Delgado tops Crowder, forces rematch for South Central District title
May 22—NEW ORLEANS — It all comes down to Sunday.
A deciding Game 5 is needed to determine a champion in the South Central District Tournament after Delgado Community College claimed a 9-7 win over Crowder College on Saturday night at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.
Crowder (52-11) and Delgado (37-15), both sporting 2-1 records in the double-elimination event, will meet again in a winner-takes-all game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Roughriders are seeking a second consecutive district title and NJCAA Division I World Series berth.
Saturday's contest was originally slated for a 4 p.m. start but was pushed back to 7 due to storms in the New Orleans area.
The difference in the back-and-forth ballgame was a two-run showing by Delgado in the top of the ninth inning. Michael Stutes, who was a thorn in Crowder's throughout the night, drove in a go-ahead run on an RBI single up the middle and later scored from third on a wild pitch by Crowder closer Jace Presley to give the Dolphins the 9-7 lead that ultimately went final.
The Roughriders had one batter reach in their last opportunity in the bottom of the ninth before Dolphins reliever Dwain Guice stymied the threat by fanning Landrey Wilkerson for a game-ending strikeout.
Jacob Fury put Delgado on the scoreboard first in the top of the second. After back-to-back hit batsmen with two outs in the frame, Fury hit a deep liner to the gap in right-center field for a two-run double.
The Roughriders responded with a two-out rally of their own in the bottom of the second as they plated four runs on four hits and one Delgado error for a 4-2 lead. The frame was highlighted by an RBI at-bat by Chaz Poppy, a two-run double by Clayton Gray and a one-run single by Houston King.
An RBI single by Stutes trimmed the Crowder lead to 4-3 in the top of the third.
Crowder added to its lead in the fourth when a single by Gray led to two Delgado errors on the same play, allowing an unearned run to cross home plate for a 5-3 Roughriders advantage.
But again, the Dolphins refused to go away. After loading the bases with one out in the top of the fifth, Josh Alexander received an offering from Crowder starter Maddox Thornton and blasted a grand slam to right field to give Delgado the lead back at 7-5.
The Roughriders did more two-out damage in the bottom of the fifth when Wilkerson hit a double to the wall in right-center field to plate Jackson Cobb, who reached in the previous at-bat on a single to center field. The score trimmed the Delgado lead to 7-6.
Crowder finally drew even with Delgado in the eighth. Poppy opened the frame with a leadoff single to left field before he stole second and advanced to third on a groundout. King then plated Poppy on an RBI groundout to second to tie the game at 7-7.
That led to the eighth-inning heroics by Stutes, who finished with two singles and a pair of RBI.
