Vermilion Catholic edges Riverside Academy: Live updates, score of Louisiana Division IV select baseball semifinal

Follow along as the second-seeded Eagles battle No. 11 Riverside

Riverside Academy Rebels / Riverside Academy

No. 11 Riverside Academy and No. 2 Vermilion Catholic meet in a Louisiana Division IV select semifinal baseball game Tuesday at 2 p.m. at McMurry Park in Sulphur.

Pregame

Last year, the No. 20-seeded Rebels beat No. 4 Vermilion Catholic in the regional round in Abbeville, 3-2. The schools met in football this school year with the Eagles winning behind all-state quarterback Jonathan Dartez, who plays shortstop and bats leadoff.

Dartez walked three times and scored a run in a 6-3 win over No. 7-seeded Ascension Episcopal in the quarterfinals. The district rivals met four times in the regular season with the Blue Gators winning three. The best-of-three league series was decided by a total of four runs.

Freshman Cole Albert struck out seven and pitched a complete game in the quarterfinals, allowing five hits and walking none. Outfielder Bryce Lege doubled, homered and drove in four runs. Ross Dartez also doubled for the Eagles (23-7). Albert threw a four-hitter with seven strikeouts in a 3-0 regional win over No. 15 St. Edmund.

Riverside reached the semifinals by defeating No. 6 Ascension Catholic 6-2 and defending champion No. 3 Opelousas Catholic, 3-0. Junior Jayce Ruiz pitched both playoff games, striking out a total of 19 and throwing a two-hitter in the quarterfinals. Ruiz, the leadoff batter, had a hit and drew three walks. Ayden Bullock doubled and drove in two runs.

Riverside, which won a state title in 2017, has finished as runner-up twice. Vermilion Catholic, which also has two runner-up finishes, lost freshman pitcher Cruz Hebert (6-0) to injury in April, according to Eric Narcisse of The Acadiana Advocate.

The championship game will be Wednesday, May 13, at 2 p.m. vs. the winner of No. 1 Covenant Christian (36-0)/No. 12 Ouachita Christian (17-15).

First inning

-First pitch, originally scheduled for 2 p.m., estimated to be at 2:40 p.m. The previous game on Field 40, a Class B semifinal won by Family Community over Weston, lasted longer than expected.

-Fisher Quackenbos (Vermilion Catholic) and Jayce Ruiz (Riverside) will be the starting pitchers. Eagles wearing maroon tops and white pinstripe pants. Grey pants and blue jerseys for the Rebels.

-We're underway at 2:32 p.m. Ruiz pops out for the first out of the game.

-Kaden Brumfield grounds out to the pitcher. Two down. First baseman Ayden Bullock, who has been hot in the playoffs, strokes a single to right field.

-Catcher Brody Vicknair pops out to second base. No score, end top 1st.

Bottom first inning

-Jonathan Dartez leads off for the Eagles and walks on five pitches. An attempt to pick him off goes past first base, and Dartez advances to second.

-Hudson Hebert grounds out to shortstop. Dartez moves to third base. Jackson Trahan up with one out.

-Trahan's single up the middle scores Dartez. Eagles 1, Rebels 0

-Slugger Bryce Lege grounds into a fielder's choice. The lead runner, Trahan, is forced out at second base. Two out for third baseman Will Simon.

-Leger is picked off first base by Ruiz. Eagles 1, Rebels 0

Top second inning

-Shortstop Brock Bourgeois up first for Riverside. Quackenbos strikes him out on three pitches. Colten Diamond grounds out to the pitcher. Cruz Cambre batting.

-Three up, three down. Eagles 1, Rebels 0

Bottom second inning

-Will Simon, who has hitting when Ruiz picked a runner off base for the third out in the first inning, leads off the second for Vermilion Catholic. He's behind 1-2 in the count.

-Simon singles to left field. Designated hitter Caden Dehart bunts foul on the first pitch from Ruiz. Catcher Brody Vicknair throws out Simon attempting to steal second. Full count on Dehart.

-Dehart grounds out to first base. Two out for Jacob Dubois. Nice play by the Riverside shortstop, Brock Bourgeois, on a sharply hit grounder. Eagles 1, Rebels 0

Top third inning

-Freshman Will Rauch, batting eighth in the order, hits a blooper to centerfield that is caught. Eighth-grader Cole Jacob singles into left and goes to second when the pitcher's throw to first gets past the base. Top of the order up: Jayce Ruiz.

-Ruiz draws a walk on a 3-2 count. Brumfield, who grounded out to the pitcher in the first inning, up with runners on first and second and one out.

-Brumfield lines a single into centerfield to load the bases for Bullock.

-Two-run single to leftfield by Bullock gives the Rebels their first lead. Two on, one out for the clean-up hitter, Vicknair. Rebels 2, Eagles 1

-Vicknair goes the opposite way with a single to right to load bases again. Bourgeois, who had a nice defensive play earlier, up next. Still one out.

