GLEN CARBON - Justin Terhaar and Mason Holmes had two hits each, while Scott Phelps drove home two runs, and Issac Wendler struck out nine in five innings of work on the mound as Father McGivney Catholic's baseball team defeated Waterloo Gibault Catholic 5-3 in a game played Friday afternoon at Griffins Field.
The Griffins are off to another great start this season, and have played very well, something that pleases head coach Chris Erwin.
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Erwin said: "We've been playing well and are very consistent. The guys have been working very hard, and the guys were excited during the preseason, and it's carried over into the regular season."
The Griffins have nine seniors on this year's roster, losing only two players to graduation from last year, and they have provided leadership to the ball club.
"They've been really leading the team," Erwin said.
McGivney has also done well in the Gateway Metro Conference, and hopes to win the league title. The GMC has quickly become a very good league, and McGivney hopes to help the GMC grow and expand.
"We're still in the middle of the conference," Erwin said, "and we want to finish strong in the Gateway Metro Conference. It's been a good conference, the six teams in it have been really good, and we're hoping to see it grow more.
McGivney scored twice in the second, and once in both the fourth and fifth to take a 4-0 lead, with the Hawks scoring all three on their runs in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3. The Griffins scored an insurance run in the home half of the sixth to make the final score 5-3. 
Both Holmes and Terhaar had two hits each, while Phelps had a hit and his two RBIs, both Reilly Sutberry and Wendler had a hit and RBI each, and both Omar Avalos and Ben Sink each had a hit. Wendler went five hitless and shutout innings to get the win, walking two and striking out nine. Dane Keeven gave up three runs, none earned, and two hits in 0.2 innings, walking two and fanning two, and Evan Koontz pitched the final 1.1 innings to earn the save, fanning one.
Gibault falls to 2-9, while the Griffins are now 13-2, and continue their home stand on Saturday against Heyworth at 11 a.m., then host Piasa Southwestern on Monday, and Mt. Vernon on Wednesday, both games starting at 4:30 p.m. The Griffins then take on Alton at Busch Stadium next Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
