REPLAY: Rummel rallies late to edge Brother Martin, 7-6

NEW ORELANS – The history of Catholic League baseball is dripping with tradition, including great coaches, players and teams and some of the best games ever played on the high school level.

While Tuesday night’s battle between Archbishop Rummel and Brother Martin was not an all-time great game, it was a good game, once again illustrating that you have to play every inning in a seven inning game hard to emerge victorious.

Trailing for most of the game, Rummel needed a rally and the Raiders got it.

Senior and four-year starter Tyler Cook drilled a huge two-run double to deep left field to cap a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Raiders a come-from-behind 7-6 win over the Crusaders at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium in a game seen live at CrescentCitySports.com and heard live on 106.1 FM NASH ICON.

With star cleanup hitter and team RBI leader Logan Bertucci out injured earlier in the game, sophomore Rhett Centanni delivered a bit two-out, RBI double to cut the deficit to 6-5 before Cook delivered the game-winner.

The Raiders jumped on top in the bottom of the first inning.

Louisiana Tech signee Kyle Walker walked, stole second and Ryan Smilari walked. Bertucci singled home Walker to make it 1-0 and a double steal produced the second run with Smilari scoring and it was 2-0.

Brother Martin got on the board in the top of the second inning on consecutive singles by Bryce Gauthier, Eli Booth and Tyler Velino and a sacrifice fly by Julian Oubre to make it 2-1. Ben Harris followed with a two-run double to give the Crusaders a 3-2 lead before Cameron Senior doubled home Harris and it was 4-2.

The first single was right at Bertucci at first base and it took a vicious hop, hitting Bertucci squarely in the face and knocking him out of the game.

The Crusaders then knocked out Rummel starter Michael Tant in the top of the fourth and Tyler Johnson delivered a two-run single to make it 6-2.

The Raiders pulled closer in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double by Delgado commit Lance Johnson and an RBI single by Smilari and it was 6-4, setting the stage for the sixth inning heroics by the Raiders.

Junior Brady Ramon came and was brilliant in picking up the win.

Ramon retired the last 10 hitters he faced, striking out six in 3 1/3 shutout innings to pick up the win.

Tyler Velino went the distance for Brother Martin to take the loss.

Rummel coach Frank Cazeaux sensed his team was not as mentally sharp as it was in a 7-1 win over Brother Martin last Friday night but felt his team responded to adversity, digging deep to get the win.

“We were kind of flat before the game and early on,” Cazeaux said. “We showed resilience and the thing is we are the kind of team that is going to plug away, keep it close until the seventh inning and that’s exactly what happened. I thought Brady Ramon was outstanding coming in for Michael Tant, who kept us around.”

While Ramon came through, Cazeaux was excited about the big hit by his young first baseman.

“We got some big hits,” Cazeaux said. “Rhett’s hit was gigantic. Rhett’s a player. He’s going to be very, very good. He’s only a sophomore. He’s got tremendous power. We use him as a pinch-hitter. That’s a big blow for him tonight.”

Cazeaux was equally as excited about his veteran player coming through.

“Tyler has been playing for four years,” Cazeaux said. “He’s been on every All-Star team growing up, played in every big game, played in national championship games in basketball and he’s a prominent member of the football team. That’s the kind of kid you want. He’s played in front of 8,000-9,000 people. Playing in front of 200 tonight is nothing for him. He is calm, tough and a clutch performer.”

Rummel (14-3, 2-0) has now won five straight games. The Raiders will face John Curtis Christian Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Segnette Field in an early showdown for first place in District 9-5A.

The Patriots are 4-0 in district play after a 13-6 victory over St. Augustine.

Brother Martin (13-7, 1-2) will take on St. Charles Catholic Saturday at 2 p.m.

“We are going to try to take it one game at a time,” Cazeaux said. “If we play our brand of baseball and just try to play solid defense, no errors again tonight, we have a chance. You don’t have to throw 90. You just have to throw strike one. It gives us a chance.”

FINAL
BM 040 400 0 — 6 10 1, 5 LOB
RUM 200 203 x — 7 9 0, 8 LOB
WP—Brady Ramon (4-0)
LP—Tyler Velino (0-4)
Time of Game: 2:21

Brother Martin

Batting
2B: Cameron Senior, Ben Harris
TB: Cameron Senior 3, Bryce Gauthier 2, Ben Harris 2, Eli Booth, Tyler Johnson, Tyler Velino, Connor Couret, Colin Roussel
RBI: Julian Oubre, Cameron Senior, Ben Harris 2, Tyler Johnson 2
SF: Julian Oubre
ROE: Eli Booth
HBP: Connor Couret
SB: Connor Couret
TotalsTeam QAB: 18 (56.25%)
Julian Oubre 3, Cameron Senior 3, Bryce Gauthier 3, Ben Harris 3, Eli Booth 3, Connor Couret, Colin Roussel 2

Team LOB: 5

Archbishop Rummel

Batting
2B: L Johnson, T Cook 2, R Centanni
TB: K Walker, L Johnson 3, R Smilari, L Bertucci, T Cook 4, R Centanni 2, A Champaqne
RBI: L Johnson, R Smilari, L Bertucci, T Cook 2, R Centanni
HBP: R Centanni, A Champaqne
SB: K Walker, L Bertucci 2
TotalsTeam QAB: 16 (48.48%)
K Walker 3, L Johnson 3, R Smilari 2, T Cook 3, J Cabeceilas, J Sterling, R Centanni, A Champaqne 2

Team LOB: 8FieldingE: J Sterling

Brother Martin

Pitching
L: Tyler Velino
HBP: Tyler Velino 2
Pitches-Strikes: Tyler Velino 104-67
Groundouts-Flyouts: Tyler Velino 5-5
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: Tyler Velino 21-33

Archbishop Rummel

Pitching
HBP: M Tant
Pitches-Strikes: B Ramon 47-30, M Tant 83-49
Groundouts-Flyouts: B Ramon 1-3, M Tant 2-3
First pitch strikes-Batters faced: B Ramon 5-12, M Tant 11-20