-Long fly ball bounces off the left fielder's glove and rolls for a two-run single. Runners on first and second. Rebels 4, Eagles 1

-Quackenbos records a strikeout. Two outs for sophomore Cruz Cambre. Rebels 4, Eagles 1

Bottom third inning

-Dominic Gautreaux grounds out. Ross Dartez at bat, folowed by the top of the lineup with Dartez.

-Dartez walks. Ruiz has thrown 45 pitches, 28 for strikes. Allowed two hits, one run, struck out two and walked two. He walked Jonathan Dartez, who is up with Ross Dartez at first base, to begin the bottom of the first inning. Dartez scored the Eagles' run.

-Ruiz walks Jonathan Dartez for the second time. Visit to the mound by a Riverside coach. Two on, one out, for Hudson Hebert.

-Three straight walks load the bases for Trahan, who singled in a run in the first inning. Trahan brings in Ross Dartez with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Rebels 4, Eagles 2

-Ruiz gets a strikeout to escape further damage. Rebels 4, Eagles 2

Top fourth inning

-Rauch singles off the leg of the pitcher. It bounced to the shortstop, but the freshman beat the throw.

-Flyout to centerfield brings up the top of the order in Ruiz. He walked and scored earlier. Pops out. Brumfield, who has a hit and scored a run, up with two outs.

-Brumfield reaches on an infield single. Two on, two out for Bullock, who drove in a pair of runs in the third inning.

-Bullock drives a deep shot to the fence to wall in left for a loud third out. Rebels 4, Eagles 2

Bottom fourth inning

-Will Simon reaches on an error to lead off the fourth for the Eagles. Dehart, the DH, tries to sacrifice on the first pitch. He bunts it foul.

-Two on, no out, after Dehart walks. Jacob Dubois can do some damage here for the Eagles. Riverside coach makes a mound visit.

-Ruiz fields Dubois' bunt and throws to third, but the runner is safe. Bases loaded, no outs. Gautreaux up next. A fielder's choice scores a run. Eagles at the corners with one out. Rebels 4, Eagles 3

-Second out on a grounder to the first baseman, who looked the runner back to third.

-Ruiz records a strikeout. Vermilion Catholic strands runners at second and third. Rebels 4, Eagles 3

Top fifth inning

-Vicknair singles up the middle. Bourgeois up next. The shortstop has a hit and two RBIs.

-Courtesy runner Beaux Brock, another eighth grader, steals second. Full count on Bourgeois.

-Bourgeois flies out to center. Vermilion Catholic going to the bullpen. Two runners on base for the Rebels against reliever Alexander Marceaux.

-Marceaux walks Cambre to load the bases for Rauch. One out. Rauch singles in a run. Bases remain loaded. Rebels 5, Eagles 3

-Deep sacrifice fly to left scores another run. Two out, two on for Ruiz. Rebels 6, Eagles 3

Bottom fifth inning

-One-out single for Jackson Trahan, who moves to second when a pickoff throw goes astray.

-Consecutive hits for the Eagles, as Lege singles into left. Runners on the corners, one out.

-Simon doubles in a run off the wall in left. Mound visit by the Rebels' coach. Rebels 6, Eagles 4

-Dehart ties it at 6-6 with a two-run single. That's going to be it for Ruiz today on the mound. Looks like Brock Bourgeois will get the call in relief. Rebels 6, Eagles 6

-Lege drives in Dartez on a double. The Riverside right fielder dove and the ball squirted past. Simon singles to left and drives in the go-ahead run on an error. Vermilion Catholic takes the lead on a double from Dubois. Eagles 7, Rebels 6

Top sixth inning

-Brumfield will lead off the inning for the Rebels. He walks. Potential go-ahead run at the plate in Bullock.

-Runners at first and third with no outs. Bullock's grounder to the left side of the infield led to a throw at second base. Brumfield arrived at the same time as the ball, which skidded away for him to move to third. No outs for Vicknair. 3-0 count. Now 3-1. He walks to load the bases for the pitcher Bourgeois.

-Vermilion Catholic bringing in another reliever. That's Gautreaux, who was playing second base.

-Brumfield races in to score on a pitch that rolls to the backstop. Close play. We're tied. Rebels 7, Eagles 7

-Another run scores on a pitch that gets away. Rebels 8, Eagles 7

-Vermilion Catholic catches a runner between third and home for the second out. Single for Diamond. Cambre walks, and Rauch strikes out. Rebels 8, Eagles 7

Bottom sixth inning

-Jonathan Dartez walks to lead off the inning.

-Hebert lays down a sacrifice bunt, and Dartez scoots all the way to third.

-Trahan hits a hard grounder to first base. Dartez stays at third. Two out.

--Lege drives in Dartez on a double. The Riverside right fielder dove and the ball squirted past. Simon singles to left and the go-ahead run scores on an error. Eagles 9, Rebels 8

Top seventh inning

-Tying run on base. Jacob hit by a pitch. Ruiz flies out to left.

-Brumfield doubles to right field. Runners on second and third for Bullock. He walks. Bases full for Vicknair.

-Double play. Grounder to the pitcher, who threw home. The catcher relayed it to first. Vermilion Catholic 9, Riverside Academy 8 final

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