BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- North Park Baseball was knocked out of the CCIW Tournament on Wednesday evening, falling to the Carthage Firebirds 6-2 at Horenberger Field. Carthage ace Bryce Schaum went seven innings and punched out eight Viking hitters to end North Park's season.
WHEN THE RUNS WERE SCORED
Inning 1: Carthage struck the first blow when DH Max Cairo clubbed a home run to left field, scoring the first run of the game.
Inning 3: Carthage extended their lead when shortstop Collin Callahan singled to shortstop, followed by Cairo singling to right center, advancing Callahan to third. first baseman P.J. Moser then doubled to left center, driving in both runners. Lef fielder Drew Knech singled to left field, adding another run for Carthage who now led 4-0.
Inning 4: Carthage continued their scoring with center fielder Jimmy Herget doubling to left field and Callahan singling to left center, driving in Herget. Cairo walked, but senior left hander Brett Ravitz got the Firebirds swinging to end the inning.
Inning 6: Carthage scored again with Herget singling through the left side, followed byCallahan, Cairo, and Felber walking to go ahead 5-0.
Inning 8: North Park managed to score two runs. Junior second baseman Rylan Kawakami struck out but reached first when the ball skipped away to the backstop. Senior center fielder Alex DiVito singled to right center, advancing Kawakami to second. Junior first baseman Vinnie Marvucic legged out a single, driving in Kawakami, before senior DH Nate Sommerfeld had nearly the same result on a chopped ball up the left side, advancing Marvucic to second. Rylan Li worked his pinch-hit at-bat, fouling off a good breaking ball, before a bang-bang call at first was called in the Firebirds' favor, but the RBI groundout gave the Vikings their second run of the game, now trailing 6-2.
Unfortunately, this would be the final run NPU scored in its 2025 season. Carthage's Jake Hartman, Jr. took the ball in the ninth, giving up a walk to senior Graham Porter and a single to Kawakami, but secured two of three outs with a strikeout to secure the Firebirds' win.
The Vikings conclude the 2025 season 13-26 with an 8-12 conference record. Thank you to the NPU seniors Reece Arakaki, Kevin Ayeski, Jaedon Bader, Oliver Clemens, Alex DiVito, Riley Jepsen, Brandon Leidolph, Gio Lucchetto, Graham Porter, Brett Ravitz, Griffin Self, and Nate Sommerfeld for their time and dedication to North Park University and NPU Athletics.
