Hahnville and Jesuit traded jabs for three hours in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs, but a two-out home run by Blue Jay Derek Dunham in the bottom of the tenth inning knocked out the Tigers and ended their season by a 3-2 score.
“It’s tough to lose a game like this on a walk off home run,” Hahnville head coach Kade Rogers said. “But I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this squad. Everyone, from the guys in the dugout, to the guy holding the clipboard to the players on the field, did their job.
“We did what we needed to do to win.”
Hahnville came out focused, and scored their only two runs in the first inning. Austin Fremen led off the game with a single, and Dillon Boudreaux bunted safely to move Fremen into scoring position. Another single by Mike Ford loaded the bases, and Jared Harrell brought Fremen home after hitting into a fielder’s choice.
Jared Vial then grounded out to knock in Boudreaux to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Tiger starter Ryne Robert shut down Jesuit for the first three innings, but the Blue Jays got on the board thanks to a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth. Gary Langlois knocked a blooper to shallow left field to bring in another runner to tie the game at 2-2.
Robert was pulled an inning later in favor of sophomore Jake Cologne.
Hahnville threatened in the sixth when Tyler Cooper lined a shot to right field with two outs. Cooper stole second, and Robert smacked a ground ball to the infield and appeared to beat out the throw to first.
After a conversation between the umpires, Robert was ruled out.
Both teams got runners in scoring position in the seventh. Fremen hit a shot to the left field wall for a double, while Jesuit’s Brady Williamson, who had moved to second on a balk by Cologne, was picked off by the pitcher minutes later.
The Tigers’ best chance at winning the game came in the eighth. Ford led off the inning with a single and pinch-runner Cameron Toups took his spot at first. Harrell bunted out to third, but Vial lined a single through the gap in short. Toups used his speed to quickly get to second, but was thrown out at third. Cooper then singled to move Vial to second, but Jesuit starter Brady Hadden struck out Robert to end the threat.
Two innings later, Dunham launched his home run to end the game.
Hadden (4-2) got the win for the Blue Jays after pitching a complete game and allowing 10 hits and two runs. Cologne, who allowed only two hits in 6 2/3 innings, got the loss.
“We kept fighting,” Rogers said. “(Jesuit) is a good team, and losing a game like that is a tough pill to swallow. I can promise you this though, we had great senior leaders on this team, and because of what they instilled in our younger guys, we are never going to back down.”
Be the first to comment