Brother Martin rallies past John Curtis, 7-6, to reach semifinals

For most of Sunday afternoon, it appeared that the quarterfinal series between No. 2 Brother Martin and No. 7 John Curtis Christian would stretch late into the evening.

With its back to the wall, the Patriots controlled play much of the way and carried a five-run lead into the sixth inning with its best pitcher and one of the best in the area on the mound, poised to extend the series to a third and deciding game.

Then, with its back to the wall, the Crusaders came storming back.

Brother Martin scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning and three in the seventh inning to overcome John Curtis Christian 7-6 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium to sweep the best-of-three series in two games.

With reliever Austin McCready on the mound in relief of ace Dax Ford, Brennan Stuprich singled to start the top of the seventh inning and Patriots coach Jeff Curtis went to Michael Curtis on the mound.

LSU commit Tre’ Morgan drew a walk and he and Stuprich advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.

The Crusaders were down to their last out but showed why they have been so good this season, coming up big in the clutch.

Shane Griffin singled home Stuprich and Morgan to tie the game 6-6. Then, Julien Oubre hit a grounder which resulted in an error, scoring Griffin with what turned out to be the winning run.

In the bottom of the seventh, Gareth LeBlanc reached on an error, giving the Patriots a chance but Collin Ardon struck out Joel Taylor and ended it when he induced Curtis to hit into a double play.

Brother Martin took the early lead with a run in the top of the first on Brady Faust singled and Stuprich and Morgan walked to load the bases against Ford. Cole Stromboe then walked, scoring Faust to make it 1-0.

The Patriots tied it in the third against Brother Martin starter Jacob Cohen. Ford singled and McCready doubled, scoring courtesy runner Caleb Spann to make it 1-1. Logan O’Neil then doubled home McCready to give John Curtis a 2-1 lead before Amire Phillips and Taylor each had RBI singles and it was 4-1.

The Patriots (15-15) added to the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth as Collin Guggenheim stole home on a double steal to make it 5-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, Taylor walked, stole second, stole third and stole home to make it 6-1.

Brother Martin began its comeback in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs. Morgan singled and Ethan Moser and Stromboe walked to load the bases. Caden Nash was hit by a pitch, scoring Morgan to make it 6-2.

That ended the day on the mound for Ford with McCready taking over.

Oubre walked to plate another run and it was 6-3. Joe Delaney plated the third run on a fielder’s choice grounder to make it 6-4, setting the stage for the dramatic seventh inning rally.

Ardon got the win, going two and one-third innings in relief of Cohen and Ethan Dupas. Ardon was perfect, not allowing a hit or issuing a walk and struck out three. Cohen went three innings, allowing four runs on six hits. Dupas went one and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on one hit. He walked four.

Ford pitched five innings, allowing four runs on just two hits. He struck out 11 but walked eight and had to leave due to 117 pitches, the additional two pitches coming against the final hitter he was facing. McCready went one inning, allowing one run on one hit. Michael Curtis took the loss, going one inning, allowing two runs (one earned) on one hit.

“We always thought we could win this game,” Brother Martin coach Jeff Lupo said. “We expected nothing less than the best shot from Curtis. They are a quality team.I could not say enough about our guys. They are a resilient group, a special group. These kids genuinely like each other and pull for each other.”

Brother Martin (26-5) advances to the semifinals in Sulphur to take on No. 3 seed St. Paul’s Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at McMurry Park. The winner will move on to play for the state championship Saturday at 3 p.m. against the winner of the game pitting No. 1 Catholic of Baton Rouge against No. 4 Archbishop Rummel. The Bears and Raiders meet at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

“I think for a lot of us, it is validation of what we do,” Lupo said. “To win this game, being in that situation, we had been there before, scoring late to win a district title. Curtis was a two-time defending champion. They were tough. We knew we would have to beat them, they showed their toughness but we showed our toughness as well. I could not be more proud of them.”

Final
BM 100 003 3 — 7 4 1, 8 LOB
JC 004 110 0 — 6 7 1, 10 LOB

Brother Martin

Batting
2B: Shane Griffin
TB: Brady Faust, Shane Griffin 2, John Morgan, Brennan Stuprich
RBI: Joe Delaney, Shane Griffin 2, Caden Nash, Julien Oubre, Cole Stromboe
ROE: Julien Oubre
FC: Joe Delaney, Ethan Moser
HBP: Caden Nash
SB: John Morgan
PIK: Bryce Gauthier
TotalsTeam QAB: 19 (52.78%)
Joe Delaney, Brady Faust 2, Shane Griffin, John Morgan 4, Ethan Moser, Caden Nash 3, Julien Oubre, Blaine Starring, Cole Stromboe 3, Brennan Stuprich 2

Team LOB: 8FieldingE: John Morgan
DP: Brady Faust, John Morgan, Ethan Moser

John Curtis Christian

Batting
2B: Austin Mccready, Logan O’Neil
TB: Dax Ford 2, Gareth Leblanc, Joel Taylor, Austin Mccready 2, Logan O’Neil 2, Amire Phillips
RBI: Joel Taylor, Austin Mccready, Logan O’Neil, Amire Phillips
ROE: Gareth Leblanc
FC: Joel Taylor, Logan O’Neil, Collin Guggenheim
HBP: Austin Mccready, Michael Curtis, Richard Woodruff 2
GIDP: Michael Curtis
SB: Joel Taylor 3, Austin Mccready, Collin Guggenheim 3
TotalsTeam QAB: 16 (42.11%)
Dax Ford 3, Gareth Leblanc 2, Joel Taylor 2, Austin Mccready 2, Logan O’Neil 2, Michael Curtis, Richard Woodruff, Collin Guggenheim 2, Amire Phillips

Team LOB: 10Fielding E: Joel Taylor

Brother Martin

Pitching
W: Collin Ardon
HBP: Collin Ardon, Jacob Cohen 3
Pitches-Strikes: Collin Ardon 26-19, Jacob Cohen 66-38, Ethan Dupas 48-25
Groundouts-Flyouts: Collin Ardon 1-2, Jacob Cohen 1-4, Ethan Dupas 1-0
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Collin Ardon 6-8, Jacob Cohen 9-20, Ethan Dupas 5-10

John Curtis Christian

Pitching
L: Michael Curtis
HBP: Dax Ford
WP: Michael Curtis
Pitches-Strikes: Dax Ford 117-59, Austin Mccready 25-13, Michael Curtis 16-9
Groundouts-Flyouts: Dax Ford 0-2, Austin Mccready 0-0, Michael Curtis 1-1
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Dax Ford 14-25, Austin Mccready 2-5, Michael Curtis 4-6

LHSAA Baseball Brackets

CLASS 5A CLASS 4A CLASS 3A CLASS 2A CLASS 1A CLASS B CLASS C

DIV I DIV II DIV III DIV IV DIV V