St. Thomas Aquinas rolls over U-High in game one of baseball playoff series

Do not be deceived by the record.

St. Thomas Aquinas labored to get to .500 during the regular season.

The Falcons closed with a flourish, winning their final four games and nine of their last 11, including impressive wins over Brother Martin, Ponchatoula and Vandebilt Catholic.

That momentum has continued into the playoffs as St. Thomas Aquinas has now won five straight.

The ninth-seeded Falcons went to Baton Rouge and pummeled No 8 University Lab 6-1 in game one of their best-of-three Select Division III series Thursday.

Blayne Schilling had two hits and an RBI, Cace Reed had a big two-out, two runs single, and Braden Bovie had a hit and an RBI. Hunter Gambel and Blaine Colona each had an RBI for the Falcons.

Justin Domiano was outstanding on the mound, pitching a complete game six hitter. Domiano allowed just one unearned run with two walks and four strikeouts.

St. Thomas Aquinas scored two in the top of the first before breaking it open with four runs in the top of the third to lead 6-0. The Cubs got their only run in the bottom of the fifth, scoring on a pair of errors.

“Our guy on the mound gave us a good shot to play a good game,” Falcons coach Brandon Efferson said. “He did not have his best stuff but he threw a bunch of strikes. Our defense stepped up and played really well. It was huge to get two runs right away in the first inning with a pair of two-out RBI hits. That set the tone and Domiano put up zeroes.

St. Thomas Aquinas (17-15) will try for the sweep Friday at 6 p.m. A third game would be played Saturday, if needed.

“It’s been a tale of two seasons for us,” Efferson said. “It’s a brand new team having graduated a ton of seniors last year. In the middle of the season, we started to figure out how to compete, to stay in games and to win games. We’re getting hot at the right time. These guys are resilient and we know how to win now. It’s not over yet. We need to get one more.”