With all eyes on him, Luke Heiden delivered.
Hahnville and Destrehan were tied 4-4 in extra innings with the bases loaded and no outs. Heiden laced a single to center field to plate the game-winning run for a 5-4 walkoff victory at home, extending a Tiger win streak that has now reached 18 and securing a sweep of the Wildcats in the rivals’ annual two-game home-and-home series.
Heiden’s hit brought the Tigers flooding out of the dugout the field for a celebratory dogpile. He called the moment a dream come true.
“I’ve been coming to these games since I was six years old. I’ve been wanting to do that my whole life,” Heiden said of the game-winning hit. “In the moment, I felt it was going to happen, it was just a matter of execution … do whatever it takes to put the ball in play and win the game.”
Hahnville head coach Jared Vial noted Heiden has come through in big spots all season as one of the team’s RBI leaders.
“We knew in a situation like that, he’s a good bat-to-ball guy. We just told him before the at-bat, get something in the zone, get a bat on it and good things are gonna happen, and that’s what he did,” Vial said.
It proved to be a big win for the Tigers, who officially secured a bye this week when playoff brackets were announced – Hahnville earned the No. 5 seed. The top six seed earn byes.
The win came on the heels of a 1-0 victory at Destrehan on Tuesday for the Tigers.
“That’s a quality club,” Vial said of Destrehan. “And these were two quality games. We’re going to benefit from these last two games more than just the feeling of losing or winning … at the end of the day, there’s really good baseball in St. Charles Parish. And people need to know there are two really good programs here in this parish.”
On the day, Heiden went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Hahnville (28-6). Koa Romero went 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs and a run scored. Brayden Fontenot went 1-for-3 with a double and run scored.
Landen Teague earned the win on the mound in relief, pitching three scoreless and hitless innings while striking out five. Matt Plaisance started the game for Hahnville and went five innings, allowing four runs on four hits and five walks.
Chase Mire started for Destrehan (23-11) and went five innings, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out four. Landyn Dugas pitched three innings of relief and allowed one run on three hits and three walks, striking out one.
Chase Marcotte and Champ White each hit home runs to lead Destrehan at the plate, with White scoring twice in the game and stealing a base.
The game began uncharacteristically shaky in the field for the Tigers, who committed four errors in the first three innings of play – the final mistake on a throw that allowed Dugas to score to cut what was a 2-0 HHS lead – on a two-run single by Heiden in the first inning – to 2-1.
“Our guys held their composure and did what they needed to do to overcome those mistakes,” Vial said.
Romero extended Hahnville’s lead to 4-1, connecting for a towering home run over the right field wall that scored he and Fontenot.
But Destrehan fought back to make this a second classic game between the rivals in three days. Marcotte led off the next inning with his own home run blast to make it 4-2. Later in the inning, Derek Lucas’ RBI single scored White to make it 4-3.
The Wildcats tied things up as Champ White led off the top of the sixth inning by connecting for a solo home run that sent the Wildcat dugout into a frenzy.
“His first time starting for a full year,” Destrehan head coach Chris Mire said of White. “He had a little stretch there where I think he maybe started to question himself, but he got through that and he’s starting to swing it like the Champ White we know he can be. He’s been hitting fastballs real hard all year.”
Mire said the Wildcats fought to the final at-bat against a strong Tiger squad.
“We wanted to make this a seven-round fight,” said Mire, “We talked about that all day long, competing for seven, and we did … credit to Hahnville, they get big knocks when they need to, make big pitches when they need to. I love the way we’re fighting and playing right now, and I think good things are ahead of us if we continue to play this way. We just came up one run short twice against a really good baseball team.”
Destrehan earned the No. 14 seed in the Division I non-select playoff field and will host Fontainebleau (19-15) for a three-game opening round series, which is set to begin Thursday (April 16).
