Pios slip past St. Louis at Minute Maid Park

HOUSTON – Monday’s matchup between the Notre Dame Pios and the St. Louis Saints at Minute Maid Park was the chance of a lifetime for those involved.
It was a chance for the players to step foot on the same field as may of their idols and play at one of the nicest stadiums in Major League baseball.
For the Pios, losers of their last four games, it was much bigger than that: It was a chance to end their skid and gain some momentum entering the playoffs.
And they did just that.
Jacques Thibodeaux’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning put the Pios’ over the top, allowing them to slip away with a 2-1 victory.
“Last week was a very long week for us, so to come out with a change of scenery was nice; we did an outstanding job of really focusing and coming out to play,” said ND coach Steve Soper, whose team finished the regular season with a mark of 16-11. “Winning this game could move us up a few spots in the power rankings; so this was big for us.”
The biggest plus was the fact that the Pios got their swagger back.
“I think the biggest thing was just us getting out of the funk that we were in,” said Soper. “Regardless of the wins and losses or the power points, just the chance for us to come out and kind of put some things together and gain a little momentum for the playoffs was big.”
The Pios were able to put a number of things together during the game, especially on the mound.
Starter Joe Faulk was magnificent through five innings in earning the victory, scattering five hits and giving up just one run while walking just one.
David Frank worked the final two innings and gave up just one hit while recording three groundouts and two flyouts.
“St. Louis is always an outstanding ballclub and Joe came out and really pitched well,” said Soper. “We always talk about our pitchers giving us a chance to win it at the end and he (Faulk) came out and really set the tone for us today.”
Adding to that was the play of freshman Waylon Bourgeois. Starting at third base for the second straight game, Bourgeois made a diving snag in the second inning and popped up to throw the runner out at first to start the inning. And offensively, he had two of the Pios’ seven hits on the day.
“Waylon has done an outstanding job for us,” said Soper of Bourgeois, who has played sparingly. “It’s tough to be in and out (of the lineup) but he holds his own over there (third base). He does a really good job of keeping his focus and really staying within himself. Tonight, he had an outstanding night.”
The lone negative on the night was the fact that the Pios stranded 11 base runners, eight in scoring position.
“We had plenty of opportunities tonight,” said Soper. “We just needed to do a better job of getting those guys in. We’re getting the first part down, getting them on and getting them over. We just need to really focus on driving them in.”
The Pios stranded runners at the corners in the first two innings before finally plating a run in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Jacob Vicknair.
Faulk drew a two-out walk to get the Pios going and Bourgeois followed with a single to left field. Vicknair then drilled a fastball to left field to plate Faulk.
The Saints answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning when Mark Johnston doubled and scored on a single by Jack Aguillard.
The Pios pushed across the eventual winning run in the top of the fifth. Pete Brown and Dillan Gilbert each recorded one-out hits to start the frame and after a double steal, Taylor Faulk was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Thibodeaux followed up with a sacrifice fly to plate Brown.
St. Louis had one runner reach base in the final two frames. Colin Kramer had a two-out single in the sixth but he was erased one batter later on a fielder’s choice.
Frank sat the Saints down in order in the final frame on three straight groundouts to end the game.
Gilbert also had two hits, including a double, on the evening while Brown, Faulk and Vicknair each had one.
“This was a special experience for all of us,” said Soper. “I think all of the kids enjoyed it and I think the coaches were just as excited as the players. It was neat to not only walk onto the field but to play on it as well. There’s not many people that play that have a chance to say that they have actually done that. It’s a once and a lifetime thing to get to do that.”