Shiner
Shiner St. Paul

St. Paul baseball: Cardinals runner up in Division V after close loss to Weatherford Christian

  • Noah Boedeker at the plate in a recent home playoff game. He had one hit and scored twice in the state tournament. Photo by Mark Lube.
    Noah Boedeker at the plate in a recent home playoff game. He had one hit and scored twice in the state tournament. Photo by Mark Lube.
  • Zeke Rodriguez watches the situation and listens for instructions from head coach Charlie Mieschen. He scored a run in the state semifinals. Photo by Mark Lube
    Zeke Rodriguez watches the situation and listens for instructions from head coach Charlie Mieschen. He scored a run in the state semifinals. Photo by Mark Lube
  • Sean Humes slides into a successful steal of second. The senior had one hit and scored two runs in the state tournament. Photo by Mark Lube.
    Sean Humes slides into a successful steal of second. The senior had one hit and scored two runs in the state tournament. Photo by Mark Lube.

    The St. Paul Cardinals baseball team wrapped up the season as TAPPS V state finalists after a narrow 3-2 loss to Weatherford Christian the morning of May 18 at the state tournament held at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Clay Gould Ballpark. The Cardinals won the semifinal the day before against Bulverde Bracken Christian
    Seniors Zak Johnson,  juniors Fisher Davis and Jackson Ulcak, and sophomore Nate Boedeker were selected as All-Tournament players.
    The Cardinals were last in the state tournament in 2019.
    “We made it to the tournament in 2019 when this senior class were freshmen. It's easy to look at it (back in 2019) like we will be there again but then COVID hits and we come up short last year.,”  St. Paul head coach Charlie Mieschen said. “Making it to state is not easy and winning it is even harder. St. Paul has been blessed with the amount of state titles they have across all sports but not one of those was easy which makes it all the more impressive.”
    The Cardinals  had a  great year as they won the district with an undefeated record and won area, regional and state semifinal championships.
    “I know the season didn't end the way we wanted it to, but that doesn't mean we failed. We played the last game TAPPS would allow us to play and that's pretty special. We can be upset because the final loss hurts but we can't be disappointed in the season,” Mieschen said.
    St. Paul graduates Sean Humes, Johnson, Kade Leist, Ethan Easterling, Travis Thibodeaux, Cris Reyna and Jake Yackel.
    MIeschen has built relationships with the seniors for several years and will miss more than their talent and work ethic in sports.
    “I started building relationships with these kids when they were in elementary. I got to coach them in football, basketball and baseball so I'm with them almost the entire school year. We've grown together and the relationships have turned into something special.,” he said. “Losing this group of young men is not easy and that has nothing to do with sports. The conversations, laughs, it's really just the daily interactions and that's what I'll miss the most.”
    Weatherford Christian 3, St. Paul 2
    In the top of the sixth, St. Paul was down 3-2 with Ulcak up to bat with Nate Boedeker at second and Davis at first after each singled.
    Ulcak hit a line out to the shortstop and Weatherford Christian turned a triple play, putting out Nate Boedeker and Davis to end the game in dramatic fashion.
    St. Paul was attempting to rally for the second time, having come back from a 1-0 down earlier in the game and then fell behind 3-1.
    Weatherford Christian went up 1-0 in the first frame; the Cardinals tied the game in the top of the third and Weatherford Christian rallied to go up 3-1 in the bottom of the inning.
    The Cardinals closed within 3-2 after the fifth inning.
    “I'm really proud of my boys. We got great pitching from Jackson. We put ourselves in position to tie or take the lead multiple times; we just couldn't get the timely hit when we needed it,” Mieschen said. “It's a tough loss, one that's going to take a while to fully move on from but that takes nothing away from the great season we had.”
    St. Paul was the better team at the plate, out hitting Weatherford Christian 11-4. Nate Boedeker led with three hits, an RBI and triple. Davis and Johnson each got two hits. Sean Humes and Noah  Boedeker each had one run.
    Ulcak pitched six innings with three walks and four strikeouts.
    Nate Boedeker had 13 putouts in the field.
    St. Paul hitting/offense — Nate Boedeker, 3-4, 1 triple, 1 RBI; Fisher Davis, 2-3, 1 RBI; Zak Johnson, 2-3, 1 stolen base;  Sean Humes, 1-4, 1 run; Noah Boedeker, 1-3, 1 run;Kade Leist, 1-3; Ethan Easterling, 1-3
    St. Paul pitching —  Jackson Ulcak, 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 4K.
    St. Paul fielding/defense — Nate Boedeker, 13 putouts;  Noah Boedeker, 1 putout; Johnson, 7 assists; Ulcak, 3 assists; Ethan Easterling, 2 assists; Davis, 1 assist.
    SP 001 010 0 2 11 2
    WC 102 000 x 3 4 12
    St. Paul 7, Bulverde Bracken Christian 3
    State semifinal
    The St. Paul Cardinals baseball team withstood a three-run fourth inning to beat district opponent Warriors 7-3 in the TAPPS Division IV state semifinal game May 17.
    The Cardinals plated two runs in each of the first two innings to claim a 4-0 lead. Neither team brought a run in the third frame and Bracken Christian used some extra-base hits to score three in the bottom of the third. getting within one run.
    St. Paul scored three insurance runs in the sixth frame and prevented another Bracken run in the sixth and seventh innings.
    Ulcak had a big day at the plate as he hit 2-for-2, both doubles, brought in four runs and stole one base. Noah Boedeker scored two runs, stole three bases and had one RBI.
    Johnson took the win, allowing three runs on eight hits, one batter hit and striking out 13 batters in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Nate Boedeker worked the final 2/3 innings with two walks.
    In the field, Nate Boedeker had three putouts and one assist; Ulcak had two putouts.
    St. Paul hitting/offense — Ulcak, 2-2, 2 doubles, 4 RBI, 1 stolen base;  Leist, 1-4, 1 run;Davis, 1-2; Noah Boedeker, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 3 stolen bases; Nate Boedeker, 1 run, 1 stolen base; Sean Humes, 1 run, 1 stolen base; Jake Yackel, 1 run; Zeke Rodriguez, 1 run.
    St. Paul pitching — Johnson, 6.1 IP, 8 hits, 3 runs, 1 hit by pitch, 13K; Nate Boedeker, 0.2 IP, 2 walks.
    St. Paul fielding/defense — Nate Boedeker, 3 putouts, 1 assist; Davis, 2 putouts, 1 assist; Ulcak, 2 putouts; Johnson, 1 putout; Blaine Humes, 2 assists; Leist, 1 assist.
    SSP 220 003 0 7 4 0
    BBC 000 300 0 3 8 1