Delgado’s 6-5 walkoff over Baton Rouge closes Region XXIII opening round

How ‘bout those FINS! One of the most exciting games in recent Region XXIII history ended in dramatic fashion Friday night when Delgado tied the game in the bottom of the 9th and walked off with the 6-5 win over Baton Rouge on a bases loaded passed ball! Here’s the call… pic.twitter.com/3BpB0Wb1UL

— Delgado Athletics (@delgadodolphins) May 8, 2021

Delgado defeated Baton Rouge Community College in a 6-5 walkoff victory Friday night to cap off a thriller and close Opening Day of the 2021 Region XXIII Division I Tournament at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.

Trailing 5-4 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jacob Singletary walked before Zach Mengarelli ran for the designated hitter. Josh Alexander’s pinch hit single scored Brayden Jobert to tie the game 5-5, Jobert having reached on a leadoff error to open the frame. Pinch hitter Connor Feustle was intentionally walked to load the bases. On the first pitch of Sean Fasano’s at-bat, a passed ball allowed Mengarelli to score from third for the Dolphins’ 6-5 walkoff victory.

Delgado never led until the final run, having fallen behind early on a two run homerun by Lane Hutchinson for the Bears to take a 2-0 lead in the first. An RBI single added a third run in the second inning before Sean Fasano’s two run homerun put the Dolphins within a run through two complete. In the fourth, Baton Rouge’s Karius Joseph singled in a run to make it a 4-2 game. The Dolphins tied the game in the fifth following a sacrifice fly by Ethan Lege and an RBI single by Jacob Singletary tied the game at four. Two doubles by in the eighth gave Baton Rouge the 5-4 lead, which carried until the walkoff in the ninth. Kaile Levatino picked up the win on the mound in relief of starter Dwain Guice, who went five innings with Zane Zeppuhar throwing two innings in relief.

In Delgado’s first game of the day, the Dolphins eliminated Nunez Community College in an 10-2 decision following a strong performance by Ian Landreneau, who held the Pelicans to two unearned runs on four hits with five strikeouts in his complete game pitching performance. Delgado’s first run came on a solo homerun by Brayden Jobert in the first before an offensive explosion sent twelve batters to the plate in the sixth inning for seven combined runs on five hits, including a two run double by Brayden Jobert and a three run homerun by Connor Feustle. Brennan Lambert’s solo homerun in the seventh added a run before Josh Alexander’s RBI single plated Lane LeBlanc for Delgado’s eight run mercy rule win.

Baton Rouge defeated Nunez 13-5 in game one of the tournament.

Delgado and Baton Rouge will meet Saturday in Game 4, the championship round, at 2:00 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.