Villa tosses complete game as Rummel edges U-High, 2-1

NEW ORLEANS – Facing one of the best programs and one of the best pitchers in the state, Archbishop Rummel knew runs would be a premium Monday afternoon against red hot University High at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.

UL-Lafayette commit Dylan Carmouche lived up to expectations on the mound for the Cubs but Rummel junior Matt Villa was more than equal to the task.

Villa pitched a complete game as the Raiders edged University High 2-1.

Possessing command throughout, Villa used just 80 pitches. He walked no one, hit a batter and struck out six. Villa got better as the game progressed, retiring the final 12 batters he faced.

“I just tried to command the zone and hit my spots,” Villa said. “I did a good job of painting the corners and the hook was on today.

Matt Villa ⁦@ArchRUMMEL⁩ on win over ⁦@UHScubathletics⁩ ⁦@rummelbaseball⁩ pic.twitter.com/1EDkytZnB9

— Ken Trahan (@kentrahan) March 13, 2019

Rummel had great chances in the first two innings.

In the bottom of the first, Ron Franklin singled, Jackson Dennis was hit by a pitch and Chandler Fields walked to load the bases but UL-Lafayette commit Dylan Carmouche fanned Tyler Cook to escape the jam.

In the bottom of the second, Logan Bertucci struck out but reached on a wild pitch and Stephen Powers singled. Lance Johnson walked to load the bases with one out but Kyle Walker struck out and Franklin grounded back to the mound to end the threat.

The Cubs broke through against Villa in the top of the fourth inning. Jacob Burke singled and scored on a double by Christian Scherer to make it 1-0. Scherer advanced to third on a balk but Villa limited the damage by stranding Scherer at third base. He was there with no outs and did not score as Brock Slaton fanned, Ethan Butler lined out and Derreck Lathon flied to right.

“That was very big,” Villa said. “I just tried to keep my composure, I messed up on the balk and I knew I just had to come back and throw strikes and I knew my team had my back,” Villa said. “This game was very big coming off of both losses at Parkview Baptist over the weekend.”

The Raiders answered in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Kolbe Fields and Stephen Powers walked before Lance Johnson doubled home both runners on a grounder up the middle just off of the glove of second baseman Reid Segar to give Rummel a 2-1 lead.

Lance Johnson ⁦@ArchRUMMEL⁩ on win over ⁦@UHScubathletics⁩ ⁦@rummelbaseball⁩ pic.twitter.com/8Om06kaLXF

— Ken Trahan (@kentrahan) March 13, 2019

“I just wanted to put the ball in play,” Johnson said. “I just tried to battle him (Carmouche) out and have fun up there. Once I had seen him the first two times, I felt comfortable and I kind of relaxed a lot more and I went up there with an aggressive approach to try to get the runs in.”

That was enough for Villa.

“Matt was awesome today,” Rummel coach Nick Monica said. “He matched a big-time pitcher pitch for pitch. We had some pretty decent at-bats one through nine and did a good job of turning the lineup over and actually left a lot of guys on base but we were able to do just enough to give Matt what he needed. I was proud of our guys. Matt is a junior now. He is a competitor who has done this for three years now.”

Nick Monica ⁦@ArchRUMMEL⁩ on win over ⁦@UHScubathletics⁩ ⁦@rummelbaseball⁩ ⁦@CCSprep⁩ pic.twitter.com/TeoMTRvqdK

— Ken Trahan (@kentrahan) March 13, 2019

Carmouche, a junior who is committed to UL-Lafayette, went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked four, hit a batter and struck out 12 to take the loss. Slaton pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the Cubs.

“I thought their kid did a great job,” University High head coach Justin Morgan said. “I thought our guy gave us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask of your starting pitcher. I felt like we hit some balls hard, they made routine plays and we happened to hit it right at them today. That’s just part of the game. It makes it tough. Baseball doesn’t always give you what you think you deserve in return. Rummel is a great program. We will learn from that down the stretch.”

Rummel travels to St. Michael Thursday at 4 p.m.

Final
U-High 000 100 0 1 4 0, 3 LOB
Rummel 000 200 x 2 5 0, 8 LOB

WP—Matt Villa (2-1)
LP—Dylan Carmouche
Time of Game: 1:43

2B—Christian Scherer, Lance Johnson

[contentcards url=”https://crescentcitysports.mystagingwebsite.com/baseball-roundup-mouriz-pitches-no-hitter-as-shaw-downs-east-jefferson/” target=”_blank”]