It seemed like the Rummel baseball team was in dire straits, down six runs with three outs to go, and then their bats came alive.
Rummel scored seven runs on five hits in the seventh to steal an 8-7 District 9-5A victory over Brother Martin at First NBC Ballpark.
“The way we played in the seventh inning, that’s who we are,” Rummel catcher Chase Fourcade said. “We never give up. The 14 seniors we have on this team know that we don’t have a lot of time left. We’ve got to turn the switch on earlier in the game.”
After scoring just one run on one hit through six innings, the Raiders (15-9, 5-4) scored seven runs on five hits, two errors and a walk in the final inning.
Darren Willis opened the inning with a single followed by a Keith Bender RBI single for the first run. After a Bryan Whittle walk, Luke LaCoste singled to drive in another run.
Kevin Meehan walked to load the bases, and then Fourcade lined a ball to left field that was misplayed and sailed past the left fielder to score two runs and tie the game. Fourcade, who ended up on third, scored the winning run when a ball in the dirt got caught in the catcher’s chest protector, which awarded him an extra base.
“They were resilient, but it didn’t come until the seventh,” Rummel coach Nick Monica said. “It was a very, very frustrating game for the first six innings, and that’s what we talked about. We kind of went through the motions for the first six innings. We were very fortunate that we had a chance to be in the game. We need to be better than that in the first six innings.”
Rummel reliever Lyall Ball got the victory throwing 1.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief.
“I just went in there and threw strikes,” he said. “I just wanted to let our fielders make plays like they have all season. I knew we could score some runs. It’s a huge win. I’m just proud of how we fought back.”
The Crusaders (15-7, 4-5) got a runner on in the seventh, but Connor Cosse came in and induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
It was the Crusaders third straight Catholic League loss and third straight defeat when their opponent took the lead in the final at-bat.
The Crusaders stranded 12 base runners. Brother Martin scored in each of the first five innings but failed to take full advantage of 11 walks.
LSU-signee Blair Frederick took the loss allowing eight runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings. He walked three and struck out five. Offensively, Mason Bonnaffons went 2-for-3 with a two-run double while Scott Corrente went 2-for-3.