PALOS HEIGHTS, Ill. — Yesterday afternoon the Trojans took a short trip down the highway to battle the Trolls of Trinity Christian College for the NCCAA North Central Region Championship. In a pair of seven inning games, the Trojans ultimately took their final bow as a program after TCC swept the doubleheader.


Game One: TIU 0, TCC 9
Julius Torres led off for the Trojans with a single to third base before the Trolls defense picked him off. Blake Lazaris and Riley Murphy grabbed back to back base hits but unfortunately were left stranded on base. Trinity Christian jumped ahead three runs in the bottom half of the inning after an unfortunate infield error and a trio of hits.

Second baseman Alfonso Gomez was sent walking before a single from Christian Soria-Navarro put two on base for the Trojans with the potential to score. The Trolls hurler would deny them the opportunity by retiring the next two batters on his own. Defensively, the Trojans stood firm with third baseman Blake Lazaris fielding cleanly for back to back assists on the put out at first. Michael Zelko, on the mound for TIU, initiated the pickoff to catch a wild Troll stealing in order to end the inning with a flare.

Throughout the remainder of the game, the Trojans continued to struggle offensively as they were held to five or less batters per inning by the locked-in Trolls defense. The home side would add six more to their total before the final inning.

Michael Zelko took the start for TIU, going 3.0 innings before freshman Charlie Mctamany came in as relief to record the last three.


Game Two: TIU 3, TCC 5
Flipping the scoreboard for game two, the Trojans took the field first as the Trolls offense continued to roll from the first outing. Jumping ahead three runs, Trinity Christian took an early lead in the initial two innings while holding the Trojan offense to just one more batter than the minimum as their defense came up with a big double play.

The third and fourth innings went by with little excitement as both teams tightened the screws defensively, giving the opponent little room to create momentum from the plate. The Trojans recorded two hits in that frame with a single from Elisa Marquez and a double by shortstop Jonathan Kumai.

Trinity Christian scored one more in the top of the fifth inning before the Trojans ended the stanza by catching a Troll stealing third. After reaching on a passed ball, Brady Popovich stole second in the bottom of the fifth to give the Trojans a scoring opportunity but the Trolls defense stood tall once again.

Trojan hurler Max Amendt retired the Trolls in short order to start the sixth frame and fire up the offense in turn. Though the home half of the inning started with a ground out, the Trojans soon rallied with a double from Blake Lazaris followed by a single from Riley Murphy. A gifted base from the TCC hurler loaded the bases for the Trojans and set up the sac fly from Jimmy Cisneros to put the Trojans on the scoreboard. Batting next, Brady Popovich earned an RBI as he helped the Trojans cut the score deficit in half, 2-4. After another walk for TIU, the bases were loaded once again but the Trolls would deny the continued momentum with a ground out to the pitcher.

Increasing their lead, Trinity Christian added one more to the board in their final at bat after an error by the Trojans. TIU felt the pressure of the momentum and looked to rally once again. Jonathan Kumai doubled to left field before advancing to third on a passed ball. Blake Lazaris earned the RBI on a ground out before Riley Murphy doubled to put the Trojans in scoring position once more. To the Trojans dismay, the Trolls locked in an errorless game to end the inning and sweep the doubleheader.

Throwing a complete game for the Trojans, Max Amendt recorded four strikeouts and walked just one.


With Wednesday afternoon's game, Trinity International wrapped up their 2023 campaign with a final record of 19-32-1 overall and 3-23-1 in the CCAC after making their first postseason appearance in over a decade.