the final match.

Girls' lacrosse took its first round match against Pope 13-12. Freshman midfielder Claire Paulino scored the winning goal with 38 seconds remaining in the game to secure the win. Junior Katherine Vocelka scored four goals and juniors Molly Cartwright and Erin Jones added three goals each to lead the scoring. The Golden Lions (12-9) lost to Northview, 16-3, in the second round of the playoffs.

Last week seven members of the St. Pius X varsity girls’ lacrosse team was invited to play in the DiVarsity Georgia State Girls’ Lacrosse All-Star game. Adalie Buechner, Claire Homrich, Smith Sheehy, Katie Cordone, goalie Sally Varner, Cartwright and Vocelka will play for the “Blue” team in the game to played on Sunday May 19 at Sprayberry High School. Head Coach Peter Voorhees was also named to coach the “Blue” team.

Girls’ track and field finished 10th at the state meet. Bryanna Gillooly took second place in the pole vault, while Martinique Edwards finished fourth in the high jump. Alexa Rushworth placed sixth in the triple jump. Rachel Pyden and Elizabeth Pettit took seventh in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs, respectively.

Boys’ lacrosse dropped its opening round playoff game to Pope, 12-3. The Golden Lions end the year 10-10.