The Jesuit Blue Jays (8-2) enjoyed a fruitful first weekend of Lent on the diamond. After starting the year with two losses, the Jays have won eight straight—including three wins during the Jesuit Invitational Tournament at John Ryan Stadium.

The first victory in the tournament came against a solid Ascension Episcopal squad with senior two-way star Holden Hess controlling the tempo on and off the mound in route to a 9-4 win.

The second game occurred the next day against a familiar foe: Northshore. The Panthers defeated the Jays 1-0 on opening day. Jesuit remembered and delivered a better performance in front of its home crowd.

Junior Will Good pitched a complete game and kept the Northshore batters off balance. By the end of the afternoon, he tallied 12 strikeouts and allowed only one earned run.

As for the rest of the squad, senior infielder James Bendeck supplemented his superior defense with clutch hitting, and senior outfielder Keith Pittman added a diving catch and an RBI single to cement the 8-1 win.

Saturday, March 5, 2022, brought the toughest matchup of the tournament against Nolan Catholic from Fort Worth, Texas. Both teams came into the matchup looking to go 3-0 in the invitational. Senior pitcher Ryan Porche made sure that Jesuit would walk away victorious.

Whether it was his dominate fastball or slow curve, the Vikings could not figure him out. Porche did not allow a hit until the sixth inning, and the Jesuit offense provided enough for a 4-2 victory.

Good, now playing third base, hit an RBI double in the first to start the scoring. Senior catcher Luke Brandau added another RBI double in the third to double the lead, and senior second baseman Oddie Aucoin launched the final double of the afternoon to give Jesuit a 4-0 lead.

Nolan would score two late runs, but Porche closed out the contest with two of his seven strikeouts to give the edge to the Jays.

Jesuit will look to claim four more victories as they gear up to participate in the Patterson Shootout starting on Thursday, March 10 against West Monroe.