After Five Scoreless Innings, Central Catholic Comes Out On Top to Win the TAPPS D1 Title!

Neither team scored the first the fit 5 innings of the TAPPS D1 State Championships, creating even more excitement when Concordia Lutheran scored the first run in the top of the sixth and creating an even greater fire for Central Catholic to come back and score 3 in the bottom of that inning to ultimately end the game.

Despite the scoreless start to the game, there still was a fair amount of base traffic. In the bottom of the first, Central Catholic ShortStop Jason Hererra had the first hit of the game on a ground ball single to right field. However, Concordia Pitcher Eoghan Collins got all three outs before Herrera could come around to score.

Following, Concordia Lutheran attempted to put the first run across the plate, with a single from both Eoghan Collins and Connor Jones, but, once again, the half inning was scoreless.

To end the second, Concordia Pitcher Eoghan Collins had a quick 3 up and 3 down inning. 

In the top of the third, Concordia put up a valiant scoring attempt once again with a single from Landon Martinez and a walk from Nolan Traeger putting runners on the corners with two outs. However, no one came around to score before the third out.

Central Catholic put two runners on the bases in the bottom of the third with Shawn Rivera singing and Garrett Ticer walking. However, an impressive 6-4-3 double play ended the inning without a Central Catholic run.

Similarly, after a single from Jack Rhodes, JD Amescua snagged a line drive and threw out the runner scrambling to get back to first for a double play to end the next half inning.

Eoghan Collins then had another three up three down inning to end the fourth.

After a leadoff walk from Ethan Rivers in the top of the fifth, Sam Garcia came into pitch for the Buttons. Garcia got the next three batters out to force Concordia to come away from the inning scoreless. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Eoghan Collins continued his dominance on the mound going 3 up and 3 down, while striking out two.

In the top of the sixth, after Nolan Traeger singled, a single from Jack Rhodes drove in the first run of the game. The Crusader dugout and stands erupted, knowing they needed just six outs to win the state championship. JD Amescua then came in to pitch for the Buttons. Despite allowing another walk and a single, Amescua left the inning without allowing another run to score. 

When talking to Jason Herrera after the game about what was said in the dugout to get the Button’s offense going, he said, “My coach just said to relax, to get up on the line, take smarter at-bats, and put the ball in play.” This certainly worked for Central Catholic as after two consecutive three up and three down innings, the Buttons were able to score three in the bottom of the sixth. After a walk from Shawn Rivera and a single from Sunghoon Kim, Jason Herrera tied the game on a hard ground ball single to left field. Rick Ramirez had the third hit of the inning driving in Sunghoon Kim on a line drive to left field. A hit-by-pitch then loaded the bases for the Buttons, and a balk scored the third run of the inning for Central Catholic. The score was 1-3 with Concordia trailing after the sixth.

Concordia needed two runs to keep the game going in the top of the seventh and three to take the lead. After an error, a walk from Ronin McCraw, and a single from Nolan Traeger, the bases were loaded for Concordia Lutheran with 0 outs. However, JD Amescua struck out the next two Crusader batters, making the Buttons only one away from the State title. Hugh Wilhelm had an impressive at-bat walking on a full count, to put Concordia in just a one-run deficit. However, Pitcher JD Amescua produced a ground ball to shortstop Jason Herrera to secure Button’s TAPPS D1 State Championship Title.