Warriors outlast Crusaders in title game

With the score tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth inning, a runner at second base and no one out, conventional wisdom calls for a bunt to get the runner to third.

Then again, there are times when conventional wisdom gets thrown out the window for a feeling in the gut.

Like Saturday when Northside Christian coach Lane Marceaux bucked the odds and gave the “hit away” sign  to Jordan Monte after Christian Morgan led off the ninth inning with a walk and then stole second.

“We thought about bunting him at first, but Jordan had been swinging the bat well lately and we decided to let him swing away,” Marceaux said after watching Monte drill a shot into the left-centerfield gap to score Morgan and lift the Warriors to a 7-6 extra-inning victory over Claiborne Christian in the Class C state championship at McMurry Park.

No one was happier than Monte, who admitted the pressure was on him in his final high school plate appearance.

“It was definitely nerve wracking,” the senior pitcher/infielder said afterward. “I just picked (the pitch) up out of his hand, saw it was a curveball and, once it left the bat, I knew it was over.

“But I don’t want anyone to think I did more than anyone else on the team. We did it as a team, we won as a team.”

 Marceaux agreed.

“All year long, we’ve hit the ball well and we’ve come up with big hits when we needed them,” said the long-time NCS coach. “Every one of these guys have really turned it up and it showed again today.”

One of those “guys” was Joseph Trahan, who was named the Class C tournament’s Outstanding Player. He pitched 6 1/3 innings in relief and surrendered three runs on five hits while striking out eight. In addition, he had a two-run triple in the fourth inning that gave the Warriors a 6-3 lead at the time.

“For me to play my high school career with my best friends, guys I go to class with every day, is just an honor for me and I’ll cherish every moment of it,” said Trahan, who will begin his college career in the fall with the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.

“And to win state and be named the MVP has always been a dream of mine. I’ll be going into my freshman year with a state championship ring.”

For the Warriors, not only did the victory result in the school’s first ever state championship in any sport, but it also ended Claiborne Christian’s dominance over them in the state baseball playoffs. The Crusaders had knocked the Warriors out of the playoffs in 2012 and again in 2013, both times in extra innings in the quarterfinal round.

“We knew it was going to be a battle and I expected nothing less,” said Marceaux. “We knew they were a good team and it would be tough. You can’t take anything away from them, they are good.”

The way the game started, it appeared that the Warriors would end their losing streak to the Crusaders and do so comfortably.

They scored three runs in the opening frame off Claiborne starting pitcher Wesley Drake and all was hopes were soaring.

Bradley Ancelet got things going with an infield single and Trahan then drew a walk.

Christian Morgan followed with an RBI single to right center field for the first run of the game and following a walk to Monte, Nicholas Zaunbrecher delivered a big two-run single to the gap in left center field.

But the Crusaders answered with a single run in the top of the second inning courtesy of a NCS error and an RBI single by Dannion King.

And they added two more runs in the third inning on an three hits, a bases-loaded walk and an error to tie the game at 3-3.

All of a sudden, it wasn’t a walk in the park.

“We punched them in the mouth in the first inning and I thought we had them by the throat the whole game, but they battled back,” said Trahan. 

The Warriors regained the lead in the fourth inning when they scored three more runs on four hits, including a pair of bunt singles. Bryce Gatte led off the inning with a drag bunt single and Ancelet followed with a bunt down the first base line that he beat out to give the Warriors two base runners.

Trahan then delivered his two-run triple one batter later before Morgan put the finishing touches on the inning with a run-scoring single to left field.

But the drama continued.

The Crusaders got a two-run double from David Parks in the fifth inning and Dylan Ogle, who had walked, scored on an error in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 7-7.

The Crusaders threatened to end the tie in the top of the ninth when Trevor Rugg singled to start the frame and, following a strikeout, Ryne Wedrall singled to give the Crusaders two runners with one out.

But the rally ended as quickly as it began when the next batter, Parks, hit a laser to the right side of the infield.

The ball was snared by Monte, who started a 4-6-3 double play, ending the threat and setting the stage for his own heroics in the bottom of the inning.

“That double play in the ninth was huge,” said Marceaux, who moved Monte from starting pitcher to second base in the third inning. “We really played well defensively today.”

Monte surrendered three runs on five hits and two walks before giving way to Trahan, who pitched the next 6 1/3 before giving way to Ancelet.

Ancelet worked the final 2/3 inning to earn the victory.

“The game plan was to get whatever we could from Jordan (on the mound). He had a little trouble and walked a few batters so I came in a little earlier than expected,” said Trahan.

“I walked a few batters and they were on my fastball, but they couldn’t hit my offspeed. I wasn’t planning on staying out there long but.... And then Bradley came in and closed the door.”

Offensively, the Warriors banged out 11 hits on the day. They were led by Zaunbrecher, who had a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with two RBI. Morgan followed with two singles and two RBI while Ancelet had a bunt single and an infield hit.

Trahan added a triple and two RBI; Monte singled and drove in one run; Gatte had a bunt single and Dillon Hayes rounded out the onslaught with a single to right field.

The Crusaders were led by designated hitter Andrew Holmes. He went 2-for-5 with a double while Parks had a two-run triple and Ogle had a double. King and Rugg each added a single and a RBI while Wedrall, Drake, Cody Jordan and Griffith Olinde each had a single.