Central Catholic jumped on LSU signee Casan Evans early, picking up 3 runs that proved to be enough as the Buttons held on to beat St. Pius X 3-2 to move to the finals of the TAPPS Division I State Championship Game. Central Catholic was at the state tournament two years and lost to Prestonwood Christian Academy.
Central Catholic scored all 3 of their runs in the bottom of the 2nd. Brandon Hall was hit by a pitch and Obie Martinez walked. Juan Diego Amescua laid down a bunt to move the runners over. Hall scored on a passed ball and then Martinez scored on a wild pitch. Garrett Ticer got things going again with a single and went to 3B on a Sunghoon Kim double. Ticer then scored the big 3rd run of the game on another wild pitch.
St. Pius X responded with a couple of runs of their own in the top of the 4th. Michael Peavy walked and Sean Marquez singled. Casan Evans singled over the shortstop to score Peavy. Marquez scored the 2nd run of the game on a Jorge Arcia ground ball.
The Central Catholic pitchers did not allow a run after that and held on for the win. Winning pitcher Timothy Segura went 4.1 innings giving up 2 unearned runs on 3 hits with 3 walks and 3 Ks. Samuel Garcia picked up the save with 2.2 IP, 0 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs.
Garrett Ticer was 2-3 with a run scored. He was named the THSB Division 1 Semifinal Game MVP.
“We came out hot and our energy was high,” Ticer described. “We all trust our pitching staff and they came through tonight. I’m super excited about tomorrow. My brother was here two years ago and we’re looking to bring it home this year.”
Head Coach Matt Flores commented on the game: “It was two really good teams getting after it. Two good pitching duels. We executed early, got to their pitcher early. We threw two arms at them and we came out on top. We played defense well and we threw strikes. It’s awesome to be in the championship game. We are happy to be here. We were here two years ago and we have some unfinished business.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||
| St. Pius X | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Central Catholic | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 4 | 0 |
