What’s recently happened?
On June 3, Marquette Catholic High School’s baseball team, The Marquette Blazers, reached victory in its Regional championship game. The team faced off against Morgan Township Middle/High School, beating them in a hard fought duel. There were no runs scored in the first three innings, the score being 0-0 entering inning four.
The Marquette Blazers failed to score during the fourth inning while the Morgan Township Cherokees pulled ahead, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth. The fifth inning continued in much the same way, with the Marquette Blazers remaining at zero and Morgan Township adding another run to the board.
Entering the sixth inning, the Marquette Blazers were down by two. However, the Morgan Township Cherokees began to falter; Marquette pitcher Nate Bakota being hit by a pitch. Starter Jack Gausselin received a walk, and JJ Welsh reached first. Bakota stole home on a wild pitch from the Morgan Township pitcher, scoring the first Blazer’s run of the game. Jack Gotch then walked to first, loading the bases.
Both Connor Bakota and Alex Bell laid down suicide squeeze bunts, scoring three more runs for the Blazers. Morgan Township scored another run during the sixth, and the inning ended with a score of 4-3, Marquette Blazers being up by one.
While The Marquette Blazers did not score any runs during the seventh inning, they held the Morgan Township Cherokees at three, securing their first Regional win since 2004. The Marquette Blazers will continue on to the Semi-State match, where they will face off against Fort Wayne’s Blackhawk Christian School.
What’s coming up?
Holdcraft Performing Arts Center, along with the Young People’s Theatre Company, have officially begun preparations for their summer production. This summer, they are putting on “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.” Auditions were held on Saturday, May 20, and concluded on April 3. The cast list has not yet been posted but is underway.
“Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” tells the story of Carole King, who is regarded as the most successful female artist of the 20th century. Carole King, along with her first husband Gerry Goffin, wrote over two dozen chart hits. She is also known for her songs that became television show theme songs, such as “Where You Lead,” which is the theme song for the popular sitcom “Gilmore Girls.” The musical includes 12 of her top songs, including “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and the title track, “Beautiful.”
Holdcraft Performing Arts Center and the Young People’s Theatre Company focus heavily on getting the younger generation interested in the performing arts. They strive to work with young adults to teach them about theater. With a board of experienced directors, they push to teach young people the right way to participate in the performing arts, both on stage and in technical theater.
The cast of “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” will consist of young actors and actresses, aged between 13 and 20. There will be around 21 singing roles and five non-singing roles. Opening night will be held on July 14, followed by productions on July 15 and 16, as well as on the following weekend, July 21, 22, and 23.
Community member spotlight:
Chloe Wozniak is a Marquette Catholic High School graduating senior.
Over her four years at Marquette, Wozniak has worked to accumulate several college credits through Ivy Tech Community College, as well as keeping a 3.78 grade point average (GPA). She will be graduating magna cum laude. She has also been a part of the Marquette Catholic High School chapter of the National Honor Society.
Not only does Wozniak keep up with her own grades, she also helps younger students keep up with theirs. During the school year, Wozniak helped to tutorial students at Queen of All Saints Catholic Elementary School. She helped students that had fallen behind in their studies, going to help with the after school tutoring program that Queen of All Saints has.
After graduating from Marquette, Wozniak plans to attend Manchester University, where she will study nursing. After college, she plans to become a nurse practitioner.
From a young age, Wozniak has known that her calling in life was to help others. She knew that she wanted to go into the medical field, but she realized she wanted to be a nurse when she was 14.
“When I was 13, my grandfather got sick and was hospitalized. For my 14th birthday, all I wanted was to see my grandfather. I went to the hospital, and I saw him, and I saw the way the nurses treated him and helped him. On that day, I knew that becoming a nurse was what I wanted for myself,” Wozniak says.
During her last summer before beginning college, Wonziak plans to spend time with her family. She also plans to go to the LaPorte County Fair, where her 4-H photography project will be put on display. She plans to focus her project on the environment in the summer months.
Wozniak made several great memories at Marquette.
“I like seeing what the seniors do for their senior pranks,” she said.
After missing out on seeing it her freshman year because of COVID-19, Wozniak always enjoyed seeing the glee that senior pranks brought to the school.