St. Norbert’s Sixth-Graders Shine in CYC Baseball League

As we enter into the dog days of summer, the Catholic Youth Council (CYC) baseball season is nearing its end. Teams are starting to clinch their divisions, as most teams in the area only have a few games left to play.

As we inch closer to the city and county playoffs, one of the area’s hottest teams deserves some recognition.

Last season, Kerry Carpenter was the assistant coach for sixth-grade boys baseball team. They finished in second place behind .

This summer, Kerry took over as the team’s manager, and he is the only undefeated coach in the team’s division.

St. Norbert has seen its sixth-grade boys go a perfect 9-0 this season. The team is three wins away from an undefeated season. After a 22-3 win over St. Martin de Porres on June 1, St. Norbert has clinched North County’s spot in the playoffs.

“We have a lot of young, talented players," Carpenter said. "It certainly is not the coaching. We have a bunch of kids who are very good.”

This is the first school year following St. Norbert and St. Sabina merging as one school. St. Sabina’s kids combined with St. Norbert’s, increasing the size of their teams as well.

St. Norbert’s team has 18 players on its roster, which has resulted in more limited playing time.

“Eighteen kids are tough to coach," he said. "It’s hard to get everyone enough playing time, and kids may not be playing as many innings as they would like.” 

Carpenter said the merging of the two schools impacted his team greatly. Eric Lurtz is the only player on St. Norbert who played with St. Sabina last season when they won the league title.

Carpenter believes that the addition of Lurtz has really helped the team.

A new coach and new players have proven to be the key difference compared to last season.

This team’s expectations have been high all season, and St. Norbert hopes its undefeated record continues all the way to the end of July when the league champions will hoist their trophy.