Scrappy Central Catholic Gets Past Concordia Lutheran 3-2 to Win TAPPS D1 State Title

Central Catholic broke through to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 6th and then held on in the 7th to beat Concordia Lutheran 3-2 and capture the TAPPS Division I Baseball State Championship. Central sophomore shortstop Jason Herrera was named the Championship Game MVP. He was 2-3 with an RBI and run scored.

The game was scoreless through 5 innings as starting pitchers Eoghan Collins and Mike Sanchez held their opponents at bay. Concordia had runners on 3B twice early in the contest but Sanchez was able to get out of the innings with no runs.

Concordia Lutheran broke the 0-0 tie in the top of the 6th. Nolan Traeger led off the sixth with a line drive single to centerfield. With one out, Traeger stole second. Jackson Rhodes then singled to center scoring Traeger, giving Concordia the 1-0 lead.

With Collins on the mound, things looked good for Concordia. Though 5 innings, he had limited Central Catholic to just 2 hits on 4 Ks. But Central found a way to get some things going.

Shawn Rivera walked to start the inning. After a line out, Sunghoon Kim singled through the infield. That provided the opportunity for Jason Herrera. Herrera singled to left field scoring Rivera to tie the game at 1-1. After a strikeout, Rick Ramirez came to bat and he also singled to left field, scoring Kim and giving Central the 2-1 lead. A balk brought in Herrera and Central took a 3-1 lead into the 7th.

Concordia made the game exciting in the 7th. Cole Lanclos got on by an error, Ronin McCraw walked and Nolan Traeger got on base with a nicely laid bunt. With the bases loaded and no outs, Amescua was able to strike out the next batters. But he walked Hugh Wilhelm bringing in Lanclos to score and cutting the Central lead to 3-2. With the bases loaded, Amescua got a ground ball that Herrera nicely fielded and threw over to first to secure the win for Central Catholic.

“We’ve put in a lot of work and had lots of ups and downs,” Herrera explained. “But in the end we came out on top. We have a lot of heart. If things get down we don’t give up. We just keep fighting to the end.”

“Its a great feeling,” Head Coach Matt Flores stated. “These guys have been working hard since August. During off-season and during the season. They are grinders. They never give up. I really am proud of them. Hats off to Concordia. They are a great club and Coach Kennedy is one of my good friends. But it’s an unbelievable feeling to win here and I am excited for our players, for our school and our community.”