St. John Paul II Walks Off King’s Academy In 12th For 2A-13 Title

The 2026 District 2A-13 champion St. John Paul II Academy Eagles.

The conclusion to Friday’s District 2A-13 finale may not be as exciting as the twelve action-packed innings it took to reach it, but that is baseball. Ryan Galinis drew a bases-loaded RBI walk in the bottom of the twelfth to push Derek Dohler across the plate with the deciding run, as St. John Paul II Academy prevailed 6-5 over the King’s Academy to win the district championship.

It is the Eagles seventh overall district trophy, and the first in five years. The title also adds another fitting chapter for an Eagles team that now improves to 23-3, as it begins its quest for a state championship by hosting a regional quarterfinal playoff next week.

“It was a great game by both teams,” St. John Paul II Manager Pete Graffeo said. “I am extremely proud of my team’s character and resilience to compete for 12 innings to earn the victory.”

Of its three losses on the year, one came to this same Lions ball club (16-11), who defeated the Eagles 3-0 on March 30th. King’s Academy proved to be just as tough a challenge this time around, as it rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie things up with four runs in the top of the sixth.

Galinis came on in relief into that 5-5 ball game and proceeded to put up zeroes the rest of the way. The right-hander went six-and-two-third innings without allowing a run, keeping the bases mostly empty in allowing just one hit and one walk. He also struck out four.

The Lions answered with their own strong pitching, as relievers Brady Kearce and Daniel Cabrera combined for eight scoreless relief innings. But the Eagles finally broke through in the twelfth, as Jack Wilhoit and Derek Dohler had back-to-back singles leading off, and Chase Cavo was intentionally walked to set up a force play at every base. The strategy nearly worked, as the Lions foiled a squeeze-bunt play to get the lead runner, before Galinis worked a seven-pitch at bat to draw the RBI walk that won it.

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