5A State Championship

In front of 4,923 Port Neches Groves captured the 5A State Championship at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. Momentum is an intangible stat that cannot be measured but can pay dividends and indeed was the case for the Indians. Coming in Ranked #18 and in front of a slew of fans in purple Coach Scott Carter and his team carried the Momentum they have had all playoff Season into the State Final. Opening up the top of the first by putting the ball in play and capitalizing on two Grapevine Errors followed by RBIs by Austin Bost and Nathan Vidrine; PNG went up 2-0 right off the bat. A mixture of small ball and Base hits proved to work for PNG and the early lead was all they needed to keep the momentum on their side. The concept of team and execution carried on throughout the game for PNG. In the 3rd Inning Logan Legeune reached on an error to lead off the inning, Austin Bost was HBP next, and 4 Hole Designated Hitter Holden Lane layed down a bunt to load the bases with no outs. Nathan Vidrine had a Productive Sac Fly to bring in another run and make it a 3-1 PNG Lead. In the 4th PNG again showed every player on the team would contribute to a win. Trevor Martin the 8 Hole Hitter picked up his second hit of the game and Jacob Vaughan reached on an error right after. Later in the inning Lejeune singled and Bost drew a walk to make it 4-1. Grapevine kept it close in the Top of the 5th when they loaded the bases and cut the lead in half on a Nick Pierce Fielders Choice. Close but with a lead was all Port Neches Groves starter and State Tournament MVP Brandon Morse needed. Morse commanded his pitches and dominated on the mound earning the Complete Game win. Morse was efficient as he has been all playoff season pounding the strike zone and only needing 84 Total Pitches. Morse kept PNG in the drivers seat by getting the Grapevine offense to go three up and three down in the 1st, 4th, 6th, and 7th. The epitome of pitching proficiency and defense was in the 6th Inning when Morse threw a 4 pitch inning. Morse did not do this by having a traditional big strikeout game; he only recorded one out via the strikeout and limited Grapevine hitters to 4 hits. Morse attacked hitters, did not let Grapevine hitters square him up, and let his defense work all afternoon long.

Grapevine finished the year 33-13 and accomplished something not many schools can say they did. Win the Title and finish runner up the next year. Grapevine may have been a Cinderella story in 2016 that not too many teams in Texas knew; but making it back in 2017 proved that they are one of the top programs in Texas. Max Gehler took the loss for the mustangs and London Green was 2/3 with 2 runs scored.

Port Neches Groves finished 34-8-2 and was the only team not ranked in the Top 4 this weekend. They showed Rankings are out the door when you are the one of the two last teams playing in June. Intangibles come into play at this stage and sometimes prove to be the only thing you need to win on that day.