Brother Martin rallies to edge St. Aug, take Catholic League title after Rummel beats Jesuit

It was dramatic. It was special.

After Rummel shutout Jesuit 9-0 earlier in the day, Brother Martin had a clear shot at winning the Catholic League championship Saturday afternoon at Wesley Barrow Stadium.

Going to the bottom of the seventh inning, appeared that the Crusaders would miss the opportunity, that it would slip away as St. Augustine played its Gentilly neighbor extremely well. The Purple Knights scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a three-run lead.

Then, the Crusaders awakened, answering with four runs to pull out a dramatic 7-6 victory, a sweep of the two-game series and the District 9-5A championship.

Caden Nash drew a bases loaded walk from Kenya Huggins to cap a four-run rally for the victory.

Brother Martin took the early run on a two-run, inside-the-park home run by Tre’ Morgan in the bottom of the first inning.

St. Augustine tied it with two runs in the top of the second with both runs scoring on the same error.

Brother Martin took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Cole Stromboe, scoring Morgan.

The Purple Knights pulled even in the top of the fifth on and RBI double by Michael Mims to make it 3-3 before they took a 6-3 lead with three runs in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Will Spears and a two-run double by Mims.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Crusaders staged the winning rally. Morgan belted a two-run double to make it 6-5 before the tying run scored on an error, setting the stage for the walk to Nash which won it.

Morgan was tremendous, going 4-for-4 with four RBI. Stromboe was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Mims was 3-for-4 with three RBI while Eddie Davis added three hits for the Purple Knights.

Jacob Cohen picked up the win despite giving up three runs in the top of the seventh in relief of Brandon Bonura, who went six innings, allowing three runs (just one earned) on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Mims took the loss, allowing seven runs (four earned) on 14 hits. He walked four and struck out seven.

Brother Martin (24-5, 9-3) is likely to be the second seed in the Division I playoffs when the pairings are announced. St. Augustine (17-13, 5-7) figures to be the tenth seed. Earlier in the day, St. Augustine lost to Ascension Christian 12-7.

Earlier in the day, Archbishop Rummel completed a two-game sweep of Jesuit, ripping the Blue Jays 9-0 at John Ryan Stadium to kill Jesuit’s chances at a district title.

Junior Jackson Dennies, who is all the way back from a devastating knee injury in which he tore all three knee ligaments in 2017, pitched a five-hitter. Dennies walked nine and struck out two.

Rummel jumped on Jesuit for three runs in the top of the first and added four in the fifth off of losing pitcher Will Hellmers.

Chandler Fields and Tyler Cook each had a sacrifice fly, Delgado commit Ron Franklin had an RBI triple and Stephen Powers had an RBI single. Logan Bertucci finished it off with a two-run single in the seventh inning.

After enduring a five-game losing streak, Rummel has now won four straight entering the playoffs. Jesuit defeated John Ehret 11-1 later in the day.

The Raiders (19-12, 6-6) have likely locked up the fourth seed in the Division I playoffs while the Blue Jays (22-10, 8-4) have likely fallen to either the seventh or eighth spot, very close with John Curtis Christian for the two positions.

Area Prep Baseball Results for Saturday, April 20

New Orleans Area

Archbishop Rummel 9, Jesuit 0

Ascension Christian 12, St. Augustine 7

Brother Martin 7, St. Augustine 6

Country Day 8, Riverside Academy 3

Covenant Christian 7, St. Martin’s Episcopal 0

Donaldsonville 15, Grand Isle 1 (game one)

Donaldsonville 13, Grand Isle 3 (game two)

Warren Easton 12, Karr 10

East St. John 12, Thomas Jefferson 2

Jesuit 11, John Ehret 1

Lusher Charter 6, Haynes Academy 5

Northlake Christian 6, Newman 1

Peabody 4, West Jefferson 3

Ponchatoula 11, Maurepas 0

Slidell 16, Ascension Christian 4

St. Thomas Aquinas 3, Loranger 2

Baton Rouge Area

Doyle 16, Holden 0

Northeast 4, Broadmoor 3

Port Allen 15, Tara 0 (game one)

Port Allen 15, Tara 0 (game two)

Runnels 8, Holden 1 (game one)

Runnels 6, Holden 1 (game two)

St. John 23, Plaquemine 3

University High 12, West Feliciana 1

Bayou Area

Berwick 4, Westminster Christian 2

Patterson 10, Centerville 0

South Lafourche 4, Belle Chasse 3

St. Charles Catholic 1, Thibodaux 0

St. James 5, H.L. Bourgeois 4