Rummel uses long ball, pitching to clinch tie for district title

Archbishop Rummel has long been regarded as one of the better baseball programs in Louisiana.

Since 1973, the Raiders have won five state championships and seven runner-up finishes, including one last season.

What is surprising to most observers is that Rummel has not won a prestigious Catholic League district championship since 2006.

That is no longer the case.

The Raiders parlayed solid pitching and defense and the long ball to a convincing 11-1 victory over Holy Cross in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule at Holy Cross Park Friday afternoon to clinch at least a tie for the District 9-5A championship.

Senior Avery Williams did the job on the mound, going the distance, scattering six hits for the win. Williams walked one and struck out three, using 76 pitches, 46 of which were strikes.

“It’s all about just throwing strikes and letting your fielders do the work,” Williams said. “It felt good to get the six runs in the second inning. It would be big to win tomorrow because we have not won district since 2006. It would be big for our school. We need to try to win out and make a run to the state championship.”

Rummel had just four hits but two of those were of the big fly variety.

Tulane signee Giancarlo Arencibia belted a solo home run while Aiden Gernard drilled a grand slam.

The Raiders scored a run in the top of the first inning against losing pitcher Matthew Watson without the benefit of a hit.

Ruben Ramirez and LSU signee Mikey Ryan were hit by pitches and both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Gavin Kennedy. Tulane commit Evan Burg delivered Ramirez with a sacrifice fly and it was 1-0.

Holy Cross answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning on a single by Brody Forstall, who advanced on a groundout and scored on a single off the left field fence by Luca Saltaformaggio and it was 1-1.

That was the last stand for the Tigers.

Rummel broke the game open in the top of the second inning, scoring six runs and taking advantage of shaky defense by the Tigers.

With one out, Arencibia homered to left to put the Raiders on top to stay 2-1. Joel Morange reached on an error and Brandt Frey walked. Ruben Ramirez singled home Arencibia to make it 3-1. With two outs, a dropped fly ball allowed two runs to score and it was 5-1. Burg was hit by a pitch, Gernard walked and Lenny Cline hammered a two-run single to make it 7-1.

Rummel put the game away in the fourth inning. Jay Distler walked Ryan, Kennedy and Burg to load the bases and Gernard blasted a grand slam to complete the scoring, finishing Distler. Greg Ruiz pitched two scoreless innings to complete he game for Holy Cross.

“I was just trying to help out my team, score some more runs and get Avery some more insurance runs and win the game,” Gernard said. “I saw a fastball and I just had to jump on it. It felt pretty good to see it get over the fence. We still have tomorrow.”

Raiders coach Frank Cazeaux was pleased with his team’s ability to focus on the task at hand.

“I thought we swung the bats pretty well,” Cazeaux said. “It’s important to get on top early. Avery threw strikes and we made some plays. We had a couple of walks and hit batters and we did our job offensively.”

Tigers coach Aaron Barras pointed to the pivotal moment in the game.

“The second inning, two outs, the fly ball’s got to be caught,” Barras said. “The sun is tough right now, we know that. The kids are battling, they absolutely are. It snowballed from there. They are a great team, they swing the bats. Our guys were fighting back through it. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out today. We have to flush this and get ready to go tomorrow. Everything is still on the table for us. We’re battling for a first round bye, we’re battling for home field advantage in the second round.”

The Raiders (19-7, 9-2) can win the District 9-5A championship in outright fashion Saturday when they take on Holy Cross (12-12, 5-6) in the final game of the series. Should the Raiders lose, John Curtis Christian could share the title with Rummel with a win over Jesuit Saturday. Rummel swept John Curtis in the two-game series between the district rivals.

“I’m very happy for the kids but we’ve still got some work to do,” Cazeaux said. “Tomorrow’s a big day for us. We’ll have Giancarlo on the mound. We want to win it outright. We have not won it since 2006. It’s very important to me as a coach and a graduate of Archbishop Rummel High School. It’s sinking in the heads of these guys. I told them it’s not about us only, it’s about all the guys that came before us.”

FINAL
Rummel 150 40 — 11 4 0, 4 LOB
Holy Cross 100 00 — 1 6 2, 6 LOB
WP—Avery Williams (3-1)
LP—Matthew Watson (1-2)
Time of Game: 1:31
SB—Ruben Ramirez-2
2B—Ryder Planchard
HR—Giancarlo Arencibia (1), Aiden Gernard (3)