The Brother Martin Crusaders defeated the Shaw Eagles in a best-of-three series to advance to the LHSAA quarterfinals. The teams traded the lead five times on Friday, but the Crusaders ended up on top with a 4-3 win.
The bottom of the second saw Brother Martin take an early lead, 2-0. The Crusaders got things going after a single by Chase Dolly and Michael Kirsch. After Dolly came around to score, the scoreboard lit up again when Kirsch scored on an RBI single by Joel Bergeron.
Brother Martin survived Archbishop Shaw’s surge and put up one run of its own in the fifth scoring on an RBI double by Jonathan Parker.
With the score tied after five innings of play, the Crusaders grabbed the lead after a strong sixth inning and scoring on a bases loaded walk.
Corey Gaconi recorded the win for Brother Martin on Friday night. He allowed three runs over seven innings, struck out three, walked one and surrendered eight hits.
In a must win game for Shaw, Brother Martin took an early lead and never looked back. After seven innings, Brother Martin took home a 5-2 victory over Archbishop Shaw at Kirsch-Rooney on Saturday.
The game’s first run went to the Crusaders thanks to a second inning rally that saw four runs cross the plate on a two-run double by Bonnafons and two singles. After pushing across two runs in the bottom of the third, Archbishop Shaw faced just a 4-2 deficit. Brother Martin added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to help secure the series sweep.
Mason Bonnafons went 2-3 in the win for the Crusaders after recording a double in the second inning and a single in the fourth.
Keagan Gillies got it done on the hill allowing two runs over 4 2/3 innings. Gillies struck out four, walked four and gave up one hit. Kevin Plunkett entered the game in relief and got the Crusaders out of a bases loaded jam striking out the Eagles’ best hitter. Luke Bernard closed things out on the mound for the Crusaders.
Brother Martin will face C.E. Byrd in a best-of-three series starting on Friday, May 8th at 6:30. Game two will be played at 1:00 pm, and game three will be at 4:00 pm, if necessary. All games will be played at Kirsch-Rooney.
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