Saturday May 8, 2021

New Orleans, LA: Baseball

It was championship Saturday at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium in New Orleans. The Baton Rouge Bears had to defeat the Delgado Dolphin once on Saturday to force a winner take all game five on Sunday for the Region XXIII Baseball Division I title. The Dolphins would jump out to an early lead and held the Bears' offensive under control to earn the 5 to 1 victory and the Region XXIII title.

Delgado would get on the board first, in the first inning with two runs. Jobert would double to left field and score on a double by Lege for the Dolphins' first run of the ball game. Singletary would ground out to Crifasi, driving in Lege for the Dolphins' second run of the frame.  In the first two inning, the Bears were getting runners on but had trouble finding that timely hit to score those runners.  The Dolphins would extend their lead, in the third inning, when Jobert would lead off with a solo homer to right field. Delgado would scratch across another run, in the fifth inning, to take a 4 to 0 lead over the Bears. Baton Rouge would finally get on the board, in the sixth inning, when Nathan Beyer, who reached by being hit by a pitch, would be moved over to second by a Cody Crifasi single, he would steal third and score on a Parker Autry sac fly to centerfield for the Bears first run of the game. After six innings, the Dolphins led 4 to 1. In the eighth inning, the Dolphins would add an insurance run to take a 5 to 1 lead in which they would not relinquish. The Dolphins' pitchering duo of Draper and Lore would  keep the Bears out of sync, at the plate, all game only allowing 6 hits while striking out 9.

Hunter Draper earned the victory for the Delgado Dolphins.  He pitched six innings allowing 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 6. Jacob Poe took the loss for the Bears. Poe pitched six innings allowing 4 runs on 7 hits while striking out 5. Blaine Hardy pitched 3 innings in relief for the Bears.

Delgado outhit Baton Rouge 7 to 6. Both teams were credited with 1 error in the ball game.

Bears Game Highlights:

Nathan Carriere went 1 for 3 with 2 BB.

Lane Hutchinson went 1 for 1.

Nathan Beyer went 2 for 3 with 1 Run.

Cody Crifasi went 2 for 4.

Parker Autry had 1RBI.

With the victory the Delgado Dolphins improve to 34-11 and secured their eleventh consecutive Region XXIII title.  The Dolphins will now move on to the NJCAA South Central District Championship hosted by the Region II champion in Oklahoma on May 21-23.

Baton Rouge finishes the 2021 season with a 28-25 record.