Bruce’s Barbarians Defy the Odds

One of my many favorite memories of my time at Oratory is the dodgeball tournament my sophomore year. My team (Bruce’s Barbarians) got through the first round fairly easily, but in the second round, we were underdogs against a stacked “Blauntown” team. “Blauntown” was made up of predominantly baseball players, which gave them an advantage in dodgeball because they were really good at throwing balls. The game between us was very close and at one point it looked like we were going to lose. I remember when our team went on a streak of catching the ball in order to get players back in the game, and when I got back in I immediately got out again so I had a great view of the moment we won. The only people left in the game for my team were Sean Van Hoven, Ronan Davis, and Aidan Walsh, while the only people left on Blauntown were MJ Cohen and Michael Greco. Greco got out, and within seconds, Aidan Walsh threw the ball at MJ. The throw was off target, but MJ attempted to catch it, resulting in Bruce’s Barbarians advancing to the next round. I can still hear the roar of the crowd after MJ dropped the ball. It was pure pandemonium. We would go on to lose in the next round due to a post-game altercation between players on Bruce’s Barbarians and Blauntown causing us to play down a player. Even though we only made it to the semi-finals, I will always remember that moment when we defied the odds and beat Blauntown.