De La Salle holds off Riverdale, 6-5

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NEW ORLEANS – Call it a power points game in preparation for the postseason.

De La Salle and Riverdale squared off Monday at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium, with both teams positioned well and looking for better positioning for the state playoffs.

Tulane signee Collin Burns had two hits, including a two-run double, scored twice and stole a base as De La Salle held a determined challenge by Riverdale in a 6-5 victory.

“It was a good team win,” Burns said. “Grant Goodbee competed for us well on the mound today. I thought we played well as a team and we were able to get the win.”

Goodbee went five innings, allowing just one run on four hits to pick up the victory. He walked four and struck out five, using 87 pitches.

De La Salle (23-7) took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Burns singled to left and Gavin Freeman walked. Both advanced on a groundout by Stephen Klein and Burns scored on a groundout by Cory Cook to make it 1-0.

Riverdale (17-7) got even in the top of the third, staging a two-out rally. Alan Castro walked, Kyle Collet singled and Zach Schnauder walked to load the bases. Brendan Baudry then singled to deep short, scoring Castro to make it 1-1.

The Cavaliers went back on top in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Freeman walked, stole second and scored on a single to right by Klein to make it 2-1.

De La Salle added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth, again with a two-out rally. Austen Dailet and Jarred Hirstius each singled and Burns doubled to center, scoring both to make it 4-1.

“The pitcher for Riverdale, I thought he was really good,” Burns said. “He competed well. He has a lot of good breaking stuff. I had two strikes so I just had an opposite field approach and I was able to drive it to centerfield.”

Riverdale loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fifth but Goodbee got Rensuke Higashihama to ground back to the mound to end the threat.

The Rebels fought back in the top of the sixth inning against reliever Alex Ormond to reduce the deficit to a run. Diego Zepeda reached on an effort, Will Flynn singled, Manny Rosado doubled home Zepeda to make it 4-2 and Alan Castro singled home Flynn and it was 4-3. Ormond got Collet to ground out to second to end the uprising, stranding Rosado at second base.

De La Salle picked up a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, scoring again with two outs as Burns walked, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Freeman to make it 5-3. Freeman stole second and scored on an error and it was 6-3.

The Rebels fought back in the top of the seventh. Baudry singled and Brayden Bryson relieved Ormond. Higashihama drew a walk and Zepeda hit into a fielder’s choice with Baudry scoring on a throwing error to make it 6-4. Zepeda stole second and third and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 6-5 and Klein relieved Bryson and was able to strike out Rosado with two on to end the game and pick up the save.

“They’ve got a good team over there,” De La Salle head coach Rowland Skinner said. “We knew their pitcher was tough. He throws strikes with different pitches and from different arm angles. I thought we competed well. We made some mistakes that are uncharacteristic but I think they did that a little bit to us and we’re just fortunate to get out of here with a win. Collin has been a thoroughbred for us. He’s a leader. He came through at the plate and got us going.”

The win was the third straight for the Cavaliers while the loss snapped an eight-game win streak for the Rebels. Higashihama took the loss, allowing six runs (four earned) on seven hits. He walked five and struck out four, using 109 pitches. Collet had two hits, including his triple to lead the Riverdale offense.

Riverdale head coach Sean Temple knows his team can compete with good teams.

“Obviously, we’d like to be on the other end of this, we’d like to have one more run then them,” Temple said. “We made errors that really cost us. We haven’t done that. We haven’t made multiple errors in a game or inning so hopefully, we’ve got that out of our system before the playoffs start next week. We have to be ready for New Orleans Military & Maritime tomorrow in our district tournament tomorrow. That’s our goal, to win the district to get an automatic bid to the playoffs.”

De La Salle came into the game fifth in the Division II power rankings while the Rebels were 11th in the Class 4A power rankings.

De La Salle plays Jesuit at John Ryan Stadium Tuesday night while Riverdale opens play in the District 10-4A tournament against New Orleans Military & Maritime tomorrow at 4 p.m.

“Jesuit is a great program,” Skinner said. “We’re going to be ready to play for them. It will be a fun game in a good atmosphere.”

Burns feels the Cavaliers have bigger things in store the rest of the way.

“If we just clean up some mental errors, we’ll get sharp for the playoffs and I believe we can win the state championship,” Burns said. “That’s our goal.”

Final
RHS 001 002 2 — 5 7 2, 8 LOB
DLS 101 202 x — 6 8 2, 7 LOB
WP—Grant Goodbee (1-1)
LP—Rensuke Higashihama (6-2)
SV—Stephen Klein (1)
Time of Game: 2:07

2B—Grant Goodbee, Collin Burns, Manny Rosado
3B—Kyle Collet
SB—Diego Zepeda (2), Gavin Freeman (2), Collins Burns, Zach Schnauder
CS—Rensuke Higashihama

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